© Getty Images / BolotThe Kremlin
A delegation from Hamas visited Moscow on Thursday for talks on the release of foreign hostages including Russian citizens that the militant group is currently holding in Gaza, Russian news agencies reported, citing the foreign ministry.
Senior Hamas member Abu Marzouk was among those attending the talks, TASS reported.
"Contacts were held with him in continuation of the Russian line on the immediate release of foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip. Issues related to ensuring the evacuation of Russian and other foreign citizens from the territory of the Palestinian enclave were also discussed," TASS said.
Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza.
Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis on the failure of U.S. diplomacy, and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.Hamas released its own statement in which it praised the efforts of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and foreign ministry to end what it called "the crimes of Israel that are supported by the West", according to Russia's RIA news agency.
Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,400 people. Israel has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege on the enclave of 2.3 million people and is preparing a ground invasion.
Palestinian authorities say more than 6,500 have been killed.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing earlier on Thursday that
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baghiri Kani was also currently visiting Moscow.
Zakharova gave no further details. Baghiri Kani
is Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. Iran is a strong backer of Hamas in its conflict with Hamas.
Comment: In response, Israel has condemned Russia's meeting with Hamas and
called for Moscow to immediately evict them:
Israel demanded that Russia immediately expel the delegation of the Hamas movement from the country, a corresponding statement was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Jewish state.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement "strongly condemning" the visit to Moscow of a Hamas delegation, calling it an "undignified step," and demanded that the Russian leadership immediately expel the Palestinians from the country.
Israel views inviting Hamas leaders to Moscow as an undignified step that gives a tailwind to terror and legitimizes the atrocities of Hamas terrorists. We call on the Russian government to immediately expel Hamas terrorists - said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to Israel's statement, but previously confirmed that a delegation of the Hamas movement had arrived in Moscow, headed by Abu Marzuk, a member of the group's Politburo.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with the political leadership of Hamas during a visit to Qatar. The topic of the meeting was also the release of hostages held by the movement in the Gaza Strip.
Russia is involved in diplomacy, a tactic that the US and Israel seem to have neglected in the last few decades in favor of threats, sanctions, aggression, and war crimes:
With that in mind, why is the Russian government meeting with Hamas and Iran? Is it trying to Frame Russia as supporting terrorists? Are the Russians trying to reveal to Palestinian and Iranian leadership that this is a false flag attempting to start war in the Middle East with Iran, and thus encourage restraint?