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Russia Seeks to Unify Palestinian Factions, Including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, at Forthcoming Moscow Parley
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov with Hamas leaders Moussa Abu Marzouk (r) and Bassem Naim (l) in Moscow. Photo: Reuters/Handout
Russia will seek to unify the various Palestinian factions at a special meeting in Moscow next week, one of Moscow’s top diplomats confirmed on Monday.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, told pro-regime media outlets that “all Palestinian representatives who are located in different countries, in particular in Syria and Lebanon, other countries in the region,” had received invitations to the meeting in Moscow, which convenes on Feb 26. At the same time, Bogdanov stressed that President Vladimir Putin’s regime continues to regard the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — the main power in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) — as “the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people.”
The invitation has been extended to up to 14 Palestinian factions, according to Russian media sources, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of whom are sworn to Israel’s violent elimination.
Bogdanov’s statement came as the PA’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, urged Hamas to attend the talks in Moscow.
“We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity,” Syhtayyeh declared in remarks at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. Asked about the desirability of unifying with an organization designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU and other democracies, which is responsible for the atrocities carried out in southern Israel on Oct, 7, Shytayyeh dismissively responded, “One should not continue focusing on October 7.”
Since the Hamas pogrom, Russia has attempted to bolster its influence among the various Palestinian groups. On Oct. 26, it hosted a Hamas delegation led by Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of its politburo who received the status of “Specially Designated Terrorist” from the US Treasury Department in 1995.
More recently, Russia has criticized the decision of a slew of western governments to suspend aid to UNRWA, the UN refugee agency exclusively dedicated to the Palestinians, on the grounds that several of its employees had colluded with Hamas.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the decision as “collective punishment” while Putin himself spoke of the world’s “sacred duty” to aid Palestinians in Gaza at a recent press conference.
Russia’s latest intervention in the conflict between Hamas and Israel has been overshadowed by western fury over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Saturday while in custody at a penal colony in Kharp, a remote region close to the Arctic circle.
On Monday, Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, expressly accused Putin of orchestrating her husband’s assassination, promising to release further details soon. Separately, the US is considering additional sanctions against Russia over Navalny, whose body has not yet been released, while the EU declared that it would “spare no efforts to hold Russia’s political leadership and authorities to account, in close coordination with our partners; and impose further costs for their actions, including through sanctions.”
The post Russia Seeks to Unify Palestinian Factions, Including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, at Forthcoming Moscow Parley first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.