Hamas tells Russia: We won’t release hostages without Israel cease-fire

A Hamas official said the militant group will not release hostages it took during its violent attack on October 7 until Israel agrees to a cease-fire.

Abu Hamid, a member of the Hamas delegation that visited Moscow on October 26, told the Russian state-controlled Kommersant newspaper that the group also needs time to locate all the hostages in Gaza, POLITICO reports.

In an interview with the Russian outlet, Abu Hamid said his group “captured dozens of people, most of them civilians, and we need time to find them in the Gaza Strip and then liberate them.”

During Hamas’ assault on Israel earlier this month, the militant group killed more than 1,400 people and took around 200 hostages. Since then, about 50 of the hostages have been killed by ongoing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes against Gaza, Abu Hamid told Kommersant.

During Hamas’ visit to Moscow, led by Mousa Abu Marzook, a founder and political leader of the militant group, Abu Hamid said they presented their reasons for the attack to Russia.

“The Russian Federation is a friendly country for the Palestinian people and maintains relations with all representatives of the Palestinian people,” he said. “We are always ready to consult with [it] on various issues.”

On Thursday, Israel slammed Russia for welcoming the Hamas delegation, calling the visit an “undignified step” and asking Moscow to expel the officials. The Russian foreign ministry said the talks focused on the release of the hostages and the evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza. Russia “reaffirmed its unchanged position” in favour of the establishment of a Palestinian state during the talks, they said.

Since the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Moscow has repeatedly warned against an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said would lead to a broader regional conflict. Putin has also blamed the US for escalating the conflict.