From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Hamas says it’s trying to locate Russian dual citizens held in Gaza to release them — Russia news agency
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleHamas is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens who were taken hostage during the Palestinian terror group’s attack on Israel in order to free them on Moscow’s request, Russian news agencies reported Saturday.
“From the Russian side, via the foreign ministry, we received a list of citizens that have dual citizenship,” a Hamas representative was cited as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
“We are looking for those people… It is hard but we are looking. And when we find them, we will let them go,” he says.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has claimed in the past that it is not holding all the hostages and that some of them were taken by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other factions.
Earlier this week, Hamas representatives arrived in Moscow to discuss the ongoing war with Israel with Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, in a meeting that was also attended by Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy foreign minister of the terror group’s chief sponsor, Iran.
Relatives of the 229 confirmed hostages have expressed concern that those held in Gaza who hold dual citizenship may be more likely to be released.
The Times of Israel Community.