There is also bad news from the Middle East war for Moscow. Two Russians killed in Hamas attacks against Israel said the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning. Hamas also admitted that Russian citizens were among the many hostages in the Gaza Strip. And as the Palestinian terror group shelled Israel, a rocket in Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem hit the Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, one of Israel’s largest mosques and named after the father of Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov.
Russia would therefore have good reasons to strongly condemn Hamas’ attacks. But it didn’t. Moscow has generally demanded that the violence stop and called for peace talks. Nothing was heard from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for days. On Tuesday he then railed against the USA. The attacks are a “strong example of the failure of the United States,” which has tried to monopolize politics in the Middle East. They did not campaign for their own sovereign Palestinian state. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, accused the West, particularly the United States, of failing to recognize the danger on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
Hamas representatives were in Moscow in March
Moscow does not hesitate to ban organizations as “extremist” in its own country, but it shied away from classifying Hamas – unlike the Afghan Taliban, for example – as a terrorist organization. On the contrary: representatives of the Palestinian group only visited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in March.
Russia’s relations with Hamas go back well to Soviet times, when Moscow sided with the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict – as a counterweight to Israel, which was supported by the USA. Even in Russia under Putin, connections to Hamas have remained, and of course also to the Palestinian Fatah organization. Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad: Moscow wants to be able to talk to everyone if possible. Russia also has a pragmatic relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has so far refrained from supporting Ukraine with Israeli weapons systems in its defense against Russia.
There is much to suggest that Russia has also been surprised by Hamas’ hellfire. Moscow’s position is still that there should be an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. But this is likely to be even more difficult to achieve at the moment, especially if Israel launches a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, as is expected. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is now obviously trying to act as a mediator and hold on to as much influence as possible where he is in danger of losing it. Israel is currently feeling great support, especially from the Americans and Europeans.
On Monday Lavrov has already met with the head of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit. According to Russian media reports, preparations are also being made for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Moscow soon. Russia is ready to help resolve the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. And emphasized that many Russians lived in Israel. What he didn’t mention: that Russia is considered a close ally of Iran, which in turn supports Hezbollah, which is also hostile to Israel.
Birthday present for Putin?
Many suspect that the war that has flared up in the Middle East is benefiting Russia anyway. Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the conflict between Hamas and Israel could trigger a new wave of migration towards the European Union. The war inevitably plays into Russia’s hands because it diverts the attention of the international community from the war against Ukraine. The Ukrainian leadership also fears that support, especially from the USA, could suffer.
The major rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which was engineered by the USA and may not have been to Russia’s liking, has now been suspended. The magazine Politico quoted even an EU diplomat saying that Hamas’s attack on Israel was “probably the best birthday present for Vladimir Putin” because it would divide the attention and the US would focus on Israel. Putin turned 71 on Saturday.