Hamas rejects Moscow's request to release hostages 'captured' during Oct 7 attacks
Mousa Abu Marzook responds on the dual nationals, claiming 'Israel attributes foreign citizenship to hostages and pretends they are no longer Israeli'
Hamas deputy chairman Mousa Abu Marzook rejected the possibility of freeing the last hostages holding Russian nationality, after heading a delegation of the terrorist organization to Moscow over the weekend.
"Hamas doesn't care if they're Russian, French or whatever. They are soldiers killing Palestinians," Abu Marzouk answered during an interview with Russia Today, following a request made by the Russian Foreign ministry.
"We don't capture someone from Russia or France, we capture him because he kills Palestinians and he's an Israeli soldier. Israel attributes foreign citizenship to them and pretends they are no longer Israeli," the Hamas leader claimed, noting most of the hostages hold dual nationality.
"We have decided that there will be nothing new in the release of prisoners until there is a comprehensive ceasefire," he concluded.
The Hamas delegation met with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, following which, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling for the swift release of the hostages held in Gaza, three of whom are Russian nationals.
"The Russian side stressed the need for the speedy release of civilians captured during the attacks of 7 October 2023 and held by Palestinian factions, including three Russian citizens - A. Kozlov, A. Lobanov and A. Trufanov," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Although none of the three were serving in the military at the time of their abduction, Hamas considers hostages within a certain age range to be soldiers. Andrei Kozlov, 27, Alex Lubnov, 32, were both kidnapped at the Nova musical festival. Alexander Trupanov, 28, and his partner were visiting his mother and grandmother at Kibbutz Nir Oz.
This was a second public visit to Moscow by the terrorist organization Hamas, since the October 7 attacks. At the end of November, several hostages of Russian nationality had been released unconditionally, "as a sign of gratitude to Vladimir Putin for his support for the Palestinian cause.”