The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they unfolded.
A group of Israeli settlement activists illegally crossed the border into Syria and spent a full day there before being apprehended by Israeli troops.
According to the IDF, the civilians crossed the border near Majdal Shams on Thursday.
Troops in the area searched for them, but only located them today. The forces detained the civilians and handed them over to the Israel Police for further questioning, the IDF says.
Additionally, in several incidents today, settlement activists tried to cross into Syria in the southern Golan Heights. The IDF says troops prevented the civilians from crossing the border and handed them over to the police.
The military says there has been an increase in attempts by activists to cross the border into Syria in recent weeks.
The activists, who called themselves the Bashan Pioneers, call to establish settlements in the area. They have received support from some coalition lawmakers.
“Such actions divert IDF soldiers’ attention from their ongoing operational activities and compromise security,” the military says, adding that it “emphasizes that such actions constitute a criminal offense that endangers civilians and IDF soldiers.”
“The IDF expects law enforcement authorities to bring those involved to justice and to act decisively to prevent such incidents,” the army adds.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warns against US escalation or any attempt to seize Iranian territory.
“If US strikes continue for several more days, we will move into a phase of full-scale offensive operations,” Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards top commander, tells state television.
The European Union reiterates its call on Israel to refrain from expanding its settlements in the West Bank.
“The EU reiterates its call on Israel to refrain from further settlement expansion, the legalization of outposts, land appropriation, demolitions, evictions and other unilateral measures that undermine the viability of the two-state solution,” says a statement from the EU’s diplomatic service spokesperson.
Earlier this week, Israel’s security cabinet approved a budget of NIS 1.3 billion ($427.8 million) for establishing 34 new settlements in the West Bank.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency cites an informed source as saying that a Thai-flagged ship was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz after it allegedly ignored warnings and attempted to pass without permission from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy.
The source says the vessel was confronted by the IRGC navy and targeted.
Three Israelis have been detained and removed from an airplane at Ben Gurion Airport after causing a disturbance, police say.
According to a police statement, airport police officers responded to a report from the flight crew of a foreign airline that was preparing to take off.
Three passengers were behaving in a disorderly manner and posing a danger to passengers and crew, police say. The three men — residents of central Israel in their 20s — refused requests from both the crew and the police officers to leave the plane, and were arrested and taken off by officers.
During the arrest, the suspects assaulted the officers, who required medical treatment, police say.
The suspects will be brought to court tomorrow for a remand hearing.
The Lebanese army has redeployed forces to the southern towns of Froun and Burj Qalaouiyah, as part of the framework with Israel, according to local media reports.
Both towns are located outside of the IDF’s south Lebanon buffer zone, meaning that no Israeli soldiers withdrew from the area for the Lebanese army to enter.
The Froun area is the first of two pilot zones that the Lebanese army will enter as part of the agreement with Israel. The second zone is in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area, where Israeli forces are currently stationed, and will be required to withdraw from.
???????? ينتشر الجيش اللبناني في بلدتي فرون وبرج قلاويه في جنوب #لبنان. وقد اتفق لبنان واسرائيل خلال جولة محادثات جديدة في روما اختتمت الأربعاء على استكمال هيكلية مناطق تجريبية والبدء بتنفيذها خلال أيام، تطبيقاً لاتفاق إطاري بين الطرفين، وفق بيان للسفارة الأميركية في بيروت. #فرانس_برس pic.twitter.com/lSUqOPYQFk
— فرانس برس بالعربية (@AFPar) July 17, 2026
After the Knesset voted to extend the mandatory military service period for males to 32 months, the chief of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate says the move does not replace the army’s immediate need for more troops.
“The extension of service… is an operational necessity to meet all the operational challenges before us and to allow a minimal breathing room for regular and reserve personnel, to preserve professional training durations, to stabilize units and to advance further force build-up on a limited scale,” says Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa in a missive to troops.
But Kalifa says the two-month extension to the mandatory service period “does not cancel the operational need of the IDF… to expand the scope of draftees and those serving from the entire Israeli public and to regulate this in an adapted reserve service law,” in reference to the ultra-Orthodox community, which the government is trying to exempt from service.
He says the IDF will still need a further extension to the mandatory service to “allow a broader force build-up.”
The IDF had sought to return the mandatory service period to the original 36 months, as it was until 2015. However, lawmakers only agreed to extend it from 30 months to 32 months. Under the current legislation, the mandatory service period will again be shortened to 30 months in June 2029.
The IDF has repeatedly said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits — including 7,000 combat troops — due to the strain on its standing and reserve forces caused by the yearslong multifront war. Some 70,000 ultra-Orthodox men are currently eligible for service but have not been drafted.
