6️⃣3️⃣ HOSTAGES 🎗️ Day 509 still in captivity in inhumane conditions in Gaza /

• Hamas and Israel reached an agreement for the release of four Israeli hostages’ bodies and 602 Palestinian security prisoners, the terror group and an Israeli official said late Tuesday, which would an end to an impasse that risked collapsing the multiphase ceasefire agreement before its first stage was even completed. https://lnk.sk/cyst ; https://lnk.sk/zdk6 
• The funeral procession for slain hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Ariel and Kfir is set to begin at 7:45 a.m. in Rishon Lezion. The funeral will be held near the family’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, at a private ceremony in Zohar, with eulogies to be live-streamed from 11:30 a.m. https://lnk.sk/oimq 
• Family, friends and the president on Tuesday eulogized Oded Lifshitz, the 83-year-old peace activist who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz and slain in captivity, with his wife lamenting that he was killed by those he sought to help. ‘We fought for peace, were attacked by those we helped’: Yocheved Lifshitz at her husband Oded funeral https://lnk.sk/hvuw
• Ofri Bibas, sister of released hostage Yarden Bibas, slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, telling him to “shut up” after he repeatedly described the murders in captivity of Yarden’s wife Shiri and young sons Ariel and Kfir, against the wishes of the family. https://lnk.sk/dbiw                                                                                                                                                    

IRAN 🇮🇷 /

• As fears of a joint military attack by Israel and the United States increase, Iran has bolstered its defenses around its main nuclear and missile sites, high-ranking sources told the British newspaper The Telegraph on Tuesday. https://lnk.sk/nvir 

ISRAEL 🇮🇱/

• Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s point person on the Middle East, voices optimism at efforts to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords. He also says he sees potential for normalization by Lebanon and Syria, after recent setbacks by forces in the two countries with ties to Iran’s clerical government. https://lnk.sk/suly 
• Mossad chief David Barnea waded into a public fight between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister on Tuesday, defending the former’s decision to hold off on the invasion of Lebanon and the infamous “beeper” operation against Hezbollah until almost a year into the war. https://lnk.sk/uvg4

UKRAINE 🇺🇦 /

• The Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel said he found it „hard to comprehend“ Israel’s decision to vote no to a resolution condemning the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and “promoting a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace” in the latter. https://lnk.sk/mitz

SYRIA 🇸🇾 /

• Israeli warplanes hit a town south of Syria’s capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday https://lnk.sk/oubq

LEBANON 🇱🇧 / 

• Mossad director says beeper operation ‚broke‘ Hezbollah, reveals new details https://lnk.sk/xam3 

EU 🇪🇺 / Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed any hope for real change in Syria, calling for “realistic expectations” in Europe. During a meeting in Brussels of the EU-Israel Association Council Sa’ar described the recently formed Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa as “a jihadist Islamist terror group from Idlib that took Damascus by force.” https://lnk.sk/cgf4 

AUSTRALIA🇦🇺 

• Australian nurse indicted for threatening to kill Israeli patients
• Australia’s spy chief: Antisemitism now agency’s ‚top priority‘. „In terms of threats to life, [antisemitism is] my agency’s number one priority because of the weight of incidents we’re seeing play out in this country,“ he told the Senate

UNITED KINGDOM🇬🇧  

• Dozens of protestors swarm the BBC headquarters after the broadcaster ‚spent more than £400,000 on a Gaza documentary which featured Hamas leader’s son’ 

Zdroje: Times of Israel, AP, Jerusalem Post, Syria TV, i24News, The Algemeiner, Newsrael

©️ ICEJ Slovakia; peter.svec@icej.sk