RETURN AGREEMENT 7️⃣6️⃣ HOSTAGES 🎗️Day 495/

• Hana Mastronov, whose nephew Yosef-Haim Ohana is held hostage in Gaza, tells Ynet that the family has received a “clear indication” that he is alive. https://lnk.sk/ugr6 
• Hamas will not accept threats from the US and Israel over an ongoing truce in Gaza, amid an impasse between the parties over the implementation of the ceasefire deal. https://lnk.sk/bbjq 
• Egypt and Qatar are intensifying efforts to save the Gaza ceasefire deal after pressure from the USA and Israel as Hamas postponed the release of hostages. https://lnk.sk/hyyw 
• Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya is currently with a delegation in Cairo regarding the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. https://lnk.sk/ejvn 

USA 🇺🇸 / 

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemns Hamas as ‚pure evil,‘ calls for its eradication. He calls for the eradication of Hamas, says there will not be peace in the Middle East if Hamas continues to rule Gaza. https://lnk.sk/oez7 

JORDAN  🇯🇴 / 

• King Abdullah II. of Jordan said to Trump in White House: “I finally see somebody who can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace, and prosperity to us in the region” https://x.com/MAGAVoice/status/1889372962576621891 
• Jordan’s King Abdullah visibly shaken while commenting on Trump’s Gaza plan. International media highlighted that while Abdullah, seated beside Trump, did not directly reject the president’s idea, his discomfort was visibly evident. https://lnk.sk/ijfm

EGYPT 🇪🇬 /

• Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will not travel to Washington for talks at the White House if the agenda includes US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, two Egyptian security sources say. https://lnk.sk/tds2

GAZA, JUDEA & SAMARIA (so-called West Bank) /

• Hamas praises Jordan and Egypt for their repeated rejections of US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its population to the two neighboring countries. https://lnk.sk/jtvd
• The Israel Defense Forces stands ready to redeploy throughout the Gaza Strip, should the Cabinet give the order, according to military sources, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set an ultimatum for Hamas to release hostages by noon on Saturday. https://lnk.sk/eqk5 
• Germany’s cabinet has decided in principle to deploy police forces for a European Union civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, a government source tells Reuters. https://lnk.sk/fug8 

ISRAEL 🇮🇱 / 

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his vision of a future for Gaza without either Hamas or the P.A., emphasizing that Trump’s plan was a creative solution that would not repeat the mistakes of the Oslo process. https://lnk.sk/bcoc 
• Poll: Religious Israelis more likely to reject Palestinian sovereignty and back annexation of so-called West Bank. An overwhelming majority (86%) of secular Israelis said the deal of ceasefire needed to be completed until the last of the hostages return home. https://lnk.sk/upy3 

IRAN 🇮🇷 /

• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles after US President Donald Trump made threats of force against Tehran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear program. https://lnk.sk/xpru

LEBANON 🇱🇧/

• Israel had asked the Trump administration for another extension to the deadline for the IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but won’t get it. https://lnk.sk/ntbj

SYRIA 🇸🇾 / 

• Russia’s President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Shara’a, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. https://lnk.sk/pwr9 

TURKEY 🇹🇷 /

• A Turkey-based lobbying network with ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is working to recruit European politicians to support anti-Israel policies, according to a new investigative report.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 🇦🇪 /

• United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tells US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that peace efforts in the region should be on the basis of a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict, reports.

AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 /

• Two Sydney nurses were suspended after a viral video showed them threatening to kill Jewish patients, sparking police investigation and condemnation from the Australian prime minister. https://lnk.sk/hak5 

JAPAN 🇯🇵 /

• Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told Japan’s parliament that Japan would be accepting wounded people from the Gaza Strip for treatment https://lnk.sk/tnz8

Sources: Times of Israel, State-affiliated Egypt’s al Qahera news TV, Algemeiner, state news agency WAM, Asahi Shimbun, Newsrael

©️ ICEJ Slovakia; peter.svec@icej.sk