Lavrov made the comments, some of Moscow's most critical of
Israel yet, in an interview with the Belarusian state news
agency Belta, which released them on Saturday.
"While we condemn terrorism, we categorically disagree that you
can respond to terrorism by violating the norms of international
humanitarian law, including indiscriminately using force against
targets where civilians are known to be present, including
hostages that have been taken," said Lavrov.
It was impossible, he added, to destroy Hamas - as Israel has
vowed to do - without destroying Gaza along with most of its
civilian population.
"If Gaza is destroyed and 2 million inhabitants are expelled, as
some politicians in Israel and abroad propose, this will create
a catastrophe for many decades, if not centuries," warned Lavrov.
"It is necessary to stop, and to announce humanitarian
programmes to save the population under blockade."
Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said on Friday that 7,326
Palestinians had been killed since Israel's bombardment began.
That followed a raid on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants, who Israel
said had killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians. Hamas also
took more than 200 hostages.
Russia, which backs an immediate ceasefire and a two-state
solution, has angered Israel by inviting a Hamas delegation to
Moscow, a decision it defended on Friday. Hamas has said it is
seeking eight Gaza hostages at Russia's request.
Lavrov said Russia was in close contact with Israel too.
"We remain in full contact with Israel, and our ambassador is
regularly in touch with them," said Lavrov.
"We are sending signals about the need to seek a peaceful
solution and not to follow through with this announced 'scorched
earth' strategy."
Kyiv and the West have accused Russia itself of bombing
civilians across Ukraine. Moscow says it does not deliberately
target civilians and only aims at military targets.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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