Publish Date: 20 January 2024 - 10:39

Tehran, IRNA — Russia has called on Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to speed up releasing civilians seized during the attacks on October 7, 2023, media outlets have reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation issued a statement on Friday, informing that Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov had held talks with a member of the Hamas Political Bureau Mousa Abu Marzook.

During the meeting, both sides focused the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has propelled the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip to catastrophic proportions.

The Russian official stressed the need for expediting the release of civilians seized during the attacks on October 7, 2023, including three Russian citizens.

Moscow is making efforts to contact the warring parties to reach a ceasefire, he further noted.

Meanwhile, Hamas’s delegation said that the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and the region pose a serious threat to global peace and security.

The delegation also called for the right of the Palestinians to achieve freedom and return to their homeland and the right to resist the Zionist occupiers with all available methods and tools.

After more than three months of genocide in Gaza by the Zionist regime and the death of over 24,000 Palestinians, the European Parliament has finally issued a non-binding resolution in support of a “permanent ceasefire” in the besieged enclave.

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