Trump says more hostages to be released from Gaza shortly
Trump made the comment during a dinner with lawmakers at the White House, lauding the efforts of his special envoy Steve Witkoff. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.
"We got most of the hostages back. We're going to have another 10 coming very shortly, and we hope to have that finished quickly," Trump said.
Trump has been predicting for weeks that a ceasefire and hostage-release deal was imminent, but agreement has proven elusive.
A spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, the Palestinian group Hamas that controls Gaza, on Friday said the group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, but could revert to insisting on a full package deal if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations.
The truce proposal calls for 10 hostages held in Gaza to be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
41 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Institutional investors warm to crypto but demand still nascent
Bitcoin's surge to a record last week has reignited questions about the role institutional investors are playing in pushing it higher, with analysts suggesting their role is still in its infancy. The world's largest cryptocurrency earlier this week surged to a record above $123,000, receiving a boost on the expectation of pro-crypto policies from Washington. While buzz around digital assets has increased, there is room for demand from institutional investors to grow as pension funds and other long-term buyers add bitcoin to their portfolios, analysts say. On Thursday, the US House of Representatives voted in favour of creating a regulatory framework for the U.S. dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens referred to as stablecoins. President Donald Trump is expected to sign that legislation into law on Friday. The House also passed two other key bills related to cryptocurrencies, both of which will now go to the U.S. Senate. "We're still in the early innings when it comes to institutional ownership," said Adrian Fritz, head of research at 21Shares, a digital assets investment firm, adding that retail investors still dominate crypto markets. Less than 5% of all spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund assets are held by long-term investors such as pension funds and endowments, with another 10% to 15% owned by hedge funds or wealth management firms, Fritz calculates. The latter group of wealth managers, however, often buy these funds on behalf of high-net worth retail clients, and the bulk of ETF ownership remains retail, he said. There is a correlation between soaring retail purchases of crypto ETFs and crypto-related stocks and a run-up in prices, according to estimates from Vanda, a financial research firm. The data shows retail buyers bought heavily in late 2024 when prices surged after Donald Trump - who has vowed to be a "crypto president" won the U.S. election - as well as during the recent rally. Crypto buyers have been aided by a series of bills U.S. lawmakers are expected to pass this week, the most consequential of which - known as the Genius Act - will define the rules around stablecoins, a fast-growing area of the crypto market. The passage of the crypto legislation on Thursday by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives paves the way for the first U.S. federal law for digital assets. Some large U.S. lenders, including Bank of America and Citigroup, are also working on launching stablecoins. Another bill will provide regulatory clarity by formally establishing definitions of digital commodities and spelling out the roles of agencies in overseeing digital assets. This could make it easier for institutions that have long avoided the sector to invest. Simon Forster, global co-head of digital assets at trading platform operator and data provider TP ICAP, predicts the number of institutions active in crypto will grow by 2026, including pensions and other buy-and-hold firms. "By definition, they will be the slowest (to enter crypto)," Fritz said. Bitcoin Treasury buying Analysts say data, although patchy given how opaque crypto markets remain, points to the growing role of bitcoin treasury companies in boosting demand. These are listed companies such as Strategy and GameStop, that initially focused on software and videogame retailing respectively but now emphasize owning and making money on bitcoin positions held on their balance sheets in place of cash, gold or ultra-short Treasury securities. Strategy's shares have soared in the past year, far outpacing the rise in bitcoin, with many investors seeing the stock as a way to get exposure to crypto while investing in mainstream financial markets. Juan Leon, research analyst at Bitwise Asset Management, said these companies' ability to buy bitcoin suggests they represent a bigger source of recent demand than pension, endowment and hedge funds that are major players in stock and bond markets. Strategy and GameStop did not respond to requests for comment. Since July last year, public companies worldwide collectively have increased their bitcoin holdings by 120% and now hold just over 859,000, or 4%, of the total 21 million bitcoin that will ever be in existence, said Simon Peters, crypto analyst at investment platform eToro. Companies are also selling common stock, preferred shares and convertible securities to raise funds to spend on boosting their bitcoin holdings, in a bid to replicate Strategy's outsized stock gains. The new wave of U.S. legislation could also pave the way for more listed companies to allocate a portion of their cash reserves to crypto tokens, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. Analysts warn, however, that a drop below $90,000 for bitcoin could put half of these corporate treasuries underwater. Demand for crypto ETFs has also been rising in recent months. Global net inflows into crypto exchange-traded products hit $4 billion last week, the highest so far this year, according to data from crypto firm Bitwise. Among the big institutional investors to have made public their investments in crypto ETFs in the past 18 months are the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and hedge fund Millennium Management, regulatory filings show. So far this year, bitcoin has gained around 25%, compared with the SP 500 index's 6.5% gain. Ether, another cryptocurrency has climbed 2%, while XRP is up nearly 40%. The crypto sector's market capitalization now stands at $3.8 trillion, up nearly 66% since before the U.S. election in November, according to CoinMarketCap.
Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
More than 1,000 dead in week of fighting in Syria's Sweida
More than a thousand people are believed to have been killed in a week of fighting in Syria's Sweida, even as an uneasy truce reigned across the governorate on Sunday. Humanitarian convoys were readying to enter Sweida to ease the impact of days of sectarian violence that broke out last weekend between Syrian Bedouin, Druze and government forces. Since midnight, "Sweida has been relatively calm", the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights (SOHR) reported, saying more than a thousand people had been killed over the past week. The deaths included 336 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by members of the Defense and Interior Ministries". Also among the dead were 342 members of government security forces and 21 Bedouin, including three civilians, who were "summarily executed by Druze fighters". New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In addition, 15 members of government forces were killed in Israeli strikes, according to the SOHR. The observatory said security forces had blocked roads leading to the province on Sunday to prevent the arrival of factional fighters. The interior ministry announced overnight that the city had been evacuated of all tribal fighters and that the clashes had ceased following President Ahmed al-Sharaa's announcement of a ceasefire on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Syrian Council of Tribes and Clans told Al-Jazeera that the fighters had left the city "in response to the presidency's call and in accordance with the terms of the agreement". Residents have been left confined to their homes without electricity and water, while food supplies are scarce. The US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said on Sunday that the country was at a "critical moment", calling for "peace and dialogue to prevail". "All factions must lay down their arms," he wrote on X. Fighting between Druze factions, Bedouin groups and troops loyal to Sharaa's administration has rocked the region since last weekend, exacerbated by Israeli air strikes. The Druze of Sweida had largely stayed out of Syria's 14-year civil war, and the governorate saw protests over living conditions in the last few years of former President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Following his ouster in December, many Druze have remained wary of the new government led by Sharaa, the former leader of an al-Qaeda affiliate that carried out sectarian attacks on the community during the war. Although Sharaa has rejected his previous affiliation and attempted to rebuild ties, several groups in Sweida have actively opposed his government. Israel has also spent several days attacking Syria, citing the defence of the Druze community. On Saturday, Washington declared it had brokered a truce between Israel and Syria to avoid further escalation. Israel had bombed government positions in Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week, with some targeting the Syrian defence ministry, military headquarters and the vicinity of the presidential palace.
Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Farmers protest unjust immigration system
During the Great Depression, my great grandfather and other farmers in Wisconsin organised penny auctions to help prevent some of his neighbors from losing their property to foreclosure. On the day a farm was put on the auction block, farmers in the area closed down the roads around the farm — the only people allowed to enter were the farmer whose property was being auctioned, a bank representative and the auctioneer. Then, when the auction was held, the farmer facing foreclosure would put in a bid for his own farm — sometimes as little as a penny, according to the Tribune News Service Today farmers are no longer organising penny auctions, but they are engaging in solidarity actions with immigrants. They are bringing their tractors to marches in defense of immigrant rights, as well as partnering with organisations that lead know-your-rights trainings and challenging warrant service agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement that, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, 'can embolden police to engage in racial profiling.' The flurry of ICE activity in California, which has included arresting day laborers at Home Depot and chasing down farm workers in fields, is breaking up families, devastating communities and making it impossible for farms to function. President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, has tried to justify these actions by saying that undocumented workers have broken the law, either by crossing the border without authorisation, overstaying their visas or using fake Social Security numbers to get a job. Technically, he is correct — in the same sense that enslaved African Americans broke the law when they escaped their captors. My point is that laws can be reformed, especially when they entail a clear injustice that defies common sense. Trump himself recently posted on Truth Social: 'Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.' He promised that 'changes are coming' to the nation's immigrant crackdown. While Trump quickly reversed himself, there are a host of things that Congress could do to improve the current situation. These include the American Families United Act, which provides a legal pathway for the more than million undocumented spouses of US citizens; the American Dream and Promise Act, which would grant permanent residency with the chance of citizenship to college-bound youth who came to the United States without status when they were children; and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which expands the H2A visa program for agricultural workers. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has even proposed an exemption to visa limits for fish processing workers. All of these bills should be given due consideration, as they could help prevent the government from wrecking the farm economy and ruining the lives of vulnerable people to score cheap political points. We are in this mess due to a broken immigration system that needs reform. Specifically, while ending a system of national quotas that favored migration from western Europe, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 capped the number of immigration visas for people from the Western Hemisphere at 120,000. This provision, which passed when migration to the United States was virtually nil, is one reason why so many immigrants from Mexico and Central American states are undocumented. Another reversible wrong step is the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, passed during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Part of his general 'tough on crime' agenda, this law permanently bars status adjustments for people who had come to the United States, left, then returned without legal authorization. In effect, Clinton made it impossible for millions of people to gain legal status if they had criss-crossed the border to care for a sick relative or attend family events.
