Russia asks Hamas to release the foreign hostages, among whom there would be three or six Russians, according to different versions. A Hamas delegation, headed by the number two in its political bureau, Musa Abu Marzuk, met yesterday in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, as a continuation of efforts made by Russia in Qatar regarding the hostages, six Russians, according to the Israeli portal Yediot News, three with dual nationality, according to the Russian ambassador to Israel.
On the other hand, it is believed that 23 Russian citizens died in the bombings of Gaza. The Hamas delegation said goodbye with congratulations, while, for his part, Bogdanov announced that the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will also go to Moscow “soon.”
There is nothing strange about the quote, much less in the current circumstances. Moscow has supported the Palestinian cause since the times of the USSR, when it was led by Yasir Arafat. In recent years, Vladimir Putin met with Mahmoud Abbas, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has received Hamas leaders Khaled Mishal, Ismail Haniyeh and Abu Marzuk.
Russia’s interest in the Palestinian issue also depends on the need to be very present in the Middle East, given its particular relations with Syria, Iran and Israel. In this sense, we must understand Putin’s words on October 13: Russia can be a mediator in the conflict “since it does not play anyone’s game.”
So much so that, according to many observers, the first thing the Russian president did was make Beniamin Netanyahu look bad by not calling him until days after the Hamas attack on October 7, even though they have had good relations. Putin accuses the US of “monopolizing” the conflict without respecting either the Palestinian aspiration for its own state or UN resolutions, which Israel has always failed to comply with.
What came next was a propaganda crossfire in which Joe Biden put Putin and Hamas in the same bag (the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, even said that the Russian was behind the Islamists), while in Moscow the turiferists Kremlin regulars responded sourly. In the midst of all this, Russia’s ceasefire proposal to the UN Security Council was shot down because it did not condemn Hamas (the Russian ambassador condemned violence against civilians on both sides). Hamas appreciated the Russian position even though it defends the two-state solution, which is not exactly its own, and the most pro-Israeli analysts commented that Putin was deteriorating relations with the Jewish State.
The reality is more complex. Moscow condemned “Islamic extremists” at the time of the suicide bombings, but stopped doing so when Hamas won at the polls in 2006. Since then, its leaders have visited Moscow. But official relations are with the Palestinian Authority and Russia has its representation in Ramallah. When Donald Trump promoted his “deal of the century” (actually Netanyahu’s agenda) and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Moscow rallied Palestinian factions in search of never-achieved “national unity.” Russia acted as a support for the real manager, Egypt, but an important support nonetheless. Contacts with the Palestinians have continued. Abu Marzuk was in Moscow last year.
Meanwhile, Russia and Israel have maintained a good relationship of convenience, and not only because of Israel’s Russian-speaking population, 15%. A red phone allows Israel to bomb interests of the Lebanese Hizbullah (that is, Iran) in Syria without the Kremlin, as protector of the Bashar al-Assad regime, protesting even though the target is the civilian airports of Damascus and Aleppo (twice, recently). In return, the Russians welcome the curbing of Iranian power in the region, and at the same time Israel knows that it can count on them to reduce tension with Tehran. This relationship meant that Israel did not condemn the invasion of Ukraine or join the international sanctions (which also affected Russian magnates with dual passports, such as Roman Abramovich). Likewise, he denied the Iron Dome anti-missile system that a Jewish president like Volodymyr Zelensky implored. Could all this jeopardize Vladimir Putin’s attitude now?