(Moscow) Russian diplomacy called on Hamas on Friday, during talks in Moscow, to release all its hostages, while judging that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the target of massive Israeli bombings, was of “catastrophic magnitude”.
“The Russian side insisted on the need to quickly release civilians captured during the attacks of October 7, 2023 and detained by Palestinian factions,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry after a meeting between Russian Deputy Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Moussa Abou Marzouk, member of the Hamas political bureau.
These discussions were intended in particular to “clarify the position [du Hamas] and its policy on the question of hostages, according to a press release from the Palestinian Islamist movement published after the meeting.
“The means of obtaining a ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip were also discussed, according to Hamas, which claims to have received support from Russia “on the rights of the Palestinian people”.
Mr. Bogdanov also met with Israel’s Ambassador to Russia, Simona Halperin, in Moscow on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
He informed the ambassador “of the targeted efforts of Russian diplomacy in favor of the immediate and unconditional release of civilians, including Russians, detained in the Gaza Strip.”
The Russian diplomat also recalled Moscow’s “constant principled position in favor of a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant decisions of the UN and its Security Council,” according to the press release.
The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has resulted in the deaths of 24,762 people, the majority of them women and children, according to the report published Friday by the Hamas Ministry of Health.
It was triggered by the bloody attacks by Islamist Hamas commandos in southern Israel on October 7, which led to the death of some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Israelis.