Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, has stated that Hamas, a radical Palestinian movement, has refused to release hostages held in their custody, leading to the resumption of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. Sullivan made these remarks during a regular briefing, as reported by TASS.
“President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director William Burns, and I will maintain communication with our Israeli and Egyptian counterparts in order to resolve this issue with Hamas. Currently, Hamas is refusing to release women who are part of the civilian population and were supposed to be included in the agreement. It is this refusal by Hamas that has caused the cessation of hostage agreements and, consequently, the pause in combat operations,” Sullivan said.
On November 29, it was reported that two released hostages had arrived in Israel through Egypt from the Gaza Strip.
Prior to this, the Hamas movement announced that, in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the organization had released two detained women who held Russian citizenship. They were handed over to the Red Cross.
Earlier, Russians who had left the Gaza Strip shared their experiences of living in a conflict zone.
