Russia voices regret and concern over new Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia expressed "deep regret" on Tuesday over Israel's latest airstrikes on Gaza and said it condemned any actions that led to civilian deaths.

Palestinian health authorities said more than 400 people had been killed in what the Israeli military called a "preemptive offensive" against Hamas militants still holding 59 Israeli hostages.

"Moscow learned with deep regret of Israel's renewal of its military operation in the Gaza Strip," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, urging both sides to return to negotiations.

"As experience shows, it is impossible to resolve the issue of freeing hostages by force. Russia strongly condemns any actions that lead to the death of civilians and the destruction of social infrastructure."

The Kremlin said it was concerned about "another spiral of escalation".

"Especially concerning of course are the reports of major casualties among the civilian population," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"We are monitoring the situation very closely and, of course, we are waiting for it to return to a peaceful course."

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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