Russia defends decision to invite Hamas

Russia on Friday defended its decision to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow against strong Israeli criticism, the Reuters news agency has reported.

Israel, which has vowed to wipe out Hamas in retaliation for its 7 October attack, has described the decision as "deplorable" and urged Moscow to expel the delegation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Hamas delegation had met with representatives of Russia's foreign ministry but not with President Vladimir Putin or Kremlin officials.

"We consider it necessary to continue our contacts with all parties and, of course, we will continue our dialogue with Israel," Peskov told reporters.

Russia has ties to all the key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Syria, Hamas, and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority which exercises limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.

It has repeatedly blamed the crisis on a failure of US diplomacy.