The government just passed highly contentious legislation halting arrests of Haredi draft dodgers, which the High Court then immediately froze, pending a hearing into petitions against the law.
Five Palestinian suspects were detained for allegedly attacking Israeli settlers in the southern West Bank earlier today, the Israel Police says.
The police say they received a report from two settlers claiming to have come under rock throwing while shepherding near the illegal outpost of Maale Tidhar, leaving them with light injuries.
Israeli forces reached the scene soon after, and the Palestinian suspects fled to the nearby village of Sa’ir, according to the police.
IDF troops entered the Palestinian village and detained five suspects, who were handed over to the police.
After being questioned, the suspects were jailed as the investigation continues, police say.
Palestinian media outlets claimed that the settlers had attacked Palestinians in an area near Sa’ir first, before the army arrived and carried out the arrests.
Farming outposts have become a preferred tool for settler leaders in recent years, as they allow for the takeover of large swaths of land throughout the West Bank. They only require a small number of young settlers who use livestock grazing to clear areas of Palestinians.
The US has reportedly notified Israel that it is sending dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel, as US President Donald Trump weighs launching another massive bombing offensive against Iran.
US and Israeli officials tell the Axios news site that Trump could escalate the strikes against Iran in the coming days, following six consecutive nights of American bombing campaigns of targets across Iran, after the breakdown of last month’s MOU.
There are currently 33 US aerial refueling tankers parked at Ben Gurion Airport, which has crowded out other planes used for commercial flights. Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced earlier this week that the number would drop to 20, as she tries to prevent summer flight disruptions — although a report suggested that Regev may seek in October to use them as an excuse to try and halt charter flights of Israeli returning to vote in the upcoming election.
While Regev said the US military aircraft would be directed to land at Israeli military bases instead, CENTCOM reportedly prefers the access and infrastructure of Ben Gurion Airport.
The Axios news site first says the US “notified” Israel of the planned arrival of additional refuelers, suggesting Jerusalem doesn’t have a say in the matter, but the report later says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a final say on the issue.
An unsourced report from the Ynet news site says the additional planes in question heading for Israel are not expected to land at Ben Gurion Airport, and that five to eight planes are slated to arrive per day.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveals that an IDF reservist was detained for eight months in Thailand and released after diplomatic efforts.
In a video message, Netanyahu says that the reservist, identified only as Aleph, the first Hebrew letter of his name, was detained on his honeymoon and held for eight months before being released.
“This is the commitment of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu tells the couple in a phone call, of efforts to return home Israelis held around the world. “We all embrace you.”
The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office did not elaborate on why the reservist was detained in Thailand and the incident was not previously reported in Israeli media.
The Ynet news site reports that the reservist was stopped after a loaded magazine with bullets was found in his luggage.
Netanyahu thanks Gal Hirsch, the government’s hostage pointman, as well as President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and other security officials for their work in freeing the reservist.
Settlers raided the village of Jurish earlier today and attempted to break into a building on the outskirts of the town, Palestinian media outlets report.
Footage from the scene shows a settler attempting to kick a group of Palestinians and solidarity activists who are trying to block him from entering the building.
مستوطن إسرائيلي يصعد فوق رؤوس مجموعة من المتضامنين الأجانب ويهاجمهم بقدميه؛ وذلك لمنعهم من إصلاح باب منزل لعائلة فلسطينية كان المستوطنون قد حطموه في قرية جوريش في نابلس بالضفة الغربية من أجل مهاجمة العائلة وتهجيرها.
العنجهية والاستعلاء والإجرام الإسرائيلي في مشهد واحد، هكذا ترى… pic.twitter.com/Mz7GDqoUR9
— Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) July 17, 2026
The IDF eventually arrived at the village, which is located in Area B of the West Bank where settlers are not legally allowed to enter.
The Kan public broadcaster reports that the soldiers however allowed the settlers to flee the scene instead of detaining them and handing them over to the police.
יש תקריות מהסוג הזה כל יום, הנה דוגמה לאחת מהבוקר, בכפר הפלסטיני ג׳וריש באזור שכם: פעילי מאחזים מנסים לפלוש בכוח לבית בשטח B. מגיע כוח צה״ל, לא עוצר אף אחד מהתוקפים, מוציא צו שטח צבאי סגור ומעכב כמה פלסטינים שמסרבים להתפנות (מתוך כפר פלסטיני). איך קוראים לזה באוגדת איו״ש המורתעת:… pic.twitter.com/EGQS2nkhpZ
— רועי שרון Roy Sharon (@roysharon11) July 17, 2026
Then, the IDF issued a closed military zone order, which activists say has become a common tool used by the army, as it forces the activists to leave the area, leaving the Palestinian residents more exposed to future attacks from settlers.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman was concerned about Riyadh losing support in Washington if US President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, a US intelligence assessment declassified by the White House reveals.
