US President Donald Trump is expected to visit Israel on Monday and address the Knesset, making him the first American leader to do so in 17 years.
Mr Trump is also set to go to Egypt to participate in a Gaza peace plan signing ceremony. Egypt said it will host an “international peace summit” co-chaired by Mr Trump and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, with the leaders of at least 20 other countries expected to attend.
An Egyptian presidential statement issued late on Saturday said the summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El Sheikh is aimed at “ending the war in Gaza and bolstering efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East”.
French President Emmanuel Macron is also due in Egypt on Monday for talks in implementing the Gaza peace plan, the Elysee said.
Mr Trump's trip comes as a hostage-detainee exchange is scheduled to take place, with a Monday deadline, as part of the first phase of a 20-point peace plan for Gaza, that includes Israeli military redeployment and the unfettered entry of aid.
On Saturday, the Israeli prison service said it had started to transfer the first 250 detainees due to be released to two jails in the occupied West Bank and the Negev desert near the border with Egypt.
Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's special envoy to the region, arrived in Gaza early on Saturday to observe the Israeli military redeployment, along with Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law, who holds no official position in the US administration. They were joined by the Israeli military's Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir and the head of the US military's Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, who said that the visit was part of the establishment of a task force that would support stabilisation efforts in Gaza, although American troops would not be deployed inside the enclave.
Israel published a list of 250 Palestinian detainees it will release in exchange for the 20 remaining living hostages and the remains of 28 more who have died in the course of the two-year war.
A senior Hamas official said on Friday that the group was in contact with mediators about several Palestinian leaders who Israel has refused to free under the US-brokered deal, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.
Mr Barghouti, 66, is widely popular and considered a unifying Palestinian political figure. He is serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.
“The movement [Hamas] is insisting on their release and negotiations are still ongoing,” Mousa Abu Marzouk, the Hamas official, told Al Jazeera TV.
He said Israel turned down several other proposed names. When asked if those included Abdullah Barghouti, Hassan Salama, Ibrahim Hamed and Abbas Al Sayyed, he replied: “Yes. These are the most prominent names that the occupation always rejects.”
Questions also remain over who will govern Gaza, and whether Hamas will disarm after the first phase is over.
In Cairo, President Abdel Fatah El Sisi was quoted in a statement issued by his office on Saturday saying that he wanted the Gaza deal to be accorded "international legitimacy" through the UN Security Council.
"The president also emphasised the necessity of sending an international force to Gaza," said the statement, which appeared to suggest that the Egyptian leader wanted the Security Council to adopt in a binding resolution both the agreement and the establishment of an international force to maintain security in Gaza as provided for in Mr Trump's plan.
Mr El Sisi made his comments in a telephone conversation with the President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, according to the statement.
The US and allies Egypt, Qatar and Turkey have been mediating to end the Gaza war since it broke out two years ago. They have successfully brokered two ceasefires - in November 2023 and January 2025 - before the one that went into effect on Friday.
Thousands of Gazans have meanwhile begun returning to the place they once called home amid the destruction of 90 per cent of the strip. Rubble clearing operations and the recovery of at least 116 bodies trapped under buildings destroyed by Israel have resulted in the death toll rising to 67,682 and counting.
Palestinians make their way back to Gaza city - in pictures
An independent UN commission has described Israel's attacks on Gaza as "genocide".
Gaza's civil defence officials estimate there are about 9,500 bodies still buried under the vast areas of rubble.
Aid deliveries
Israel has given the UN the approval to begin delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza starting on Sunday, the military body in charge of assistance in the enclave confirmed to The National on Friday.
The confirmation comes after the ceasefire officially went into effect, and as the UN prepares to increase operations in the enclave, where more than two million people are in urgent need of food, water and medical supplies after two years of conflict.
The aid shipments will include 170,000 tonnes that have been positioned in neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing through the Karam Abu Salem crossing.
Gaza's police redeployed in areas that the Israeli army withdrew from. They were seen in videos with their faces covered, carrying weapons and helping secure the areas where people are trying to piece back the remnants of their lives.
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Results
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
SPECS
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
The distance learning plan
Spring break will be from March 8 - 19
Public school pupils will undergo distance learning from March 22 - April 2. School hours will be 8.30am to 1.30pm
Staff will be trained in distance learning programmes from March 15 - 19
Teaching hours will be 8am to 2pm during distance learning
Pupils will return to school for normal lessons from April 5
