Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov has defended his country’s decision to to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow, saying that Russia believes it is necessary to maintain contacts with all sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The decision to meet Hamas delegation prompted Israeli anger.
Peskov said that the delegation had met with representatives of Russia’s foreign ministry but had had no contact with the Kremlin.
A senior Hamas delegation travelled to Moscow on Thursday, October 26, 2023, to meet Russian foreign ministry officials.
The delegation was led by Mousa Abu Marzook, a founder and political leader of Hamas, who met the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov.
Marzook, who lives in exile in Qatar, travelled to Moscow after an earlier meeting in Doha with Bogdanov and the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani.
The delegation was confirmed by representatives of Hamas and by Russia, and a photo showed the three men meeting at the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow.
He also touched on the United States’ attacks on Syrian and Iranian depots.
Peskov said that U.S involvement displayed broader regional tensions which are “very bad.”He stated there was no possibility of the Russian military being drawn into the Middle East conflict.
Earlier, a member of a Hamas delegation visiting Moscow said that the group cannot release the captives taken during its October 7 attacks on Israel until there is a ceasefire agreement, a Russian newspaper disclosed.
The paper quoted Hamas’s Abu Hamid as saying that Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed 50 of the captives and that the group needed time to locate all of those who had been taken to Gaza by various Palestinian factions.
It is perceived that the Hamas delegation’s visit to the Russian capital is a way for Russia to largely declare that it is not on the sidelines and remains an important regional player in trying to mediate the conflict.
For Hamas, on the other hand, this visit was important to show how the military group is accepted in Russia. Moscow does not recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation and the group is also not banned in Russia.
Meanwhile, Israel’s army announced that its forces killed Midhat Mabasher, the Commander of Hamas’s West Khan Younis battalion.
The army said the operation on Thursday, Ocrober 26, 2023, night was carried out together with Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency.
It added that Mabasher had taken part in launching explosives against Israeli settlements and the army.
There was no immediate comment by Hamas.
“Diplomacy Without Going Full Distance”
According to Abdullah al-Arian, Associate Professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar, Russia’s hosting of a Hamas delegation in Moscow is a way for the country to create “some sort of separate track for diplomacy without going the full distance.”
Speaking to a news agency, al-Arian said, “You also have to take into account the rivalry between Russia and U.S,” explaining how the US’s strong support towards Israel could be the reason behind Russia also trying to get involved in mediating the war by talking to Hamas.
He added that besides Russia, multiple international actors are trying to expand some degree of influence to see if they can de-escalate the situation.
“But it seems to be too early to tell what that might deliver on,” he opined.
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