Moscow Ready to Host New Round of Palestinian Dialogue

A Palestinian man carrying clothes walks as he evacuates his shop following Israeli airstrikes, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
A Palestinian man carrying clothes walks as he evacuates his shop following Israeli airstrikes, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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Moscow Ready to Host New Round of Palestinian Dialogue

A Palestinian man carrying clothes walks as he evacuates his shop following Israeli airstrikes, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
A Palestinian man carrying clothes walks as he evacuates his shop following Israeli airstrikes, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and North Africa Mikhail Bogdanov held on Thursday a comprehensive round of talks with a visiting Hamas delegation in Moscow.

The Russian diplomat said the meeting was useful and constructive, according to the official Tass news agency. He added that the delegation included three members from the Hamas leadership, including Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk.

“Everyone understands the importance of traditionally friendly Russian-Palestinian relations, and we maintain contact with all the leading political and social forces in Palestine,” Bogdanov was quoted as saying.

He noted that the discussions touched on the Palestinian reconciliation, underlining that his country has renewed its call for a new round of negotiations between the Palestinian factions in Moscow.

The deputy minister explained that Russia has repeatedly reiterated its willingness to make additional efforts in this regard.

“We are always ready to present the Moscow platform for public meetings, bilateral or trilateral talks, based on the request of the Palestinians themselves,” he stated.

Bogdanov continued as reported by Tass: “We, on our part, reaffirmed our unwavering principled stance - to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with the capital in East Jerusalem. And this position is based exactly on the well-known international legal framework of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.”

The Russian official went on to say that Thursday’s meeting tackled developments in Jerusalem, where Russia emphasized the need to stop the escalation.

The Hamas delegation, which includes Marzouk, Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran, in addition to the movement's representative in Moscow, held other meetings with parliamentarians and representatives of Russian social organizations.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”