“In mid-2019, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman expressed concern that Riyadh would lose US support for its priorities if the President were to lose the election in 2020,” reads the assessment that was part of a trove of documents that Trump released last night as he attempted to raise the alarm about purported foreign threats to US election integrity.
US-Saudi ties did indeed deteriorate after Trump lost to Biden in 2020, but Biden would go on to try to repair the relationship as he sought to negotiate a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The rest of the sentence is redacted, except for a phrase characterizing Trump as “the most Saudi-friendly of any US president.”
Another line in the intelligence assessment states that “senior Turkish officials, including President Erdogan, believe that segments of the US government have an entrenched, anti-Turkey viewpoint, and as a result have sought to covertly influence US politicians’ and political candidates’ thinking on Turkey.”
“Ankara’s efforts have, over the past year, included covert funding of US municipal election campaigns, unregistered lobbying efforts, and messaging on social media by state-owned outlets,” the document adds.
The documents note that Iran is among the leading foreign actors attempting to influence US elections, though, not to the degree of China and Russia.
Overall, the documents don’t appear to have a smoking gun validating Trump’s alarmist claims about threats to election integrity. Israel goes unmentioned in the released documents.
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes near the coast of Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, triggering a tsunami warning and shaking buildings in neighboring Guatemala and El Salvador.
No damage is immediately reported by authorities.
The quake, which struck near the Mexican town of Puerto Madero, was at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), the US Geological Survey (USGS) says.
Following the tremor, the US Tsunami Warning System warns that hazardous tsunami waves are possible along coasts located within 300 km (186 miles) of the epicenter.
Hamas-affiliated media outlets in Gaza report that eight people have been killed and 19 others wounded in a strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to the reports, a drone struck people attending a funeral.
The IDF has not yet commented on the reports.
#شاهد| اللحظات الاولى عقب استهداف الاحتلال المخيم الجديد شمال غرب النصيرات pic.twitter.com/ziZPfuXP9Y
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 17, 2026
The Shin Bet security agency has reportedly demanded access to photos taken of people passing through the Ben Gurion Airport and other border crossings, despite not being allowed to under the current law.
According to the Haaretz daily, Shin Bet chief David Zini has demanded such access in order to use facial recognition to identify potential criminals, after the government on Wednesday approved a plan for the Shin Bet to work against the rampant violent crime in the Arab Israeli community.
However, the law specifies that such photographs are only allowed to be accessed by the Population and Immigration Authority, which is required to delete the images after 90 days and is not allowed to transfer them to any other agencies.
Haaretz reports that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned Zini that allowing such access would require special legislation, after which Zini is said to have blamed her for rising crime rates.
The American military confirms destroying a surveillance tower at Iran’s Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman during last night’s strikes.
In a statement, the US Central Command says it “destroyed the Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower, part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline used for decades by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
“The destruction of the tower directly degrades IRGC’s ability to coordinate attacks on innocent civilian crew members,” CENTCOM says, adding that the strike also “protects freedom of navigation in regional waters for all vessels, except for ships attempting to violate the ongoing US naval blockade against Iran.”
CENTCOM also releases footage of the strike.
On July 16, U.S. forces successfully destroyed the Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower, part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline used for decades by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to track and target commercial… pic.twitter.com/CgBNvgOFf9
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 17, 2026
Antisemitism continues to increase at an alarming rate in Canada, with 27 violent antisemitic incidents in Canada since the beginning of the year, B’nai Brith Canada says in a statement.
After a spate of hate incidents in Quebec this month, the country has already experienced more than double the 10 violent attacks committed during the whole of 2025, the organization says.
The latest violent incidents occurred during a series of what appear to have been coordinated hate-motivated assaults in Montreal on July 3, when multiple Jewish men walking home from Shabbat services in the area were assaulted, robbed and harassed.
In one case, the statement says, the video shows perpetrators striking the victims and stealing their fur shtreimel hats. In another, a man appears to have thrown a water bottle at a victim, while in another, an individual is alleged to have uttered antisemitic slurs.
“These hate-driven attacks are becoming more targeted, more brazen, and more heinous,” says Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of research and advocacy. “It is unacceptable that this is occurring in our country during 2026.”
An interceptor missile was launched at a “false identification” over the southern Gaza Strip a short while ago, the military says.
