Peskov announced progress in negotiations on the return of Russians from Hamas captivity

There is some progress in negotiations on the return of Russians held captive by the Palestinian group Hamas, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“There is definite progress in the negotiations, we maintain dialogue with all countries. The situation is complicated by the fact that there is no one side that can decide to release these hostages, who have Russian citizenship, and release them. The solution requires coordination of the positions of several parties,” he said.

Peskov explained that diplomats continue to work in this direction, but the dialogue “is not going easily” with all parties.

“We intend to ensure that Russian citizens are released,” he concluded.

On November 2, Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said that there were at least 242 hostages in the Gaza Strip who had been taken from Israel. It was previously clarified that among them were six people with a Russian passport. On October 26, a Hamas delegation visited Moscow; during the visit, as reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the release of foreigners from the group’s captivity and the evacuation of Russians from the Gaza Strip were discussed.

The Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,400 people. The Israeli army responded by launching Operation Iron Swords. On October 27, the Israeli military announced an expansion of the ground operation and called on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move to the south. On November 2, the Israeli army conducted an operation to encircle Gaza City, then starting fighting in the city with Hamas militants. According to the latest data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, about 9,500 people were killed as a result of the Israeli strikes, and more than 24,000 were injured.