TEL AVIV, February 2. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov has emphasized that Russian diplomats are working hard to release their fellow citizens held hostage in Gaza, the embassy said in a statement.

Earlier, the ambassador received the mother of Russian national Andrey Kozlov, who is being held hostage in the strip.

"Anatoly Viktorov highlighted the ongoing efforts by Russian diplomats to release our fellow citizens as soon as possible. He pointed out that Russia would continue to seek the return of all its citizens held in the Palestinian semi-enclave, working purposefully with all the interested parties in the region on this very important humanitarian issue," the embassy’s statement reads.

After the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated on October 7, 2023, over 240 people found themselves hostage in the Gaza Strip, where full-scale military operations have continued since then. An agreement on a humanitarian pause was reached in late November, which lasted a few days and made it possible to release 110 people kidnapped on October 7. According to Israel’s estimates, 136 hostages still remain in Gaza.