Russia has diplomatic relations with the political wing of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist organization which rules the Gaza Strip.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Russian government regularly condemned Hamas attacks, such as the 2004 Beersheba bus bombings that killed 17 people.

[1] Since 2006, regular meetings have been held between the Hamas politburo and senior Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.

[3] Putin sent condolences to the families of the killed Israelis[5] and said Israel had a right to defend itself, describing the Hamas attack as "unprecedented in its cruelty".

[6] Russian UN diplomats later condemned both the Hamas attack on Israel and Israeli shelling of civilian neighborhoods in Gaza.

[1][10][11] According to The New York Times, Russian state media and leading social networking platforms spread support for Hamas and denigrated Israel and its main ally, the U.S.[12] Putin has said that the war shows "a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East".