COP28 in Dubai: Israel president to discuss hostages on sidelines of climate event

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is due to attend the UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates Thursday where he will hold talks with diplomats on the release of hostages held by Hamas.

His visit comes seven weeks into the Israel-Hamas war and coincides with a day-long extension of truce that had been due to expire on Thursday, amid ongoing attempts to release more hostages.

At COP28, which will also be attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Herzog will hold a "series of diplomatic meetings on the importance of releasing the hostages held by Hamas", the Israeli presidency said in a statement.

He "intends to engage world leaders in a high-level humanitarian effort to return the hostages", the statement said.

More than 140 heads of state and government are due to address COP28 on Friday and Saturday, including Herzog and Abbas who are both scheduled to make speeches lasting three minutes on Friday.

Since the truce began on November 24, 70 Israeli hostages have been freed in return for 210 Palestinian prisoners.

Around 30 foreigners, most of them Thais living in Israel, have been freed outside the terms of the deal.

Israel has made clear it sees the truce as a temporary halt intended to free hostages, but there are growing calls for a more sustained pause in the conflict.

Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas and other militants from the Gaza Strip poured over the border into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240, according to Israeli authorities.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and unleashed an air and ground military campaign that the Hamas government in Gaza says has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, and reduced large parts of the north of the territory to rubble.

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• COP 28
• Israel-Palestine Conflict
• Dubai