MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Moscow is maintaining relations only with Hamas’ political wing and these contacts have made it possible to reach a deal on the hostage release, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"On October 7, Hamas staged a terror attack and we condemned it immediately," he told the Doha forum via a video link when asked about Moscow’s attitude to Hamas’ actions during the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He noted that Hamas "has a political wing, which is headquartered in Doha."

"We have relations with this political wing," he went on to say. "And we immediately got in touch with its representatives in Doha to speak about the fate of hostages, both Russians and Israelis, as well as citizens of a number of Russian neighboring countries and other states."

"We managed to reach a deal, which, as far as I understand, was taken positively by the Israeli side," he added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.