UK’s Charles laments ‘immense pain and suffering’ of Gaza hostages in letter to Herzog
King sends congratulations on Israel’s 77th Independence Day, says his and wife’s ‘special thoughts and prayers remain’ with the captives and ‘all those devastated by this conflict’
Britain’s King Charles III wrote to President Isaac Herzog to congratulate him on the occasion of Israel’s 77th Independence Day, and said he is praying for the return of the remaining Gaza hostages.
“My wife and I wanted to send Your Excellency and the people of The State of Israel our congratulations on the auspicious occasion of your seventy-seventh Independence Day,” began the letter, which was sent on Wednesay.
“We are all too aware of the immense pain and suffering still being endured by those who remain hostage in Gaza,” Charles wrote.
“Our special thoughts and prayers remain with them and their families, as well as with all those whose lives have been so dreadfully devastated by this conflict.”
He added that it is his “profound hope that they are able to return home to their loved ones and that there is peace in the region.”
Herzog acknowledged the letter during remarks at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Charles also reached out to Herzog in the days after the 2023 Hamas attack, which started the ongoing war, and expressed his condolences and “deep shock” at the actions of the “barbaric” Hamas against Israeli citizens.
In January, he visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, laying a wreath in memory of those murdered at the Nazi camp.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Israel recognizes 24 of the hostages as still living, but doubt has been thrown on this number in recent days, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara audibly said “less” upon hearing the number, a comment echoed by US President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu came under criticism in Israel for declaring Thursday that returning the hostages was important but not the “supreme goal” of the war, which the prime minister said was “victory over our enemies.”
The Times of Israel Community.