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Middle East conflict

Russian diplomats doing their best to release Gaza hostages — ambassador

Anatoly Viktorov expressed his wholehearted support to the family of Yelena Trufanova whose son Alexander is still being held hostage in the Palestinian enclave

TEL AVIV, December 21. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov has held a meeting with Yelena Trufanova, a Russian citizen who was released in the Gaza Strip with Moscow's active assistance in November 2023, the embassy said.

At the meeting, the envoy expressed his wholehearted support to the family of Trufanova whose son Alexander is still being held hostage in the Palestinian enclave as he gave his assurances that Russian diplomats are making every effort to free Russian and foreign hostages in Gaza.

"[Viktorov] briefed [his guest] on the concerted steps being taken by the Russian side to release everyone being kept in the Gaza Strip, including Russian and foreign citizens," the embassy said in a statement. "He noted that the given issue had been a priority for Russia since the unprecedented escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone broke out. He gave his assurances that the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian diplomats continue consistent work with all interested sides in the Middle East and that they are doing everything in their power to resolve this major humanitarian issue as soon as possible," the statement reads.

Tensions flared again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the capture of over 240 hostages.

At the end of November 2023, a humanitarian ceasefire was reached in the Gaza Strip for a week. During that time, according to the Israeli side, over 110 hostages who had been kidnapped on October 7, 2023 were released. According to the latest data from the Israeli side, Hamas radicals are still holding about 100 people hostage in Gaza.

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Foreign policy Palestine Gaza Strip

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