TASS. October 29. /TASS/. Russia is sparing no effort for the release of hostage kept by Hamas, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"We are doing our best on all the tracks. First, this is political work in international formats, in the United Nations, to lobby the most important thing - namely, to cease fire, stop violence, to achieve what is generally called de-escalation," she said in an interview with the Voskresny Vecher (Sunday Evening) With Vladimir Soloviov on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

Spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Daniel Hagari said earlier that he had verified data about 229 people abducted and kept by radicals in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.