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Israel’s President Makes Official Visit to Hungary, Meets With Family of Hamas Hostage
Israeli President Isaac Herzog looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, in Washington, DC, on Oct. 25, 2022. Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday received an official state welcome ceremony for his visit to Hungary, where he met his Hungarian counterpart and the family of Omri Miran, a hostage held by Hamas in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks across southern Israel.
“Omri is, first and foremost, a father. He has two little daughters — Roni, who is three and a half, and Alma, who is one year and eleven months old,” Miran’s wife, Lishi, told Herzog and Hungary’s President Tamás Sulyok during their meeting. “The last time he saw them, and they saw him, was on Oct. 7, when Alma was only six months old, and Roni was two years old. They themselves were also hostages. We were held hostage together as a family, Omri was taken to Gaza, and I was left with the girls.”
Lishi added, “We are now at an extremely critical moment — both for Israel and for Hamas. We need — I need, my daughters need, and all of Israel needs — the help of every world leader like you to exert pressure so that our nightmare ends. Omri, who is your citizen and my husband, is in stage two of the deal. This week or next, we hope to complete the first stage. We need you to do everything possible so that Omri is released as soon as possible. My daughters need their father.”
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal, a 42-day truce that went into effect on Jan. 19, calls for Hamas to gradually release 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are believed to be dead, in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom have been serving lengthy sentences for terrorist activity. The second phase, negotiations for which are set to begin this week, would involve the release of the remaining living hostages and a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.
Seventy captives remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 35 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
Sulyok responded to Lishi by affirming that “we will do everything possible to ensure that an Israeli and Hungarian citizen — your husband, the father of your daughters — is released as soon as possible. We will continue to stand by your side. We share your hardship and pain because they are our hardships and pains as well.”
Herzog and Sulyok also met with Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor Aharon Shevo and his family who presented the Hungarian leader with a stamp commemorating 80 years since the Holocaust.
Following their meeting, Herzog and Sulyok both delivered statements to members of the media in attendance.
“Mr. President, in the year and a half since the horrific massacre of Oct. 7, Hungary has stood by Israel, and I deeply appreciate that. Hungary has demonstrated deep friendship and has refused to bow to the powerful wave of antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Israel sentiment sweeping the world,” Herzog said. “You have backed Israel in international forums, and, of course, supported in the struggle to bring home the Israeli hostages from Gaza. So, thank you — thank you to you, your government, and the people of Hungary for your support. This is the moment when the friendship between nations is truly tested.”
Herzog said that “the bond between the Jewish people and the Hungarian people is long-standing and historical. Hungarian Jewry is one of the most distinguished Jewish communities in the world, with deep historical roots and, of course, a magnificent community of Hungarian-origin Jews in Israel.”
On Wednesday, the Israeli president plans to visit the site where the home of Theodor Herzl, widely considered the father of modern Zionism, once stood and where “more than three decades after my father, the late Chaim Herzog, the sixth President of Israel, became the first Israeli President to visit that place,” Herzog said.
Sulyok stated that he and Herzog “see eye to eye on everything related to protecting our national borders, the independence of our nations, and issues concerning these matters. I believe that a strong Israel is essential not only for Israel’s security but also for Europe’s security and the fight against antisemitism.”
The Hungarian president added, “We categorically reject what the Hamas terror organization did to Israel on Oct. 7. We categorically reject the inhumane conditions in which the hostages are being held. Israel has the right to defend itself and to ensure the long-term security of its citizens. Preserving and expanding the peace process initiated in the Middle East is a shared interest. I told the president that Hungary maintains zero tolerance for all forms of antisemitism.”
Hungarian leadership also expressed support for Israel following the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“Today I will invite Israel’s prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, for a visit to Hungary, and in that invite, I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in November.
On Tuesday, Sulyok said that Israel “can count on us as steadfast supporters. We will not only continue our support but also seek further cooperation with Israel. Now and in the future, we will raise our voices against antisemitic rhetoric. It is important to us that the Jewish community feels safe here, especially given the alarming trends we have witnessed in Europe in recent years. We are committed to Holocaust remembrance — for the sake of future generations as well. The dialogue between our countries remains open, including in education, research, and various collaborations, which we continue to deepen. I hope our friendship will grow even stronger, and I am grateful for your visit.”
The post Israel’s President Makes Official Visit to Hungary, Meets With Family of Hamas Hostage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Egypt Demands Hamas Clarify Status of Hostages in Gaza
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas gather to demand a deal that will bring back all the hostages held in Gaza, outside a meeting between hostage representatives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
i24 News – Egypt has demanded from Hamas information about the status of the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, according to the Saudi channel Al-Hadath on Sunday.
“Hamas has informed the mediators that it is necessary to end the escalation to ensure the safety of the hostages,” the report said. Meanwhile, Israel has rejected any temporary ceasefire and demands resolving the issue of Hamas disarming.
Egyptian sources revealed to the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadid that Hamas’s proposal offers a release of all living hostages and the bodies of the slain, the announcement of a complete halt of hostilities, and a total withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave.
The plan would come with “clear and precise guarantees” from the US government, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, as well as Turkey. It includes a five-year calm period during which all restrictions concerning the reconstruction of Gaza would be lifted. A significant element of this proposal concerns the “use of resistance weapons.” According to Egyptian sources, Hamas would accept supervision and guarantees ensuring that Gaza’s armed organizations “will not use their weapons and will not rebuild their military infrastructure near the Israeli border, including offensive tunnels,” as long as Israel respects the terms of the agreement.
Israel, however, has rejected any proposal that does not stipulate the complete disarmament of the group.
The proposal also provides for Hamas to completely withdraw from the administration of Gaza, including its police. The management of the territory would be entrusted to an interim committee formed by Egypt, which would also oversee the training of security forces under this body. Regarding humanitarian aid, the discussions have explored several options, including distribution by an American security company or by tribal groups in Gaza not affiliated with Hamas or other armed organizations. A source within the Hamas leadership stressed that the organization’s “red lines” concern “handing over weapons and partial agreements, considered non-serious as they lack real guarantees.”
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Missle from Yemen Targets Dead Sea Area
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands in front of an F-35 stealth fighter at the IAF’s Nevatim base, July 9, 2019. Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces said that a Houthi missile was intercepted outside of Israeli territory, although sirens blared in the eastern Negev and Dead Sea area. The Yemen-based, Iran-backed terrorist group said that they had targeted the Nevatim airbase.
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Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced “extreme cautious” about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.
US President Donald Trump has signaled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical… there are still differences, both on major issues and on details,” Araqchi told Iranian state TV.
“There is seriousness and determination on both sides… However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious.”
A senior US administration official described the talks as positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon.”
“There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the official added.
Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another “high-level meeting” provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.
Ahead of the lead negotiators’ meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
“The presence of experts was beneficial … we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” Araqchi said.
An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”
The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was “to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact’s nuclear curbs including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalizing the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.
Tehran insists its defense capabilities like its missile program are not negotiable.
An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile program as a bigger obstacle in the talks.
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