Qatari officials killed in car crash near Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, embassy says
Three employees of Qatar’s Amiri Diwan, its top government body, were killed in a car crash near Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Qatar’s embassy in Egypt said in a post on X on Sunday.
The embassy said two others were wounded and were receiving necessary medical treatment at the city’s hospital.
It said the injured and the bodies of the deceased would be repatriated later on Sunday to Doha.
Humanitarian group delivering 9,000 tons of urgent aid to Gaza
Patrick Smith and Lina Dandees
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are parked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting to get access to the Gaza Strip, on Sunday.AFP – Getty Images
The Egyptian Red Crescent said today it was preparing 400 trucks to take 9,000 tons of urgent aid to Gaza today, what it called the largest possible convoy of aid into the enclave.
The group said on Facebook it began working on the shipment “within the first minute” of the first-phase ceasefire agreement on Friday. News agency images showed trucks lined up on the Egyptian side of the border Sunday morning.
The Zad Al-Izza convoy is taking 6,000 tons of food and flour, 2,000 tons of fuels and nearly 1,000 tons of medical supplies and other essential items including portable toilets, tents and blankets.
“As many Palestinian families head back to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Red Crescent continues its mission of providing shelter, clothing, food, and other essential supplies through its convoys, embodying Egypt’s unwavering support for our Palestinian brothers,” the statement said.
The group added that since July 27 and Friday it has delivered 48 aid convoys into Gaza.
Israel prepares for release of living and dead hostages tomorrow morning
Israel has stepped up preparations for the return of both living and dead hostages from Gaza tomorrow morning, according to a message sent by Israeli hostage envoy Gal Hirsch’s office to the families of hostages, seen by NBC News.
Hospitals are prepared to receive living hostages, while bodies released to Israel will be transferred for a forensic identification process.
The recovery operation will be run “in close coordination with the Red Cross,” which has been tasked with retrieving hostages during previous exchanges, as well as with international mediators, Hirsch’s message says.
A 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release all of the hostages in its captivity expires at noon local time on Monday (5 a.m. ET).
Hirsch’s office said that an international task force will work to locate the remains of any deceased hostages that are not returned by the deadline, adding that Israel will demand Hamas cooperate, “with the assistance of the international force, to meet the task and to return all of the fallen hostages to Israeli soil.”
Deal happened ‘in spite of’ Netanyahu, says son of killed hostage
Shira Pinson and Nick Duffy
People hold up placards and flags in Hostages Square on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel.Chris McGrath / Getty Images
The imminent return of the final Israeli hostages from Gaza brings mixed emotions for U.S. resident Rotem Cooper, whose father Amiram Cooper died in Hamas captivity in 2023, after being taken hostage at the age of 84 in the October 7 attacks.
After two years of campaigning for their release, “all of a sudden it’s here, and it’s hard to comprehend,” he told NBC News from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv last night.
He said that Israel had missed the opportunity to secure the return of hostages earlier on, adding: “The worst-case scenario for me unfortunately came true. I wasn’t able to get my father out of there while he was still alive.”
Cooper said that the agreement happened “in spite of the Israeli prime minister, and the credit is much more to the U.S. administration, both of them, and especially to President Trump.”
Hostage families meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff meet with families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, on Saturday.Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters
The families of Israeli hostages expected to be released tomorrow under the terms of the agreement between Israel and Hamas met yesterday evening with U.S. officials, including Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Also present was Jared Kushner, the former White House adviser and the President’s son-in-law, who has played a role in negotiations on the peace plan, as well as Ivanka Trump.
The families “thanked them for their instrumental role in securing the historic deal to bring all their loved ones home,” a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
Witkoff, Kushner and Ivanka Trump later addressed a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.
Kushner said he “couldn’t be prouder to be a friend of Israel” and called for lasting peace in the Middle East. “God bless you all for standing in solidarity together through this dark chapter,” Ivanka Trump told the crowd.
Aid trucks wait to enter southern Gaza
AFP – Getty Images
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid sit parked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting to get access to the southern Gaza Strip early this morning. Members of the Red Crescent gather near a truck loaded with humanitarian aid which appears to cross the border at Rafah this morning.
AFP – Getty Images
Israel prepares for final hostage release as Gazans return home
The view in Gaza shows how destructive two years of near-constant Israeli strikes have been. There’s no sewer system left in Gaza, or running water or power — and winter is coming.
In Tel Aviv, Israelis gathered as they have for two years every Saturday in Hostage Square — they hope this will be the last time. Under the peace agreement Hamas must release all the hostages by noon, local time on Monday.