Report: Delegation from Moscow arrived in Israel today to discuss release of two Russian-Israeli hostages

A delegation from Moscow reportedly arrived in Israel today to discuss negotiations for the release of two Israeli hostages who are dual Russian citizens held by Hamas in Gaza.

The Saudi Al-Hadath outlet reports that the delegation brought a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Russian President Vladmir Putin to end Israel’s ongoing military campaigns against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A source in Netanyahu’s office tells The Times of Israel that the Russian delegation’s visit was not connected to hostages held by Hamas.

The report comes after the Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told the RIA state news agency earlier today that the two hostages, Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov and Maxim Herkin, will be among the first to be released during an eventual hostage release, but only as part of a ceasefire deal and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian security prisoners.

It also comes as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Doha amid efforts to revive stalled hostage-ceasefire talks.

An Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Doha in the coming days to meet with US and Qatari negotiators.

It is believed that 97 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.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.