(RIA Novosti) - Israel bears full responsibility for the spread of violence in the Middle East, a member of the Russian parliament said Sunday.
The situation in Lebanon took another tragic turn when 60 civilians, including more than 30 children were killed Sunday as a result of an Israeli air strike on Qana in the south of the country, reports Trend.
"The tragedy is unprecedented in its scale even for the Middle East where violence is a common phenomenon," said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the committee on foreign affairs at the lower house of the Russian parliament.
He said the incident proved once again that conducting large-scale military operations to fight terrorism was counter-productive. "Such an indiscriminate use of force not only leads to mass deaths among the civilian population, but also strengthens the ranks of terrorists," Kosachev said.
The UN Security Council gathered late Sunday for an emergency meeting and issued a statement condemning the violence, although it did not call for an immediate ceasefire.
But after a round of negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli officials, Israel has agreed to suspend air strikes on southern Lebanon for 48 hours and allow humanitarian aid into the area during 24 hours, the U.S. State Department said.