Israel has carried out bombings and air strikes in Lebanon, and sent its troops into the country, in a wave of violence that began nine days ago when Islamic militant group Hizbollah captured two Israeli servicemen in a cross-border raid. Israel's attacks have left around 300 Lebanese dead and displaced 500,000, according to the Lebanese prime minister. At least 29 Israelis have also lost their lives.
Since the beginning of Israeli attacks in Gaza in June, when Palestinian militants abducted an Israeli corporal, the Israeli military has killed at least 110 Palestinians, around half of them militants.
Arkady Mil-Man said, "We will now try to evacuate at least 4,000-5,000 children from the northern regions of the country to central Israel, so that they do not [have to] stay constantly in bomb shelters, which is hard both physically and mentally."
He also said Israel was not setting a deadline on its military operation against Hizbollah.
On being asked to comment on reports that the United States had given Israel a week to deal with Hizbollah, Mil-Man said: "Firstly, I don't know that anyone has talked about a week, or 10, or five days."
"Secondly, Israel stated in no uncertain terms that it was launching a military operation. Is it possible to start a military operation on such a level, designed to wipe out a terrorist infrastructure that took decades to build, and then announce that we will end it in, say, 48 hours?" he said.
The ambassador said Israel was a sovereign state that needed no advice from anyone in choosing what measures to take.
"These measures should be commensurate to the level of threat," he said, adding that Hizbollah had already fired over 1,600 missiles.
"They have at least another 8,000 missiles. If a ceasefire is announced tomorrow, these 8,000 missiles will continue to threaten Israel, while Hizbollah remains unchanged," he said.
The ambassador said Israel disagreed with Russia's refusal to consider Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon's Hizbollah terrorist organizations, but acknowledged its right to this position.
Russia invited a Hamas delegation to Moscow in spring after it won elections in the Palestinian Authority.
However, Arkady Mil-Man said this position was incorrect and would not help resolve the Middle East conflict.
"Russia has a different opinion and this is legitimate," he said.
The ambassador also said Israel was hoping for Russian assistance to secure the release of soldiers seized by Lebanese and Palestinian militants.
"I hope that Russia and other countries will apply every effort to release our soldiers as soon as possible," Arkadi Mil-Man said.
