(LibertySociety.com) – Russia’s stance on the conflict in Israel and Gaza has been largely confusing since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 that resulted in the death of 1,400 people in Israel. The Russian Foreign Ministry hosted a Hamas delegation just three days before a mob of Muslims stormed an airport on October 29 with the goal of killing any Jewish people they could find. A flight arriving from Israel was forced to land at a different airport to avoid the mob that had rushed to the gate where the plane was scheduled to land. Members of the mob were heard screaming “Allah Akbar” and waving Palestinian flags.
The Israeli government condemned the storming of the airport and demanded that Russia protect Jews and Israelis from harm. The Kremlin responded to the attacks by blaming it on a foreign operation conducted by the Ukrainians via the Telegram messaging app. Dagestan’s leader, Sergey Melikov, said that they “received absolutely reliable information” that the Telegram channel Utro Degestan was controlled “by traitors” in the Ukrainian territory. Melikov said that they would find the people who participated in the airport mob and that no one would be forgiven.
Russia also vetoed a resolution brought forward to the United Nations Security Council and instead offered two of its own draft resolutions that were resoundingly rejected. A statement released by the government explained that the resolution expressed bias in favor of Israel. The Russian envoy also scolded the Security Council for failing to bring forward an agreeable resolution thus far. Notably, China also opposed the measure that Russia vetoed, although it received enough votes to be adopted anyways. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently spoke about the Hamas attack and said that Israel had the right to defend itself. He discouraged the retaliation tactics that Israel was considering, especially regarding the inability of Palestinian civilians to evacuate Gaza. Moscow allegedly discussed the release of hostages during a meeting with the Hamas delegation on October 26, and President Putin is reportedly planning to visit with the leader of the Palestinian Authority soon.
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