At least 4 tourists dead in submarine accident in Egypt: Officials
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(LONDON) — At least four people are dead in a submarine accident that occurred while it was carrying crew members and 45 Russian tourists in Egypt, officials said.
Russia’s embassy in Egypt confirmed in a statement obtained by ABC News that there was an accident on Thursday morning involving a submarine carrying crew members and 45 tourists — all Russian citizens — in the Red Sea less than a mile off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt.
At least four of those aboard the submarine were killed in the incident, the Russian embassy said.
Doctors in the emergency department at the Royal Hospital Hurghada confirmed to ABC News that they received five patients from a submarine accident on Thursday.
The circumstances remain unclear, including whether the submarine was submerged at the time and the numbers of those who have been injured in the incident.
It is also currently not known how many people were on board the submarine at the time of the accident or what the cause might have been.
Hurghada is a popular tourist destination for beachgoers along the Red Sea and is well known for its scuba diving and snorkeling.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.
After being held by Hamas terrorists for 470 days, the first three hostages released on Sunday as part of the ceasefire deal were reunited with their mothers and airlifted to a hospital, according to Israeli officials.
The now-former captives — Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 — were turned over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal that has been in the works for months.
“Today’s ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is a result of a principled and effective policy that we’ve presided over for months,” President Joe Biden said in an address from the White House on Sunday. “And we got it — we got here without a wider war in the Middle East [that] many predicted.”
The first phase of the deal will see the release of 33 hostages being held in Gaza, dead and alive, starting with women, children and the elderly, officials said. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel will also be released in exchange for the hostages. Biden said that by the 16th day of the deal, talks will begin about the second phase of the agreement, which will include releasing remaining Israeli male hostages, civilians and soldiers.
Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal on Wednesday, marking an end to more than 15 months of deadly conflict. The agreement was announced in Doha, Qatar, after months of negotiations between Israel and Hamas were mediated by facilitators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar. It was approved by the Israeli Cabinet on Friday.
Here’s what we know about the freed hostages so far:
Romi Gonen, 24
Gonen was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival that was attacked by Hamas terrorists, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters.
Gonen, of Kfar Vradim in northern Israel, is known for her love of dancing, traveling and enjoying life, according to the organization. One of five children of Meirav and Eitan Gonen, Romi Gonen was described by the organization as energetic, funny, family-oriented and full of life.
Doron Steinbrecher, 31
Steinbrecher is a veterinary nurse who has cared for animals since childhood when she helped at the school’s petting zoo, the organization said. She loves sports and was known to jog every Saturday morning around her kibbutz, according to the group. Her family described her as a devoted aunt, who is beloved by her nephews. Her parents are Roni and Simona, and she has one sister, Yamit, and a brother, Dor.
Steinbrecher is an Israeli-Romanian dual national who turned 31 in captivity, officials said.
Steinbrecher and Damari were both captured on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants who attacked their Kfar Aza kibbutz close to the Gaza border.
Emily Damari, 28
Damari is a British citizen who was living at the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Her friends describe her as well-loved and popular, a friend to everyone, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. The organization said Damari enjoys barbecuing and karaoke nights, and loves hats.
Damari was also a central figure in the local Kfar Aza youth community and was praised for always being there for her friends, the group said.
Damari was kidnapped from her home along with Steinbrecher and two other friends, Gali and Ziv Berman, who remain in captivity, the organization said.
In over a year of war between Israel and Hamas, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza and almost 110,000 injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. However, more than 14,000 children and 8,000 women have been killed, according to the health ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces said they have killed more than 15,000 combatants throughout the course of the war, which was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel. More than 1,200 people were killed and another 253 were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
During a weeklong ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in late November 2023, Hamas freed more than 100 people. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Several hostages in Gaza have also been freed in the months since, while the bodies of others have been recovered.
The release of three American-Israeli hostages who are alive will be included in the ceasefire agreement, though in two different phases, a senior White House official told reporters on Wednesday.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Keith Siegel, 65, are both expected to be released, with Sigel qualifying for release due to age, and Dekel-Chen qualifying because of injury, according to the official, who said Dekel-Chen was shot on Oct. 7, 2023, when the conflict began with a terrorist attack by Hamas in southern Israel.
Edan Alexander, 20, will be in the second phase of releases because of his service with the IDF, according to the official. The official said he spoke with Alexander’s father recently and that the U.S. remains fully committed to getting him released.
“We are committed to getting all Americans, these are American-Israeli citizens, all of them out of Gaza, whether living or remains. That is our commitment,” the official said.
Following the ceasefire announcement last week, Biden released a statement noting how American citizens held hostage by Hamas will be included in the ceasefire release agreement.
“This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said he is determined to bring seven American hostages home, three of whom are believed to be alive, he said.
Hostages with American citizenship who have died and whose bodies are believed to remain with Hamas include Itay Chen, 19; Omer Neutra, 22, and married couple Judith Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Hamas handed over four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza on Thursday, in the latest return of deceased hostages as part of the group’s ceasefire deal with Israel.
Red Cross officials took custody of four black coffins during a ceremony in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. A Red Cross official and a Hamas commander appeared on a stage to sign documents as part of the handover. The coffins were also brought onto the stage.
