Hamas announced its readiness to release hostages with Russian citizenship

The Palestinian group Hamas is looking for eight people with dual citizenship, whose data Russia has requested. This was reported by Politburo member and head of the group’s external relations department, Musa Abu Marzuk, write “RIA News”.

“Now we are looking for those people [список] which were transferred by the Russian side. It’s difficult, but we are looking. And as soon as we find him, we will release him. Despite the difficulties due to the current situation,” he said.

He noted that Hamas treats the list “very carefully” because they look at Russia as their “closest friend.”

On October 26, a delegation from the group visited Moscow. During the visit, as reported at the Russian Foreign Ministry, the release of foreigners from the captivity of the group and the evacuation of Russians from the Gaza Strip were discussed. According to the latest data, Hamas took 222 people hostage. Among them are 15 Argentines, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French and six Russians, as well as 54 Thai citizens.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov emphasizedthat representatives of the Islamist group have no contacts with the Kremlin. The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the visit of the Palestinian group to the Russian Federation and called on the Russian authorities to “immediately expel” its representatives from their territory.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated on October 7, after an attack by Palestinian militants on southern Israeli areas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by launching Operation Iron Swords, and the country declared a state of war. On the evening of October 27, the IDF announced an expansion of ground operations in the enclave. According to the latest data, about 8,000 people were killed in the Palestinian-Israeli war, including more than 6,500 Palestinians.