NICOSIA – Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides met with Pope Francis  at the Vatican where they talked about issues concerning migrants, many coming to the island, and also Israel’s war with Hamas terrorists.

That has seen many Israelis leaving the country to reside for now on Cyprus, which is also trying to be a conduit for humanitarian aid for Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s invasion.

That was in response to Hamas early in October conducting raids in Israel, killing some 1,400 people and taking 239 hostages, some now being released in a swap with Israel for detained Palestinians.

The Vatican said that the meeting lasted about 35 minutes and saw an exchange of gifts and Christodoulides met Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Msgr. Daniel Pacho, Under-Secretary for the Multilateral Sector of the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations.