President Isaac Herzog arrived at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda on Sunday to advocate for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and participate in a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Israel’s embassy in the East African country announced.

The president is visiting Rwanda at the invitation of his counterpart, Paul Kagame, making him the first Israeli leader to visit Africa during the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s brutal October 7 onslaught, Herzog’s office said in a statement.

The president was expected to meet with other dignitaries to discuss the hostages and “highlight the necessity of the joint fight against terrorism worldwide.” He would also lay a wreath at the central monument for the genocide, according to the president’s office.

During the 100-day Rwandan genocide, which began April 7, 1994, radicals aligned with the Hutu ethnic majority killed around 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority but also moderate Hutus, until the Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel militia took Kigali on July 15.

In addition to Herzog, the ceremony marking three decades since the genocide began is being attended by former United States president Bill Clinton, who has called his failure to intervene on behalf of the Tutsis “one of the greatest regrets of my presidency.”

Also in attendance is France’s ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country in 2021 recognized its role in backing the genocidal Hutu regime and ignoring warnings of the impending massacre.

“The president will participate in the ceremony alongside dozens of international leaders,” Herzog’s office said, adding that “he will hold diplomatic meetings emphasizing the urgent need to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas for six months, including women, children, and the elderly.”

Israel on Sunday reached the half-year mark since 253 people were snatched by thousands of Hamas-led terrorists who stormed southern Israel on October 7 and killed nearly 1,200 people. Following a November prisoner swap and the military’s rescue of three hostages, it is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.

Israel opened an embassy in Rwanda in 2019, offering to support the East African nation in such fields as health, education, agriculture and cybersecurity.

Rwanda and Israel already had close ties, including being embroiled in a controversial 2018 deal, widely condemned by human rights groups, that sought to deport African refugees and asylum seekers from Israel — not unlike a plan put forth by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative British government in 2023, which has also sparked a furor in the United Kingdom.