The Special Envoy of the Russian President for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov, stressed the need to release the hostages in Gaza, including Donbas-born Maxim Kharkin, during a meeting with the Hamas leadership in Doha, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
„On March 16 in Doha, the Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov met with the Chairman of the Hamas Executive Council, Mohammed Ismail Darwish, and the Deputy Chairmen of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khaled Mashal and Musa Abu Marzouk,“, the ministry reported.
During the conversation, it was confirmed “the need for the rapid release of all hostages remaining in Gaza, including Donbas-born Maxim Kharkin“.
“The main emphasis was on the development of the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. In particular, the issues of implementing the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement concluded between Hamas and Israel on January 15 were discussed in detail,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Bogdanov pointed to “the illegality of the decision of the Israeli authorities to cut off the electricity supply to the Palestinian enclave, which is a gross violation of international humanitarian law”. “During the exchange of views on the issue of restoring Palestinian national unity, the readiness of Russian diplomacy to continue to assist in the consolidation of all Palestinian political forces and movements on the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization was expressed,“ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
In the conversation with Hamas, the Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized “the consistency of Moscow's position in support of a fair settlement of the Palestinian problem on a generally recognized international legal basis, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem“.
According to the latest information from the Israeli side, the radicals continue to hold 59 hostages in the Gaza Strip, including Donbas-born Maxim Kharkin, whose close relatives have Russian citizenship. On February 15, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Russian side would continue to actively seek his speedy return and expressed hope that the Hamas leadership would "pay close attention to other humanitarian demands" from Moscow.
Israeli negotiators are discussing the release of hostages with Egyptian officials at the behest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This was announced by the Prime Minister's Office.
“At the direction of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the negotiating team is currently meeting with senior Egyptian officials in Egypt to discuss the release of the hostages“, the statement said.
On March 15, Netanyahu held a meeting with the negotiating team and instructed it to prepare to continue the negotiations in accordance with the mediators' response to the proposal of US presidential envoy Stephen Witkoff for the immediate release of the 11 kidnapped hostages and half of the dead hostages. A day earlier, representatives of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas announced their readiness to release one live hostage and hand over the bodies of four dead ones.
According to the latest information from the Israeli side, Hamas is currently holding 24 hostages and the bodies of 35 dead prisoners in Gaza.