No sirens sounded as no towns were under any threat.
The IDF says there was no actual attack and the incident is under further investigation.
Kuwait’s army says that an Iranian drone attack wounds several military personnel in the Gulf state, as the United States and Iran return to outright war.
The army’s chief of staff “visited several wounded members of the Kuwaiti land forces, who were injured after enemy drones targeted several army facilities and camps this morning, as part of the criminal Iranian aggression,” the army says in a social media post.
A 90-year-old Jewish Israeli man has been detained by police after striking two people with his vehicle during a dispute near the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank.
According to police, the man arrived in his car at a farm nearby and began filming with his camera. He got into an argument with a teenager at the scene and then got in his vehicle and began driving, lightly striking the teenager, police say.
Police say the teen did not require treatment.
Then, a woman approached the vehicle to intervene, and the suspect also struck her, and she clung to the car, was dragged for several meters and was lightly hurt, police say.
Police say the man has been taken for questioning and his vehicle seized. Police did not provide any further indication as to the suspects motive or the nature of the argument.
The Israel Hayom daily reports that the suspect has in the past been involved in arguments with local settlers.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blames the incident on “the incitement campaign led by [The Democrats party chief] Yair Golan and his allies on the left,” claiming that it was carried out by a “Jewish anarchist.”
The prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region denounces “unjustified attacks” that he blames on Iran and urges Tehran to halt the escalation.
“We condemn the unjustified attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kurdistan region,” says the office of Masrour Barzani. “While urging the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop this escalation, we also call on the Iraqi federal government and the international community to end these violations.”
The commander of the Aerospace Force in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vows that Tehran will not halt its attacks in the region until the US stops striking Iran’s southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, Majid Mousavi says “Tehran and the south are one and indivisible as Iran,” adding that “effective and targeted strikes from across Iran against the enemy will continue” until attacks on “the southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz” cease.
The IDF has opened 57 criminal investigations into the deaths of Gazans and one Lebanese detainee in military custody during the war, but none have resulted in an indictment, despite most deaths occurring inside military detention facilities equipped with security cameras and potential witnesses, Haaretz reports, citing the Hatzlacha organization, which describes itself as aiming to promote a fair society in Israel.
Of the 57 investigations, seven of the cases involved inmates who were shot to death. The military was reportedly unable to identify suspects in most of the cases.
According to data obtained by the Hatzlacha through Freedom of Information requests, an additional 19 investigations were opened into alleged beatings, violence or the “unlawful use of force,” but only two indictments were filed.
One resulted in the conviction of a truck driver who transported detainees to the Sde Teiman detention facility, while the other, against soldiers from Force 100 — a Military Police reserve unit tasked with guarding terror suspects at the Sde Teiman base — over alleged abuse of a Gazan detainee, was later dropped after the complainant was returned to Gaza before testifying in court.
The report also notes that most investigations into suspected looting by Israeli troops in Gaza and Lebanon have ended without charges. Only one indictment over looting has resulted in a conviction, while another was filed over the removal of three motorcycles from Gaza. Cases involving soldiers taking household electrical appliances were reportedly handled through disciplinary proceedings rather than criminal prosecution.
“The IDF operates in accordance with international law, IDF values, and its binding orders, and takes measures to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians,” the military says in response to the report. “Whenever there is suspicion of conduct that is inconsistent with the law or IDF orders, it is examined and handled according to the circumstances. Accordingly, during the war, several investigations were opened into suspected violations of this nature.”
A Hamas company commander who held hostages during the war and served as the “right-hand man” of senior leaders in the terror group was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.
The strike in Khan Younis killed Anas Mahmoud Ahmad Hamdan, identified by the military as a company commander in the terror group who served as a “central figure in holding hostages in the Gaza Strip and in the process of their return to Israel,” and was also responsible for Hamas’s propaganda in the Khan Younis Brigade.
“In addition, Hamdan served for years, including during the war, as the right-hand man of senior military wing leaders Muhammad Deif and Rafa’a Salameh,” the IDF and Shin Bet say.
During the war, Hamdan held hostages and was “responsible for documenting the hostages during the release ceremonies,” the IDF says, adding that before October 7, 2023, he was tasked with holding Avera Mengistu hostage.
The military says that Hamdan was targeted because recently he was involved in training terrorists and attempted to advance attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.
“The terrorist posed a threat to our forces operating in the Gaza Strip and was eliminated in precise aerial strikes,” the military adds.
Israel Tax Authority director Shay Aharonovich says he has ordered the authority’s compensation fund to immediately stop processing war damage compensation claims for residents of the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak until the city’s leadership publicly condemns recent attacks on Tax Authority employees.
