Ambassador rules out direct talks between Israel and Hamas

There are no and cannot be negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. This was stated by Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi.

“There are no direct negotiations between Israel and Hamas and there cannot be, because our position is very simple: all hostages must be released without any conditions,” he said on Rossiya 24 (quote according to TASS). He added that Israel has no information about the condition of the hostages.

On October 11, four days after the outbreak of hostilities, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Ben-Dor declaredthat Israel can return to negotiations with Hamas only after achieving all the goals of the military operation in the Gaza Strip. He noted that the group “does not serve the common cause of the Palestinians at all and does not contribute to reconciliation with Tel Aviv,” but wants to create a Palestinian state “on the ruins” of Israel, and not “side by side” with it.

Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7. The country’s Defense Forces (IDF) responded by launching Operation Iron Swords. According to the latest data, more than 9,000 people have died as a result of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Gaza reported 8,005 dead in Israeli strikes, with about 1,400 people killed in Israel following the group’s attack on the Jewish state.

The IDF announced on October 27 that it was expanding its ground operation in the enclave and called on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move to the south, promising them humanitarian assistance. The army representative stated that the Israeli army was moving to a “new phase” of the war with Hamas. Ambassador Ben Zvi clarified that Israel has not yet launched a full-scale ground operation in Gaza.

On October 26, representatives of the group visited Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that during the visit the release of foreigners from the group’s captivity and the evacuation of Russians from the Gaza Strip were discussed. After this, the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed protest to the Russian Ambassador to the Jewish State Anatoly Viktorov in connection with the visit of the Hamas delegation to Moscow.