Gaza’s Hamas Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar talks to media, in Gaza City October 28, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem.

i24 News – On Tuesday night, a delegation of Hamas leaders arrived in Moscow to hold “important” talks with Russian officials, according to the pro-Fatah website Ma’an News.

Among the delegation were Hamas’ Deputy Chairman Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook, and two other leaders, Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran.

The purpose of the visit is to discuss the situation in Jerusalem, as clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian worshippers erupted on the Temple Mount during the holy month of Ramadan, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The visit comes weeks after a call between Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which Haniyeh thanked Moscow for opposing Israeli actions on the Temple Mount.

Lavrov this week sparked new tensions in Israel-Russia relations when he falsely claimed that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood.” After widespread condemnation from Israeli leaders, the Russian foreign ministry later accused Jerusalem of supporting “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine.

Muhammad Hamadeh, Hamas’ spokesman for Jerusalem, said on Tuesday that “harming the Al-Aqsa mosque is playing with detonators,” adding that the recent wave of terror attacks in Israel was a “great challenge to the occupation.”

“Al-Qassam Brigades’ (Hamas military wing) announcement of the Salfit operation directly confirms once again that the occupation is tampering with detonators,” Hamadeh stated.

On Monday, Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the killing of a security guard in the Israeli city of Ariel on the West Bank.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the attack came in response to Israel’s “aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”