The Hamas
...always the voice of sweet reason...terror group does not intend to comply with Russia’s request to release all Russian citizens currently held in captivity in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
, Hamas deputy politburo chairman Moussa Abu Marzouk told the Arabic edition of Russian state-owned media outlet RT on Friday.
According to Hebrew media outlet Ynet, Hamas rejected a request made by Moscow in December for the release of captives with dual Russian-Israeli citizenship because "many Israelis have dual citizenship," and so it is not enough of a reason to justify their release.
"We did not capture people because they’re Russian or French. We captured them because they kill Paleostinians and they’re Israeli soldiers," Abu Marzouk reportedly told RT Arabic during the 25-minute interview.
"Israel gives them foreign citizenship and then claims that they aren’t Israeli, but rather that they have a different citizenship. It’s as though we don’t have captive Israelis at all," the Hamas official added.
In fact, Israel has never claimed hostages with dual nationality are not Israeli.
Abu Marzouk also claimed, as a further justification for refusing to fulfill Russia’s request, that "most of the Israeli soldiers have dual citizenship."
The majority of the 253 hostages seized by the terror group on October 7 — during their onslaught in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered — were civilians. Additionally, only around 10 percent of Israel’s population is believed to hold citizenship in two or more countries.
It is believed that 132 of the hostages taken on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released before that, and one was rescued by troops.
The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 27 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas has also been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Abu Marzouk’s interview came during a visit to Moscow by the Hamas official, at which time he met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza.
"The Hamas leadership delegation held political consulting with the Russian Foreign Ministry to discuss ways to a ceasefire to achieve an end to the aggression against our Paleostinian people," Abu Marzouk said in a statement following the meeting.
"The delegation affirmed the right of our Paleostinian people to achieve freedom and return, and their right to resist the Zionist occupation by all available means," he added.
In return, Bogdanov "expressed his country’s position in support of the rights of the Paleostinian people," Abu Marzouk said.