Friday, October 27, 2023

Hamas official says ceasefire needed before hostages can be freed - Russian newspaper

The Palestinian Hamas terrorist group that controls Gaza cannot release hostages seized during its attack on Israel until a ceasefire is agreed, the Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a member of a Hamas delegation visiting Moscow as saying.

It cited Abu Hamid as saying Hamas needed time to locate all those taken from Israel to Gaza by various Palestinian terrorist organizations in a Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

"They seized dozens of people, most of them civilians, and we need time to find them in the Gaza Strip and then release them," Hamid said.

"They seized dozens of people, most of them civilians, and we need time to find them in the Gaza Strip and then release them,"

Hamas delegation Abu Hamid

Kommersant quoted him as saying a calm environment was needed to complete this task. Hamas said on Thursday around 50 of the hostages had been killed in Israeli air strikes. READ MORE