Russian Ambassador to Israel meets with the mother of Russian Trufanov, captured by Hamas

Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov met with the mother of Russian Alexander Trufanov, who remained in captivity of the Palestinian movement Hamas. This was reported by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Israel in its Telegram channel on December 20.

Viktorov expressed his support to the family of the captive Trufanov and said that the Russian side was taking all actions to release all hostages from the Gaza Strip.

"From the very beginning of the unprecedented escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, this issue has remained a priority for our country," the embassy wrote.

The ambassador assured that the Russian Foreign Ministry is working promptly to resolve this acute humanitarian task as soon as possible.

Earlier, in October this year, Viktorov said that three Russians, who also have Israeli citizenship, may be among the hostages of the Palestinian Hamas movement. He added that relevant contacts on the issue of their release were underway.

The situation in the region escalated after Hamas subjected the territory of Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, and also invaded the border areas in the south of the country. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians intend to return the borders between the two countries to those that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with possible land swaps. Palestine wants to establish its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.