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Hamas returned the bodies of three deceased hostages to Israel on Sunday evening, with Israeli authorities confirming this morning they had been identified as Col. Asaf Hamami (40 years old), Cpt. Omer Neutra (21) and Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel (19). Neutra was American-Israeli, originally from New York, and President Donald Trump spoke to his parents on Sunday evening. Hamas claimed in a statement Sunday that the three remains were uncovered in tunnels under the southern Gaza Strip. Hamas still has the bodies of eight more hostages to return as part of the ceasefire agreement solidified last month. Israel’s top military prosecutor, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, was arrested and charged on Sunday with leaking footage last year from an IDF detention facility that purportedly showed Israeli soldiers brutally beating and assaulting a Palestinian detainee. Tomer-Yerushalmi submitted her resignation on Friday and admitted to leaking the video to the media, stating she made the decision “in an attempt to counter the false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities.” Earlier on Sunday, Israeli media reported that authorities were searching for Tomer-Yerushalmi, after her family contacted the police to report her missing, but law enforcement later found her safe and unharmed at a beach. Police said she was taken for a health checkup before being arrested later that day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that the leak was “perhaps the most serious public relations attack Israel has experienced since its founding.” Five soldiers were indicted for the abuse in February. Trump threatened the Nigerian government in a Truth Social post on Saturday, warning that the U.S. “will immediately stop all aid and assistance” to the country if it continues to allegedly “allow the killing of Christians,” only one day after designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.” The president also stated that he had instructed the Defense Department to prepare for “possible action” in Nigeria, and, on Sunday, indicated that ground troops “could be” involved. On Saturday, Daniel Bwala, a spokesman and adviser for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, denied that the government allowed any such atrocities, suggesting that Trump was trying to pressure Tinubu into meeting to discuss a prospective deal. Regarding military involvement, Bwala stated, “We welcome U.S. assistance as long as it recognizes our territorial integrity.” Read more about the violence roiling Nigeria in the July 11 edition of TMD. Early this morning, Russian forces fired drones and missiles on central and southern Ukraine, hitting the Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions; and on Sunday, Ukrainian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Tuapse, a Russian port on the Black Sea, and in Saratov, hitting an oil refinery near the Engels military air base that is more than 460 miles into Russian territory. Earlier that day, Russia attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, killing two people and temporarily knocking out electrical power to much of the city. On Friday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the provision of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine was under review, but ultimately was up to the U.S. When asked whether he was considering this on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “No, not really.” The president continued, “At this point, we must let Ukraine and Russia settle this war themselves.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday night that the U.S. military conducted another airstrike in the Caribbean targeting a suspected narcotics-carrying vessel, killing all three aboard. On X, Hegseth wrote, “This vessel—like EVERY OTHER—was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.” On Friday, the Miami Herald reported, citing unnamed “sources with knowledge of the situation,” that the Trump administration had decided to attack Venezuelan military targets, which Trump denied later that day. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Thursday that the administration was actively considering the strikes on Venezuela’s military. Asked in a “60 Minutes” interview that was recorded Friday and aired on Sunday whether Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s days were numbered, Trump responded, “I would say yeah, I think so.”
