Hamas says Russian national Maxim Herkin to be prioritized in deal’s 2nd stage
Senior terror group official Moussa Abu Marzouk also says Alexander Trufanov will be released ‘in the near future’ during first phase

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said on Monday that Maxim Herkin, kidnapped by Gazan terrorists from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, will be released as a priority in the second stage of the deal.
Abu Marzouk was in Moscow along with a senior Hamas delegation for negotiations at the Russian foreign ministry.
He also told Russian outlet Sputnik that hostage Alexander “Sasha” Trufanov, a dual Russian-Israeli national, will be released imminently.
“One of them, Trufanov, will definitely be released in the near future. He will be released despite the fact that he is a serviceperson, but it was decided to release him at the first stage of the deal,” Abu Marzouk said.
Trufanov is a civilian and was abducted from his home, but Hamas classifies all male hostages under 50 as members of the military.
“This is our response to Russia’s position on the Palestinian issue,” Abu Marzouk said, referencing Moscow’s warm relations with Hamas and recognition of a Palestinian state.
Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, and Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Trufanov, 28, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside his mother, grandmother and girlfriend. His father was murdered. The rest of his family was released under a previous ceasefire deal in November 2023. He is on the list of the first 33 so-called “humanitarian hostages” to be released in the ongoing 42-day first stage of the current hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Herkin, 35 when he was taken hostage, has a 3-year-old daughter and is the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother.
He went to the Nova festival almost by chance, invited by friends at the last minute. It was the first time he had gone to a rave.
The second phase of the deal is expected to include the return of all the remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for a yet-to-be-determined number of Palestinian security prisoners and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

Reports have increasingly indicated, however, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seriously entertaining the possibility of resuming the war after the first phase of the deal, as the far-right members of his governing coalition have demanded, rather than continuing on to the second phase.
So far, 13 Israeli hostages have been freed under the deal, along with five Thai captives who were released outside of the framework of the agreement.
The most recent release of hostages on Saturday saw Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, and Ofer Calderon handed over to Israel after 484 days in Hamas captivity.
The hostages are among 251 Israelis and foreigners kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst into Israel, killing some 1,200 people amid rampant acts of brutality and overt targeting of civilians, starting the war in Gaza.
Seventy-six of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.