Israel should avoid unilateral actions on the occupied territories in the West Bank, including the unlawful practice of destroying Palestinian houses there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address to participants of the Mediterranean Dialogues international conference in Moscow.

"Any unilateral actions by Israel should be avoided. I am referring to Israel’s rapidly intensified settlement policy and the illegal demolition of Palestinian houses in the West Bank," Lavrov said.

In his opinion, the situation in that complicated region "will never be completely stabilized as long as the old wound of the Arab-Israeli conflict remains open."

Russia is closely watching the nascent normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab countries, the foreign minister continued.

"We believe that any move towards interaction is a positive development," he added.

At the same time, Lavrov said that such rapprochement must not be accepted as a substitute for the settlement of the Palestinian problem on the basis of international law and urged to consolidate international efforts in order to resume direct Palestinian-Israeli talks as soon as possible.