TEL AVIV, October 16. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has expressed a desire to visit Israel amid the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but the Israeli side has made it clear to Kiev that such a visit would be untimely at the moment, the Israeli news portal Ynet said.
According to the website, the Ukrainian president, who traveled to Europe last week, wanted to arrive in Israel together with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken will visit the Jewish state on Monday for the second time since the conflict escalated. However, the Israeli side told Ukraine that now is "not the right time" for Zelensky’s visit, Ynet said.
That being said, this refusal "does not mean that Zelensky will not come to Israel" at all, it noted. According to Ynet, such a trip could take place later during one of the Ukrainian president's potential European tours.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and carried out air strikes on targets there and inside Lebanon and Syria, as well. Hostilities have also broken out on the West Bank.
More than 2,800 Palestinians have been killed in clashes and strikes, while over 10,900 have suffered wounds, since the renewed outbreak of violence began. In Israel, roughly 1,500 people lost their lives and almost 4,000 have been wounded.
