Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Hamas operatives in Gaza have started compiling a list of the estimated 100 hostages held by the group, establishing their names, whereabouts, state of health and determining the number of those who have died while in captivity, sources told The National on Sunday.
They said it was a prelude to a limited swap of hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons under Egyptian proposals for a renewable truce of up to 30 days, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
It also marks a change of heart by the group, which had in the past adamantly refused to entertain Israeli requests for information on the hostages, whom the Israeli military believes include about 40 who died in captivity.
News of the Hamas endeavour coincides with the expected resumption later on Sunday of talks on a Gaza deal, bringing together mediators from the US and its ally Egypt along with negotiators from the militant group and Israel. The talks in Doha will end a three-month hiatus in high-level efforts to broker a deal.
On Sunday, Qatar called for pressure to be applied on all sides to reach a ceasefire, arguing the Israeli "bloodshed" against Palestinians must end now and without reservation.
"Pressure on both sides is necessary in any conflict," said Majed Al Ansari, an adviser to the Prime Minister and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "You don't mediate between friends, you mediate between adversaries. You mediate between those who are aiming to basically either diminish each other or abolish each other. And this is what we are seeing right now in this country."
The sources said Israel planned to renew its offer for a safe passage of Hamas leaders out of Gaza and a guarantee it would not hunt them down in exile. Hamas had previously rejected the offer but the sources said some Hamas leaders in Gaza were not opposed, a position they said was likely to open a rift within the group.
In a move likely to further complicate the Doha negotiations, Fatah, the dominant faction in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, has rejected the mandate of a proposed committee of Palestinian technocrats and experts to run postwar Gaza, including the vital Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza that has been closed since May.
“The committee will enshrine divisions,” Jibril Rajoub, head of Fatah's powerful central committee, said on Saturday. He also suggested the committee would serve the “agendas” of parties he did not name.
Egypt closed the crossing to protest against Israel's capture of it and the strip of land that runs the length of its border with Gaza on the Palestinian side. It rejects any Israeli presence on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and has advocated the creation of a Palestinian agency to run it.
The Rafah crossing, Gaza's only gate to the outside world that is not controlled by Israel, was the main passageway for humanitarian assistance into the enclave after the war began in October last year and until May.
Qatar's Prime Minister struck an upbeat note on the prospects for a Gaza deal, saying momentum had returned to the talks following Donald Trump's election last month.
“We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim, who is also his nation's Foreign Minister, told the Doha Forum for political dialogue on Saturday.
He said there had been “a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office".
He added: "We hope to get things done as soon as possible. We hope that the willingness of the parties to engage in good faith continues.”
A similarly positive note came from a source close to the Hamas delegation who told AFP that Turkey, as well as Egypt and Qatar, had been “making commendable efforts to stop the war”. In a statement later on Saturday, the group said Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin had met Hamas leaders in Doha to discuss the war in Gaza.
Mr Trump last week warned on social media of unspecified massive repercussions if the hostages held by Hamas were not released by the time he takes office on January 20. He has also vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with outgoing President Joe Biden's occasional criticism of the close US ally.
The war in Gaza was sparked by an attack in October last year by Hamas and its allies on southern Israel, where they killed 1,200 and took another 250 hostage. The attack drew a devastating Israeli response that has to date killed about 45,000 Palestinians and injured more than twice that number, according to Gaza government figures.
The relentless Israeli campaign has displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, razed built-up areas and created a humanitarian crisis.
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEjari%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYazeed%20Al%20Shamsi%2C%20Fahad%20Albedah%2C%20Mohammed%20Alkhelewy%20and%20Khalid%20Almunif%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPropTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESanabil%20500%20Mena%2C%20Hambro%20Perks'%20Oryx%20Fund%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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