The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador to broadcast Tel Aviv’s protest message after the Hamas delegation visited Russia last week.
Israel summoned Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov on October 29 to protest Moscow’s reception of a Hamas delegation last week.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said its senior officials told Ambassador Viktorov that Moscow’s invitation to Hamas sent a message akin to “legitimizing” forces against Israelis.
On October 26, Israel announced its opposition to inviting senior Hamas leaders to Moscow and called on the Russian government to immediately expel Hamas members.
Russian media quoted sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country as saying that senior leader Mousa Abu Marzook led a Hamas delegation to Russia to discuss issues related to the plan to release foreign hostages. captured by Hamas in Gaza.
Mr. Marzook is the founder and political leader of Hamas, currently living in exile in Qatar.
At dawn on October 7, Hamas suddenly fired thousands of rockets toward Israel. About 1,500 Hamas gunmen raided across the Israeli border, kidnapping more than 200 hostages and taking them to the Gaza Strip.
After the Hamas attack killed 1,400 people, Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes, killing more than 8,000 Palestinians in the narrow strip of land.
According to Reuters , Russia explained that its reception of Hamas was an effort to maintain contact with all parties in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook said Russia is the “best friend” of the force controlling the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Marzook told RIA news agency that Hamas had received a list of eight Russian hostages and was trying to locate them for their release.
Mr. Marzook said: “From the Russian side, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have received a list of citizens with dual citizenship. We pay close attention to this list and will handle it carefully, because Because we consider Russia our closest friend.”
During a meeting in Moscow last weekend, Hamas representatives pledged to “respond, support, search and take all measures to free Russian hostages,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the news agency. Tass on October 29.
“Russia’s contacts and actions in the Middle East and in international organizations are mainly focused on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, as well as resolving issues related to ensuring told to evacuate Russian citizens,” the Russian Embassy in Israel said on October 27.
To date, Hamas has only released four hostages. The force says 50 hostages have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip over the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to do everything possible to bring the hostages back safely. Mr. Netanyahu and the Israeli army also emphasized that Israel will destroy Hamas, destroy its military capacity and administrative capacity in Gaza.
