Russian nationals released by Hamas outside prisoner swap deal – diplomat

World 27 November, 2023 12:30

According to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, Russian diplomats will visit it in the near future.

A hostage with the Russian passport has been released as a result of direct agreements with Hamas, not under the prisoner swap deal, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. "The efforts Russian diplomats are making in contacts with Hamas concerning the release of hostages are yielding results. Today, a holder of the Russian passport was released and handed over to the Red Cross. Russian diplomats will visit him as soon as it is possible," she wrote on her Telegram channel. According to the spokeswoman, the released has become possible thanks to "direct agreements between Russian representatives and Hamas." "These efforts will continue," she added. Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, told TASS earlier in the day that Hamas had released a Russian national and transferred him to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS in late October that Hamas had promised to answer Russia’s request to release eight Russian nationals who were held hostage. Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The agreement stipulates the release of 50 women and children under the age of 19 who are held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 women and children under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons. A four-day ceasefire came into force in the Gaza Strip from 8:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24.