Russia responds to Israel’s displeasure with Hamas Moscow invitation

Russia clarified its position on Friday regarding the invitation extended to a delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas to visit Moscow, explaining that it maintains channels of communication with all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This statement came after Israel expressed its displeasure with Moscow’s invitation to Hamas and described the visit as “obscene”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the delegation met with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry but did not meet with President Vladimir Putin. Peskov stressed that Moscow will continue its dialogue with Israel.

Peskov conveyed to reporters: “We believe it is necessary to continue contacts with all sides and, of course, we will continue our dialogue with Israel.”

Russian relations in the Middle East include all major parties, including Israel, Iran, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has only limited authority in the occupied West Bank.

The Russian Embassy in Israel issued a statement in which it reiterated the call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all those detained by Hamas and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip, which Israel is intensively bombing, killing more than 7,000 Palestinians, in preparation for an expected ground invasion.

Russia has repeatedly blamed the current crisis on the failure of US diplomacy.

READ: Phone networks, communication channels down in Gaza as Israel announces ‘new phase’

Israel urged Moscow to dismiss the Hamas delegation, and it vowed to eliminate the movement in response to an attack launched by its fighters on 7 October.

Meanwhile, Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a statement by a member of the Hamas delegation, in which he stated that the movement would not release the detainees until a ceasefire agreement is reached.

The newspaper quoted the same member saying that Hamas needs time to determine the location of all those transferred by various Palestinian factions from Israel to Gaza during the attack on 7 October.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned attempts to accuse Russia of supporting “terrorism” in the context of its communication within the Middle East to contribute to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv announced on Friday in an official statement that: “Attempts to accuse Russia of supporting terrorism in the context of Moscow’s interaction in the Middle East are unacceptable and the Russian side condemns any violence against civilians on any side.”

The statement added: “The position of Russia is consistent, remains unchanged and has been repeatedly confirmed at all levels. We strongly condemn the use of terrorist methods, including the killing of civilians, taking hostage women, the elderly and children, who must be released. We consider unacceptable the manifestation of violence in any form against the civilian population, no matter what side it is on.”

“We find absolutely unacceptable any attempts to accuse us of supporting terrorism and thereby distort and erode our fundamental approaches as well as cast doubt on the purposeful work of our country to solve primary humanitarian tasks that meet the interests of the citizens of Russia, Israel, Palestine and other countries,” stressed the statement.

The mission confirmed that Russian communications in the Middle East focus primarily on the release of those captured from Gaza.

READ: Hamas representatives meet with Russia officials in Moscow