Palestinian militants blasted a hole in the wall separating Gaza from Egypt on Wednesday morning, as Israel's blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip entered its sixth day. A decision to impose a blockade was taken following almost daily rocket attacks from the enclave on Israeli border regions.
"We condemn attempts to blockade the strip, which will bring nothing but new suffering to the already impoverished residents of Gaza," Lavrov told a news conference.
The United Nations has said that Israel is imposing "collective punishment" on Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier warned that life would not be "pleasant or comfortable" for people in the enclave if rocket attacks on Israel continued.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the operations in Gaza were an unavoidable self-defense measure, a response to rocket attacks by Hamas militants. Hamas seized control of Gaza, home to 1.5 million, from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement last June.
Lavrov also denounced rocket attacks on Israel, describing them as "disproportionate retaliatory measures."
At a news conference convened to cover Russia's foreign policy activities last year, the diplomat said Russia favored the restoration of Palestinian unity, which should be recognized by the entire international community, including Israel.
"We favor the restoration of Palestinian unity on the basis of agreements reached through the mediation of the Saudi king last year, and on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative," Lavrov said.
The peace initiative was first proposed by the then crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular, at an Arab League summit. All members of the Arab League approved the initiative unanimously.
