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Families of Israeli Hostages Urge Nobel Committee to Award Peace Prize to Trump

Demonstrators rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and to demand the immediate release of all hostages and the end of war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Demonstrators rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and to demand the immediate release of all hostages and the end of war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Families of Israeli Hostages Urge Nobel Committee to Award Peace Prize to Trump

Demonstrators rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and to demand the immediate release of all hostages and the end of war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 4, 2025. (Reuters)
Demonstrators rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and to demand the immediate release of all hostages and the end of war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 4, 2025. (Reuters)

Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza urged the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump for what they say are his unprecedented contributions to world peace.

In a letter to the committee released Monday, family members said Trump’s determination to achieve peace "made possible what many said was impossible."

They said Trump deserves the prize because of his vow not to rest until every last hostage returns home and because no other leader or organization "has contributed more to peace around the world" in the last year.

The letter states that thanks to Trump’s peace plan that’s being negotiated, "for the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over."

Israeli and Hamas officials are holding indirect talks in an Egyptian resort Monday on a US peace plan for Gaza.

The talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention, according to a statement from Hamas.

The latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the US peace plan, a move welcomed by Trump. Israel has said it supported the new US effort. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.

Hamas-led fighters abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 mostly civilians in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire or other deals.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,160 on Monday.

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World

Car Bomb Explodes Outside Northern Ireland Police Station

Workers clear debris from the road as the shells of burnt out buses wait to be removed from O'Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023, following a night of protests. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
Workers clear debris from the road as the shells of burnt out buses wait to be removed from O'Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023, following a night of protests. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
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Car Bomb Explodes Outside Northern Ireland Police Station

Workers clear debris from the road as the shells of burnt out buses wait to be removed from O'Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023, following a night of protests. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
Workers clear debris from the road as the shells of burnt out buses wait to be removed from O'Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023, following a night of protests. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)

Police in Northern Ireland have condemned a car-bomb attack on a police station as an attempt to undermine the 1998 agreement that brought peace to the region.

The bomb, fashioned from a compressed gas cylinder, exploded as police were evacuating nearby residents in Dunmurry, on the outskirts of Belfast, on Saturday night, Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told reporters on Sunday.

“This clearly demonstrates that what this type of device may have lacked in terms of its sophistication and scale, it more than made up for in its reckless unpredictability,” Singleton said. “For a device like this to have been deployed against police and in such proximity to the public was idiotic. It was absolute madness.”

The incident took place at about 10:30 p.m. after the attackers stopped a delivery driver, placed an improvised bomb in his vehicle and ordered him to drive to the police station, Singleton said.

Brendan Mullan, chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the device “was sent to kill officers and cause maximum harm in an attack which was in the heart of a residential area.”

“The people have spoken when they overwhelmingly endorsed the Good Friday Agreement” in 1998, Mullan said.

“Such acts of violence have no place in a society committed to peace. We stand united in condemnation of those responsible for this terror, and in voicing support for the work of the officers and staff of the PSNI.”

It was the second incident at a police station in recent weeks.

On March 30, police foiled a similar attack on a police station in Lurgan, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Dunmurry. Two masked men stopped a delivery driver, placed an explosive device in the trunk of his vehicle and forced him at gunpoint to take the device to the police station, according to authorities. Police carried out a controlled explosion after about 100 homes were evacuated.

The Lurgan attack was probably carried out by dissident Republican groups in a “pathetic attempt to remain relevant and provoke fear,” police said.

The Good Friday Agreement largely ended decades of violence involving Republican groups opposed to British rule and others who wanted to maintain the region’s ties to the United Kingdom. Dissident groups that oppose the peace process still carry out sporadic attacks.

World

Israel Appoints First Ambassador to Somaliland

FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
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Israel Appoints First Ambassador to Somaliland

FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

Israel has appointed its first ambassador to Somaliland, months after formally recognizing the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa, the foreign ministry said Sunday.

In December, Israel became the first country to recognize the independence of Somaliland since it declared its autonomy from Somalia in 1991 following a civil war.

Michael Lotem, currently serving as a roving economic ambassador to Africa, will be Israel's envoy to Somaliland, AFP quoted the ministry as saying.

Lotem previously served as ambassador to Kenya, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

His appointment follows the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two sides in December 2025, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's visit to Somaliland in January this year.

In February, Somaliland announced the appointment of Mohamed Hagi as its ambassador to Israel.

Saar's visit to Somaliland drew condemnation from Somalia, which described it as an "unauthorized incursion.”

World

UN Chief Calls for 'Coordinated International' Response after Mali Attacks

A general view of Bamako after insurgents launched attacks on military bases across the country, in Bamako, Mali April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Aboubacar Traore
A general view of Bamako after insurgents launched attacks on military bases across the country, in Bamako, Mali April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Aboubacar Traore
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UN Chief Calls for 'Coordinated International' Response after Mali Attacks

A general view of Bamako after insurgents launched attacks on military bases across the country, in Bamako, Mali April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Aboubacar Traore
A general view of Bamako after insurgents launched attacks on military bases across the country, in Bamako, Mali April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Aboubacar Traore

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned "acts of violence" in Mali after militants and Tuareg rebels claimed attacks against the army across the junta-ruled Sahel state.

"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports of attacks in several locations across Mali," his spokesman said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General calls for coordinated international support to address the evolving threat of violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel and to meet urgent humanitarian needs," spokesman Stephane Dujarric added.

An Al-Qaeda-linked militant group said Saturday it had joined forces with rebels to launch what was one of the most complex attacks in years in the impoverished west African country.

The groups launched surprise dawn attacks around the capital Bamako and other regions, and Tuareg rebels said they had seized the northern city of Kidal.

Guterres "strongly condemns these acts of violence, expresses solidarity with the Malian people and stresses the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure," the statement added.

He called for "robust security coordination and collaboration across the region."

Since 2012 Mali has grappled with a security crisis, with attacks by militants, criminal groups and separatists killing thousands and displacing tens of thousands more.

The junta that seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021 said it was doing so to battle the militants more effectively, but attacks have continued.