Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, with Hamas movement's troops infiltrating border areas. On October 8, the Israeli government announced that it had invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law, which means the country was officially in a state of war.

Hamas Insists That Russia Be One of Guarantors of Gaza Ceasefire, Deputy Head of Politburo Says

09:35, 25 June 2024

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has repeatedly called on Israel and Hamas to stop hostilities since the escalation of the conflict began on October 7, 2023. Moscow says peace is possible only on the basis of a formula approved by the UN Security Council with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Sputnik

The Palestinian movement Hamas insists that Russia should be one of the guarantors of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas political bureau deputy head Musa Abu Marzouk, who has arrived in Russia for meetings at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Sputnik.

"We still insist that Russia be the guarantor of such a ceasefire agreement, because obviously the United States is on the side of Israel ... Russia's position is fairer, more acceptable to all sides, and it is ready to act in this direction. We want to put an end to the hegemony of the United States and its one-sided influence on the Palestinian issue," Marzouk said.

However, the movement does not ask Russia for military assistance, Marzouk added.

"No, we did not ask for military assistance. The war is going on in Gaza; Gaza is producing its own weapons for close combat, and, so far, we believe that we can manage on our own for this kind of fighting," he said.

Furthermore, Hamas claims that Russia plans to organize a new meeting of Palestinian factions in Moscow on the formation of a unified government, as Marzouk told Sputnik.

A meeting of the Palestinian factions was held in Moscow at the end of February. The parties discussed the formation of a new unified government as well as the problem of the post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza.

"Russia is trying to organize a new meeting," Marzouk said, adding that a date for the event could be discussed during the visit of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to Russia.

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Hamas expects to be invited to the meeting, Marzouk said, adding that the movement hopes the meeting will take place, as "this is the only option to unite the people and political parties in the new government."

"Russia took a very good step when it invited representatives of Palestinian factions to Moscow in an attempt to reconcile and unite the Palestinians. But, unfortunately, after we agreed and signed a document in Moscow, which all representatives of the parties agreed to, but the Abbas authorities made a unilateral decision and created a new government themselves... Therefore, we are now waiting for the next meeting, when there will be an invitation from Russia to continue negotiations," Marzouk explained.

Meanwhile, he noted that there is no progress in negotiations on a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has not received a response to its amendments to the text of the document.

"The efforts of our friends in Qatar are continuing; they are trying to break the freeze on the process, but there is no progress ... We have made several changes that Israel has not agreed to. Therefore, they remained unanswered," Marzouk said.