From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Herzog tells Cypriot counterpart Hamas to blame for stalled hostage talks, not Qatar
Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
In a meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, President Isaac Herzog praised Qatar’s mediation efforts in hostage talks, contradicting recent comments from sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Doha has been impeding progress by dissuading Hamas from accepting Israel’s terms.
“There are the mediators, both Qatar and Egypt, who are [making] major efforts to mediate, but at the end, you have to have a party out there that is willing to accept it, and Hamas is always refusing to answer,” Herzog told his Cypriot counterpart about the ongoing negotiations, according to a readout from the president’s office.
Following today’s Houthi missile strike near Ben Gurion Airport, Herzog told Christodoulides that while Israel has “excellent air and defense systems,” the strike “is an example to the entire world community about the violation of all rules of international law by a terrorist organization of about 50,000 people.”
“This shows the empire of evil from Tehran — how it heavily arms its proxies, influencing the cost of living, of travel, of everything. We have a common goal to make sure that stability and security are returned at once,” he continued.
Before meeting with Herzog, Christodoulides met with the families of two hostages, writing on X after the meeting that “all remaining hostages must be released immediately.”
Christodoulides told the hostages’ families that if he does not hear good news about the return of the hostages soon, “then during its European Union Presidency, Cyprus will make this one of the top issues, so the country can do what it can to help,” according to Cypriot news outlet Philenews.
Cyprus will only assume the rotating presidency at the start of 2026.
Herzog said of the hostages: “There’s nothing more urgent on our agenda than bringing them back home.”
Herzog also thanked Cyprus for sending planes to help Israel manage the major wildfires that erupted near Jerusalem last week.
The Times of Israel Community.