© Ria Novosti
Russian warships anchored off the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to prepare the evacuation of Russians in the area, should the conflict in Gaza escalate,
The Voice of Russia quoted a Russian Navy Command source on Friday.
"The detachment of combat ships of the Black Sea Fleet, including the Guards missile cruiser
Moskva, the patrol ship
Smetliviy, large landing ships
Novocherkassk and
Saratov, the sea tug MB-304 and the big sea tanker
Ivan Bubnov, got the order to remain in the designated area of the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea for a possible evacuation of Russian citizens from the area of the Gaza strip in case of escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict", the spokesperson said.
He added that ship crew members will continue routine combat training, maintenance of equipment and weapons along with other military services.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops fired on Gazans surging toward Israel's border fence Friday, killing one person but leaving intact the fragile two-day-old cease-fire between Hamas and the Jewish state.
The truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, the Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour called the situation in Gaza "extremely fragile" and said Israel's cease-fire violations and other illegal actions risk undermining the calm that was just restored.
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