Trump claims 10 hostages will be released from Gaza ‘shortly'
Mr. 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 U.S.-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,' Mr. Trump said.
Gaza ceasefire remains uncertain after Trump and Netanyahu meet at White House
The President 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 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.
Israeli strike kills children near Gaza clinic with no immediate truce in sight
Israel's attacks on Gaza have 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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Israel orders evacuations in central Gaza as ceasefire talks stall and military offensive widens
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas the military has rarely operated with ground troops. The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave. The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, though negotiations have been stalled for months. The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is also where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located. The organizations did not immediately comment on the evacuation warnings. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone. Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan. 'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv, demonstrating for an end to the war.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Digital contracts are the norm today. Is there still power in a written signature?
Some of the most powerful people in the world can be recognized by their signatures. Prime Minister Mark Carney's signature adorns Canadian currency, from his time as head of the Bank of Canada. And U.S. President Donald Trump regularly displays his oversized, sloping signature for the cameras with each new executive order. But these days, it's far more common for most of us to sign our names on a touch screen, or to simply click a box on an online form, than to sign your name with a pen on paper. Author Christine Rosen isn't happy about it. "We're actively choosing to go back to a way of life where a mark is the same as a signature. So it's a devolution in terms of our skills as human beings," she told The Sunday Magazine's Peter Mitton. Rosen's book The Extinction of Experience looks at how the onslaught of digital life is hollowing out real-life experiences, like the act of physically signing your name. "I fear that our willingness to suspend that small, everyday action is sort of symbolic of some of the other important things we've discarded in our haste to embrace digitally mediated forms of communication," she said. Despite their relative rarity in most people's lives today — and the legal ambiguity that came with the introduction of electronic signatures — written signatures still carry power as a personal artistic expression, whether you've carefully designed your own or paid a professional to do it for you. E-signatures around for decades E-signatures are just over 25 years old in the U.S. In June 2000, then-U.S. president Bill Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act into law. The act allowed for electronic records, including digital versions of a signature, to be used for business transactions that earlier required a person's written signature for validation. In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, which became law in April 2000, outlines the use of e-signatures. Provinces and territories have followed suit with similar legislation. John Gregory, a retired lawyer in Toronto, says when Clinton signed that bill, some worried that the signature's "ceremonial function" might lose some of its power. "It makes you take it seriously. Oh, jeez, I'm signing this. This is important. I should know what I'm doing. Do I really agree to this?" said Gregory, who previously worked in the U.S. on developing government policies around what happens legally when paper trails become increasingly digital. While personal opinions on an e-signature's weight may vary, the law has since moved on. Gregory pointed to a 2017 case in Saskatchewan where a man who injured himself in a go-kart crash said a digital waiver he signed by checking a box shouldn't absolve the company who owned the track of any liability. The court ruled that, in fact, that check was as valid as a pen-and-paper signature. And, in 2024, Saskatchewan's Court of King's Bench upheld a decision that a thumbs-up emoji was confirmation of a contract between two agricultural companies. One of the companies involved asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on that decision; it's unclear if the Court will do so. Do young people care about signatures? Filomena Cozzolino, 27, styled her signature after her paternal grandmother, with whom she shares her name. "When I was maybe 12 or 13, I found one of her IDs and I wanted to try to copy her signature," said the publishing and creative writing student at Sheridan College in Mississauga, Ont. "Not only do we share a name, but we can share our signatures, since she's no longer here to share hers anymore." Some of her classmates had a more business-like approach to them. "I have very messy handwriting, actually, because I'm left-handed. So everything smudges and ... once I learned cursive, just went with the flow," said Mikayla Nicholls, 28. Zainab Bakjsh, 24, writes her signature in Arabic, which she says looks better and is easier to write than when she does it in English. But beyond that, she's not given it much thought. "It's just a signature. When I need to do something at the bank, or like renewing my health card, is probably the only time that I sign," she said. Boutique signature craft While the age of correspondence via fountain pen on parchment may be long gone, there's still a niche of people interested in using signatures as a personal flourish — and even a market if you're looking for a professional to craft one for you. "I believe that your signature is literally your face. I mean, regardless of your profession, you can impress people around you with this beautiful signature," said Elena Jovanovic, head calligrapher at Florida-based MySign Studio. The business crafts custom signatures for patrons, offering options in multiple script styles. Their calligraphers will then teach you how to draw them on your own. But it'll cost you, with services ranging from $100 to $200 US. "Many people around the world create their first signature during their teenage years and continue to use it throughout their lives. Typically, these signatures lack creativity and elegance," Jovanovic said. Sometimes patrons request certain artistic effects, such as adding a lion or butterfly to the signature. Other requests are more esoteric. Jovanovic recalled one customer who asked that they customize his signature by introducing a four-letter profanity into his surname — presumably only for the signature, and not as part of a legal name change. "And I was like, why not?" she said.
Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Global News at 6 Toronto: July 19
Toronto's Junior Carnival is back for it's 58th year. It's a vibrant day filled with thousands of young masqueraders, music and live performances celebrating Caribbean culture and identity. In the United States, President Donald Trump is going after the Wall Street Journal, claiming the publication libelled him in a report that the Republican leader gave Jeffrey Epstein a birthday note that included crude drawings and cryptic messages.
