Hamas officials visiting Moscow were quoted by Russian media on Friday as saying the militant group viewed all its hostages as Israelis, whatever additional passports they held, and could not release any of them until Israel agreed to a ceasefire.
Hamas wants this war to continue, so they probably won’t release all hostages any time soon. They want an offensive of Israel in Gaza with as many Palestinian civil casualties as possible. This gets them more sympathy, support and in turn increases the global pressure and critique on Israel.
Leaving the obvious moral horrificness of what Israel is doing aside, it's also quite moronic that they're giving Hamas exactly what it wants, while driving the civilians of Gaza, the people who's "hearts and minds" they need to win for a chance at real peace in the region, even further away. All while rapidly throwing away the goodwill they have with the rest of the world. Strategically, Israel is gaining nothing from this apart from a quick win for Netanyahu with his own population, so he can stay in power.
Why don’t ‘TEH JEWZ’ use their Space Lasers? That what I don’t understand. A super intelligent US politician spoke about their capabilities. It must be true!
Hamas Politburo member Abu Marzouk told state news agency RIA that Russia, the United States, France, Spain, Italy and many others had appealed for the release of their nationals from among more than 200 hostages that Hamas seized in a cross-border rampage into Israel on Oct. 7.
Another member of the delegation, Abu Hamid, told Kommersant newspaper that Hamas needed time to locate all those taken to Gaza by various Palestinian factions in the Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,400 people.
Russia on Friday defended its decision to invite the Hamas delegation to Moscow against strong Israeli criticism, saying it was necessary to maintain contacts with all sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Israel, which has vowed to wipe out Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack, has described the decision as "deplorable" and urged Moscow to expel the delegation.
Russia has ties to all the key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Syria, Hamas, and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority which exercises limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.
Peskov ruled out any risk of Russia being drawn into the conflict after U.S. fighter jets on Friday struck weapons and ammunition facilities in Syria in retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militia.
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