Senior Hamas delegation visits Russia for talks

Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in the Russian capital Moscow on Saturday accompanied by a senior delegation from the movement’s leadership.

In a statement, Haniyeh’s media adviser, Taher Al-Nono, said the Hamas leader “arrived in Moscow on a visit during which he intends to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a number of Russian leaders and officials.”

The movement’s delegation includes Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, in addition to Political Bureau member, Moussa Abu Marzouk and Maher Salah.

According to Al-Nono, “the visit, which comes at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, will last for several days and aims to discuss prospects for bilateral relations to serve the Palestinian cause.”

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The visit, he continued, “comes at a very important time … as international developments and changes related to the region and their effects on the Palestinian cause will be discussed.”

Hamas opted to accept Moscow’s invitation despite some opposition among its leaders, sources said, noting that the Hamas leadership recognises that this invitation came as part of Russia’s dispute with Israel, Europe and the US which deals with Hamas as a terrorist entity.

The Palestinian resistance movement accepted the invitation on the basis that does not reject dialogue with any party.

Hamas, according to the sources, believes that this visit would help shed light on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and this would lead the media to concentrate on disclosing more Israeli violations against Palestinians.