Daily World Briefing, Aug. 3

Hostage families protest in Tel Aviv during U.S. envoy's visit

Protesters gathered in Tel Aviv's "Hostage Square" on Saturday, urging the Israeli government to secure a ceasefire deal that would bring home the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.

The demonstration followed the release of new videos by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier this week, showing Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in visibly fragile condition.

Hamas says will not disarm until establishment of State of Palestine

Hamas affirmed on Saturday its refusal to disarm until the establishment of the State of Palestine, in response to statements by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Hamas said in a statement that, "The resistance and its weapons will not be abandoned until our full national rights are restored, foremost among which is the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state."

During his meeting with the families of Israeli hostages at a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Witkoff said, "Hamas has said that they are prepared to be demilitarized."

Iran fully reopens airspace after ceasefire with Israel

Iran has lifted all remaining restrictions on its airspace that were imposed at the onset of its 12-day conflict with Israel, the country's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) announced Saturday.

In a statement posted on its website, the CAO said that both domestic and international flight operations have returned to pre-war levels. It also confirmed that Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport has resumed round-the-clock operations.

U.S. appeals court deals blow to Trump immigration crackdown

A federal appeals court delivered a stinging rebuke to the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign Friday, upholding restrictions on immigration agents conducting sweeping arrests across Southern California without reasonable suspicion.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the government's challenge to a lower court order that blocked masked, heavily armed federal agents from detaining people based solely on race, language, or location.■