The Director of the Crisis Management Center at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yuri Gorlatch, announced today, Thursday, that Russia succeeded in rescuing most of the Russian citizens held by the Palestinian Hamas movement, confirming the continuation of the work.

Gorlatch said in a press conference broadcasted by the Russian news agency "TASS", there is another aspect we worked on with our Israeli counterparts, which is the release of detained Russians, and people holding Russian citizenship.. We worked hard on this matter and managed to free most of them, and we expect this work to continue.

Gorlatch confirmed that the situation in the region is "complex" and the safe recovery of prisoners is a "task that must be handled with great care," saying: "We are working closely with the authorities in both Israel and Qatar, which is also providing assistance."

The Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Alexander Ben Zvi, had earlier reported that 3 Russian citizens are still held by the Hamas movement, and pointed out that there are about 130 prisoners with the movement.

The Israeli forces continue their operations from the northern Gaza Strip through its center and reaching its south, while the spokesperson of the Israeli army announced the execution of intensive operations in the Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah neighborhoods in the northern strip.