Hamas leader in Qatar threw ‘endless slime’ in hostage negotiations: Herzog

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said he did not know whether a key target of his country’s air strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar had survived, but he defended the attack during a visit to London, despite UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s condemnation. Mr Herzog said the attempted assassination of Khalid Al Hayya – Hamas’s exiled leader of Gaza and chief negotiator – was justified after he threw “endless slime” at the hostage negotiations, and for his suspected involvement in the October 7, 2023 infiltration of Israel. Israel had accepted almost every ceasefire proposal, he claimed, but was “faced time and time again with either a refusal or an endless procrastination by Hamas”.