PUTIN INVITES HAMAS FOR TALKS IN MOSCOW AS WAR TAKES GLOBAL TWIST
February 20, 2024Russia has taken a more serious step closer to becoming involved in the Israel-Hamas war after inviting all Hamas and other Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow.
The annoucement came from Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh during a public interview at the Munich Security Conference.
“Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26th of this month in Moscow,” Shtayyeh stated.
The factions include the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as representatives of Fatah and the broader Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle explains Russia’s motives are to demonstrate Russia’s power as a regional power and to put the USA on notice.
Relations between Russia and Israel are strained following the war on Gaza which Putin has described as a “”genocide””.
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English Script:
Anchor: Palestinian factions are due to meet in Moscow on the 26th of this month. According to the Palestinian Authority, it’s unclear if Hamas will be attending. Groups from Syria and neighboring Lebanon have also been included. We can now bring in our international affairs editor, Philip Turow. Philip, good afternoon. How is, why rather, is Moscow trying to do this?
Philip Turow: Well, I think that according to Palestinian officials, there are a couple of reasons. The first one is that this has been organized and called by the deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, who is a special envoy to the Middle East. So those factions are coming to Moscow on the 29th of February. That’s to include Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization umbrella group, who will all be there. So a broad number of dozen or so Palestinian factions who will be taking part in these discussions.
And I think the aim here is to try to bring them all together, to try to hammer out some kind of an agreement on how a Palestinian leadership should look in the future and how that should shape up once the conflict in Gaza is over.
I think what we’re seeing here is basically Russia trying to assert its influence as a regional power. Face to face with the war in Ukraine, it knows that it’s going to have to play towards both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They are supported by Iran. Iran, which is supplying drones to the Russians in its war in Ukraine. So, all of this is interlinked as a way of Russia trying to assert its authority, to drive a wedge between the United States and the Palestinians and Israel.
Russia, which has fallen out with Israel in recent times, especially since the war in Gaza started. So, I don’t think you should see this as purely something that the Russians are interested in, in the goodwill of the Palestinians, there’s a part in that. But it’s also putting Russia back on the map as a regional player trying to assert its influence just ahead of a Russian presidential election. And just a couple of days after the death of Alexei Navalny. So that is, I think, also part of what is in being a, behind the scenes negotiated in all of this.
Putin: This is a very important humanitarian, noble mission. We must help the people in Gaza who are suffering from the current events. We see what is going on there. That’s why it’s our sacred duty to help.
