5️⃣0️⃣ HOSTAGES 🎗️ – Day 671 still held captive in Gaza, with no visible interventions from the Red Cross or the Palestinian Red Crescent /

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio: There will be no peace until Hamas is disbanded. emphasizes that while humanitarian aid is vital, global attention must also focus on freeing the 20 (living) hostages held by Hamas and disarming the terror group. https://lnk.sk/jxnvz 

ISRAEL 🇮🇱 /

• President Trump does not oppose Netanyahu’s plan for a new military operation to occupy all of Gaza and will not intervene, allowing Israel to act independently. https://lnk.sk/iptn8
• Lapid after meeting with the Prime Minister: “I told Netanyahu that occupying Gaza is a very bad idea. You don’t launch such an operation unless the majority of the nation is behind you.” https://lnk.sk/ktaov 
• Zvi Yehezkeli’s optimistic assessment: Hamas will collapse on the battlefield. Arab affairs commentator Zvi Yehezkeli stated on Wednesday that an Israeli conquest of the Gaza Strip could ultimately bring down the murderous terrorist group Hamas. https://lnk.sk/otnv0 
• Gaza takeover plan said set to last 4-5 months, focus on Gaza City, Strip’s center. Security cabinet expected to okay phased proposal despite top generals’ warnings this would endanger hostages; it would drive a million Palestinians southward, while boosting aid https://lnk.sk/uvflt 
• The first company of the IDF haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Hashmonaim Brigade received their berets on Wednesday after two weeks of combat training, including a 55-kilometer beret march through the Jerusalem hills and ending at the Western Wall https://lnk.sk/gruj6 
• In a breakthrough that could reshape the future of organ regeneration and treatment for birth defects, Israeli scientists have accomplished a world first — successfully growing human fetal kidney tissue in a lab https://lnk.sk/eaqvx 

GAZA /

• Hamas managed during the war to pay roughly $7 million to about 30,000 employees of its so‑called “civilian wing,” despite most of its military power being destroyed by the IDF. https://lnk.sk/dtklx 

LEBANON 🇱🇧 /

• Israeli fighter jets struck multiple Hezbollah-related targets in southern Lebanon earlier today, the IDF announced. Among the targets were rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities, and construction vehicles the group allegedly used to rebuild its military infrastructure. 

EGYPT 🇪🇬 /

• Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty criticized the international community’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling it shameful and urging Western powers to increase pressure on Israel. https://lnk.sk/aci04  

EU 🇪🇺 / 

• EU staff urge sanctions on Israel over Gaza crisis, warn against ‚silence as complicity‘ https://lnk.sk/clex8  

UN 🇺🇳/ 

• Francesca Albanese say the U.S. sanctions against her are unacceptable. “It changes my life… They must be removed” 

Sources: Axios, Jewish Breaking News, Fox Business, The Associated Press, Israel National News – Arutz Sheva, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, BBC, Ynet News, Open Source Intel

©️ ICEJ Slovakia / ICEJ Institute; peter.svec@icej.sk