Egyptian warplanes are bombing positions of Islamist militias in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, two Egyptian government officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officials, who have first-hand knowledge of the operation, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

An Egyptian court sentenced seven Islamists to death Tuesday over the killing of 25 policemen in the Sinai Peninsula last year and for collaborating with al-Qaida in Iraq, state news agency MENA said.

Five of the defendants in the case, details of which were not given, are in custody. Another two were tried in absentia.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broached human rights in a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday as Cairo presses a crackdown on opposition.

The meeting, a day after a donor conference for Gaza, was part of whirlwind tour by the US diplomat to bolster a campaign against Islamic State group jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Thirty people died in a collision between three minibuses on Monday in Egypt's southern Aswan province, medical and security sources said.

Another 15 people were injured in the crash near Edfu, some 930 kilometers (575 miles) south of Cairo.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left for Cairo Saturday to back calls to aid the Gaza Strip, amid fears donors may fail to raise $4 billion needed to rebuild the Palestinian territory.

Egypt will be the first step on a fresh whirlwind tour for the 70-year-old top U.S. diplomat, who will also hold meetings in Paris and Vienna on the crisis in Ukraine and efforts to reach an Iran nuclear deal with a deadline just a few weeks away.

An Egyptian court will give its verdict November 1 in the trial of eight men arrested after a "gay marriage" video went viral on the Internet, judicial sources said Saturday.

Homosexuality is not specifically banned under Egyptian law, so the men were charged with "inciting debauchery and offending public morality," which could see them jailed for three years.

An Egyptian court Saturday jailed eight men, including two Muslim Brotherhood leaders, for up to 15 years over the torture of a lawyer during the 2011 uprising against ex-president Hosni Mubarak, judicial sources said.

Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters have been jailed, with hundreds receiving lengthy prison terms, in a brutal government crackdown since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last July.

Envoys from dozens of countries will gather Sunday for a conference that aims to raise billions of dollars to rebuild conflict-battered Gaza, despite fears of renewed violence and "donor fatigue".

The United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency has described the financial needs as "unprecedented" ahead of the Cairo meeting, which follows the Gaza Strip's third war in six years.

The family of an American citizen on hunger strike in an Egyptian jail for some 250 days are appealing to the U.S. government to press Cairo to let him go fearing his life is at risk.

A roadside bomb explosion on Monday killed a 13-year-old boy in northern Sinai, where Egyptian security forces frequently clash with jihadists, security officials said.

The blast occurred in the town of Sheikh Zuweid when the boy found the device, which had been planted on a road apparently to target security patrols, the officials said.