5️⃣0️⃣ HOSTAGES 🎗️– Day 641 still held captive in Gaza, with no interventions from the Red Cross or the Palestinian Red Crescent /
• 🤝 US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff to join hostage talks in Doha Tuesday as sides told Trump wants deal by week’s end; “We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal.” https://lnk.sk/ahlqy, Witkoff said. https://lnk.sk/eiruh
• 🗣️ A senior political official told reporters on Monday that efforts are ongoing to reach a hostage deal and that an agreement could be finalized “within a few days.” https://lnk.sk/wcor3
• 💔 15 hostages break silence on sexual violence on Oct. 7. A comprehensive investigation has uncovered systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists https://lnk.sk/uaciy
USA 🇺🇸 ISRAEL 🇮🇱 /
• Trump hosts Netanyahu for dinner, says they’ve had ‘tremendous success together’ video: https://lnk.sk/fmtce ; https://lnk.sk/gknpw
• 🇮🇱 US President Donald Trump is asked whether a two-state solution is possible, but cedes the floor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to answer.
• 🗨️ “I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us,” Netanyahu says in a response he has given countless times before over the years.
• 🚫 “No one in Israel will agree to anything else, because we don’t commit suicide,” Netanyahu asserts. https://lnk.sk/bcne4
• 🌍 Netanyahu says Israel and the US are “getting close to finding several countries” who will take in Palestinians who would like to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip. https://lnk.sk/krzy4
• 🕊️ While the US President presses Netanyahu to agree to ceasefire with Hamas, Trump advances US-backed agreement between Jerusalem and Damascus, aiming for a breakthrough https://lnk.sk/hnqx6
• 💣 Netanyahu: We removed ‘tumors’ of Iran’s nuclear and missile threats, but monitoring needed so they don’t reemerge https://lnk.sk/qesv8
• 🇸🇾 Trump claims Syria sanctions were removed at Netanyahu’s request; PM hails US talks with Damascus
• 🤝 Senior official says there is ‘total coordination’ between Israel and US on Gaza, Iran https://lnk.sk/cet39
IRAN 🇮🇷 /
• 🧨 US Special Envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says the first round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran since last month’s war between Israel and Iran will be held “in the next week or so.” https://lnk.sk/kltmy
• 🗯️ In a rebuke of Trump’s recent rhetoric, his former National Security Advisor John Bolton told that the Iran strikes carried out under Trump’s watch were “significant, but not fatal” https://lnk.sk/chfw9
GAZA /
• 📜 Israel’s Demands: ‚Hamas disbanded, its leaders exiled, and Gaza demilitarized‘ https://lnk.sk/adit3
• ⚰️ IDF says five soldiers killed in northern Gaza, 12 wounded by explosive device in Beit Hanoun https://lnk.sk/nxfi8https://lnk.sk/eln68
• 💥 Military says incident near Beit Hanoun saw unit from Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion attacked with explosives and gunfire, with dedicated evacuation team also being hit https://lnk.sk/cebhk
• 🏗️ Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters in a Monday briefing that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces and his ministry to bring forward a plan to establish a new “humanitarian city” in the southern Gaza Strip, on the ruins of Rafah https://lnk.sk/eklp5
• 🧾 New study debunks Gaza genocide claims with facts and figures. International reporting on Israel is deeply shaped by entrenched biases. Facts, figures, and analyses often fail to penetrate a morally-charged narrative. https://lnk.sk/gmos7
ISRAEL 🇮🇱 /
• 🪖 The IDF will conduct a military exercise from the morning hours until tomorrow in the Golan Heights area.
• 💰 Bank of Israel holds interest rate at 4.5% amid fragile recovery https://lnk.sk/fnzx8
• 📈 Moody’s maintains Israel’s credit rating: ‚Demonstrated economic resilience‘ https://lnk.sk/bmak9
HOUTHI in YEMEN 🇾🇪 /
• 🛠️ British security firm Ambrey said early on Tuesday that it observed imagery that confirmed damage to the concrete docks at Yemen’s Hodeidah port following Israeli strikes. https://lnk.sk/ksh02
SYRIA 🇸🇾 /
• 📣 The US removed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from its list of terrorist groups, according to an announcement by the State Department on Monday. https://lnk.sk/fzrsy
GOOD NEWS ✈️ /
• After endless delays: Aviation giant returns to Israel. Lufthansa Group plans to resume flights to Israel on August 1 while Air France resumed operations and landed Monday at Ben Gurion International Airport https://lnk.sk/fnsfw
Resources: Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Israel Today, Ynet News, Haaretz, i24NEWS, Israel Hayom and Open Source
©️ ICEJ Slovakia / ICEJ Institute; peter.svec@icej.sk