A banner on the stage declared in both Arabic and English: “The Return of War = The Return of Your Prisoners in Coffins.”
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said that, “According to information communicated by the Red Cross, four caskets of deceased hostages were transferred to them, and they are being taken to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip.”
An Israeli security official confirmed to ABC News that an IDF-held ceremony for the four deceased hostages took place in the IDF-controlled Gaza buffer zone before the coffins were brought across the border into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement confirming Israel’s receipt of the bodies. “The families of the abductees have been informed and our hearts go out to them at this difficult time,” the statement said.
“The public is asked to respect the families’ privacy and refrain from spreading rumors and information that is not official and well-founded,” it added.
Israel and Hamas have confirmed the names of the four bodies that are set to be returned to Israel Thursday: Oded Lifshitz, a journalist and peace activist and Shiri Bibas and her two children — Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Once the bodies are back in Israel, the Israeli officials will conduct forensic analysis to confirm the identities of the bodies.
During the handover, Hamas released a statement that read in part, “To the families of Bibas and Lifshitz: We would have preferred your sons to return to you alive, but your army and government leaders chose to kill them instead of bringing them back.”
“They killed with them: 17,881 Palestinian children, in their criminal bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and we know that you know who is truly responsible for their departure,” the statement added. “You were the victim of a leadership that does not care about its children.”
Kfir Bibas was 8 1/2 months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 — the youngest of the 251 hostages taken on the day the group carried out its terror attack on Israel — the worst in the country’s history. In the ensuing war, more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
Oded Lifshitz’s wife, Yocheved, was among the first few hostages released during the first ceasefire agreement in November 2023. Sixty-nine hostages remain in Gaza after Thursday’s release.
“At this difficult time, our hearts go out to the grieving families,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Hostage Families Forum called for the second stage of the three-stage ceasefire to proceed, saying there is “no time to waste.” In the second phase of the ceasefire agreement — which should last 42 days — Israel is to completely withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Israel also agreed to a permanent cessation of all military operations and hostilities before all remaining Israeli hostages, civilians and soldiers are released by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
“We received the heart-shattering news that Shiri Bibas, her children Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz are no longer with us. This news cuts like a knife through our hearts, the families’ hearts and the hearts of people all over the world,” the families of the hostages said in a statement Wednesday.
“We grieve not only for them, but for the other precious lives lost, including four more deceased hostages who will be returned next week,” families of hostages said.
Six other hostages are expected to be released on Saturday and four more bodies will be returned to Israel next week. The hostages who will be released on Saturday have been identified as Eliya Cohen, 27; Tal Shoham, 40; Omer Shem Tov, 22; Omer Wenkrat, 23; Hisham Al-Sayed, 36; and Avera Mengistu, 39, according to Israeli officials and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Negotiations to set the terms for the second phase of the ceasefire have not started, but mediators are pushing to have talks begin as soon as possible to allow enough time for discussion before the second phase is expected to begin (the first phase is expected to last 42 days), Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Hamas has accused Israel of avoiding negotiations and says it’s ready to negotiate.
Last week, Hamas threatened to not release hostages over the weekend, saying Israel was not holding up its end of the ceasefire by delaying the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.
Hamas later said the exchange would take place as planned and released three hostages this past Saturday.
ABC News’ Jordana Miller contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico plans on Monday to announce her country’s “Plan B” response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imported goods.
Trump told reporters he would speak on Monday with Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, prior to imposing import tariffs on their goods. The U.S. president is expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday putting in place 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on those from China, according to the White House.
Sheinbaum in a video posted to social media on Sunday said her government was calling for “reason and law” among “individuals as well as among nations.”
‘This measure of 25% tariffs has effects for both countries but it has very serious effects for the U.S. economy,” she said, “because it will raise the costs of all the products that are exported from Mexico to the U.S., it will have a 25% higher cost.”
Trudeau responded to the planned tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on 155 billion Canadian dollars, or about $107 billion, of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.
Sheinbaum, who was elected in June, offered little detail on how her government’s “Plan B” would respond to the tariffs.
She instructed her economic secretary to “implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” she said in a statement written in Spanish and translated by ABC News.
She also sought to remind the White House that the current trade free agreements between the U.S. and Mexico have been in place for about three decades.
“The last free trade agreement was signed by President López Obrador and President Trump himself,” she said.
Trump on Sunday told reporters he was unconcerned about the potential impact of imposing tariffs on close trading partners, saying the American people would understand.
“We may have short term, some, a little pain, and people understand that, but, long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he told reporters on Sunday, as he departed Air Force One at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews.
He added, “We have deficits with almost every country, not every country, but almost. And we’re going to change it. It’s been unfair. That’s why we owe $36 trillion we have deficits with everybody.”
Canada has been taking advantage of the U.S., Trump said, calling the relationship with the country a “one-way street.”
“They don’t allow our banks. Did you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in, if you think about it, that’s pretty amazing,” he said. “If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in.”
Trump added, “Canada has been very tough on oil, on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in. Essentially, they don’t allow a lot of things in, and we allow everything to come in. It’s been a one-way street.”
ABC News’ Matt Rivers, Max Zahn, Kelsey Walsh, Victoria Beaule and William Gretsky contributed to this report.
