Hamas said it cannot release hostages seized during its attack on Israel until a ceasefire is agreed, the Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a member of a Hamas delegation visiting Moscow as saying.
It quoted Abu Hamid as saying Hamas needed time to locate all of those who had been taken from Israel to Gaza by various Palestinian factions in a Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
"They seized dozens of people, most of them civilians, and we need time to find them in the Gaza Strip and then release them," Hamid said, Reuters reported.
Kommersant quoted him as saying a calm environment was needed to complete this task. Hamas said on Thursday around 50 of the hostages had been killed in Israeli air strikes.
Israel has urged Russia to expel the visiting Hamas delegation, calling their invitation to Moscow "deplorable".
Earlier on Thursday, Iranian and Hamas representatives arrived in Moscow to hold talks for the first time in three weeks since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
The deputy foreign minister of Iran, Ali Bagheri Kani, also visited Moscow on October 26, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing without giving further details.
“Hamas” said that its delegation in Moscow stressed the right of the Palestinian people to “resist” Israel in all possible means.
In a statement, the movement added that the delegation urged the international community to bear responsibility for the “genocide” committed by Israel.
The delegation led by Musa Abu Marzouk, head of the group’s International Relations Office, met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov at the Russian foreign ministry headquarters in Moscow.
Hamas representatives showcased the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip and ways to stop what they described as US and West-backed “crimes”. They said they had told Bogdanov that they “highly valued Putin’s position and the efforts of Russian diplomacy”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said later in a statement that it discussed the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of foreigners, including Russian nationals, with a Hamas delegation.
Moscow affirmed its support for implementing the international community resolutions, which stipulate the establishment of the State of Palestine with full sovereignty and independence based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the coexistence in peace and security with Israel.
For his part, Bogdanov expressed his country’s support to the Palestinians and showcased Moscow’s efforts with relevant parties to reach a ceasefire, open crossings, and enter humanitarian aid.
Putin warned on Wednesday that there are attempts to bring other countries into the conflict in the Middle East and “launch a real wave of chaos”.
