Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, in an interview with Russian media on Thursday, that he doubted the conspiracy theory that Israel knew in advance of plans that Hamas were planning on committing a massacre on October 7.

“A lot of conspiracy theories are now appearing. Just the other day, our television and social networks once again conveyed a message from Western media, Western journalists, and researchers that the Israeli leadership, a year before October 7 and intelligence, warned about the impending large-scale terrorist attack.

"I cannot admit that if this is true," Lavrov continued. "Then, no precautions or preventive measures were taken. Moreover, we know how the Israeli army and Israeli security forces are always ready to carry out preventive strikes,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said, "It is time everyone drew a lesson from the consequences of the United States's attempts to play at behind-the-curtain diplomacy in the Middle East. It was Washington’s policy of monopolizing mediation and undermining the international legal framework for a settlement that resulted in the current escalation in the conflict zone," the Russian Foreign Ministry Ministry website quoted him as saying on Thursday.

"It is alarming that, according to the available information, the United States is again trying to solicit solutions that have nothing in common with international law, as it did in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and many other countries and regions, which have been left in ruins because of Washington’s opportunistic actions," he continued.

Hamas's response to Lavrov

The Hamas terror organization stated that they appreciated Lavrov's comments, stating that they "stressed the importance of lifting the injustice that the Palestinians have suffered for generations so that stability can be achieved in the region.
Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout image released November 19, 2023. (credit: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout image released November 19, 2023. (credit: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
"Lavrov’s reference to the United States’ responsibility for increasing tensions in the field of international security confirms Washington’s criminal role in the continued suffering of our Palestinian people, with its blatant bias towards the Zionist occupation. It also confirms the need for an international will, represented by the active states in the United Nations, to lift the injustice against our people.