The central city of Bnei Brak was the target of several Iranian missile attacks, both during the war earlier this year and last year’s 12-day war, causing widespread damage to civilian infrastructure.
In a letter to Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Zeibert, Aharonovich says Tax Authority employees who arrived in the city yesterday were “violently attacked” by hundreds of people while carrying out their duties and had to be rescued by Israel Police. He notes that the incident came just a week after another alleged assault on Tax Authority employees in the city.
Videos circulating online documenting one of the incidents show crowds of Haredi men surrounding and throwing projectiles at a civilian vehicle, presumably with Tax Authority employees inside, as police officers attempt to help the driver navigate to safety.
בצעד חריג רשות המסים מקפיאה את הסיוע לתושבי בני ברק שביתם נפגע במלחמת איראן, בעקבות תקיפת פקחי המס בעיר.
מנהל רשות המסים כתב לראש העיר: "עיריית בני ברק לא מצאה לנכון לגנות את האלימות. אין לי אלא להסיק כי עובדי רשות המסים אינם רצויים בעירך. הוריתי לחדול מטיפול בנזקי מלחמה לתושבי… pic.twitter.com/z0DmOY8A6I— שילה פריד???????? (@shilofreid) July 17, 2026
Aharonovich criticizes the municipality for failing to condemn either incident, writing that he has “no choice but to conclude that Tax Authority employees are not welcome in your city.”
He says he has therefore instructed the Tax Authority to halt all processing of war damage claims submitted by Bnei Brak residents until the municipality issues “an unequivocal statement of condemnation” and publishes it across ultra-Orthodox media.
The presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan denounces attacks on the autonomous region as a “blatant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty.
“Targeting the region and the resumption of violence are a serious escalation and a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the regional presidency says, after air defenses shot down drones over Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, and strikes targeted exiled Iranian Kurds, killing eight.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it targeted US radar systems and military aircraft in Qatar to “punish the aggressor” following overnight US strikes on Iran.
“In continuation of last night’s retaliatory operations, the brave fighters of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force… carried out a heavy and surprise attack on the US airbase at al-Udeid, Qatar, to punish the aggressor and the child-killing US military,” the IRGC says in a statement.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warns of a “growing operational alliance” between “leftist activism” and “Islamist terrorist organizations,” speaking overnight at a ministerial summit in Washington hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from some 60 countries attended the conference on countering “the resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.”
“Terror groups have an operational alliance today with radical leftist elements in Western democracies, in Europe, in Latin America, in Africa and beyond,” Sa’ar charges in a readout from his office.
To support his claim, Sa’ar points to Hamas documents captured by the IDF and revealed by the Foreign Ministry in late 2025 that purportedly show Hamas’s “direct involvement” in the Global Sumud Flotilla, an activist mission that sought to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Rather than provide humanitarian assistance, Sa’ar says, the flotilla’s goal was “to breach a legal naval blockade, and to serve the interests of terror groups, mostly Hamas.”
While presenting pictures of Hamas-affiliated individuals alongside activists from the flotilla, Sa’ar explains how the documents drew a connection between Hamas’s foreign arm, the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians and the flotilla movement.
בדברי בכנס שרי החוץ בוושינגטון על הטרור הפוליטי חשפתי את הקשרים בין פעילי המשטים מהשמאל הרדיקלי לבין חמאס וארגוני טרור אחרים.
In my remarks at the Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Washington on political terrorism, I exposed the links between activists involved in the flotillas… pic.twitter.com/W2w0GUvFvB
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 16, 2026
One of the documents showed a 2021 letter of then-Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh publicly endorsing the PCPA.
He highlights a picture of Zaher Birawi, who serves as the head of PCPA in the United Kingdom and is known for organizing activist flotilla missions to Gaza over the past 15 years, alongside flotilla activist Greta Thunberg.
The pro-Palestinian outlet Middle East Monitor describes Birawi as a journalist, the chairman of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza and a founding member of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
Sa’ar also highlights the flotilla’s connection with Saif Abu Kashk, a PCPA member in Spain and the CEO of Cyber Neptune, which the Foreign Ministry called “a front company” that “owns dozens of the ships participating in the ‘Sumud’ flotilla.”
“We must expose these networks. We must follow the money… We must hold those who provide operational support for terrorist organizations accountable,” Sa’ar says, adding, “Israel is on the front line of this fight. But this fight belongs to all democracies.”
A Syrian military source denies to AFP that Iran bombed the Al-Tanf base near Syria’s southeastern borders with Jordan and Iraq, after Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the facility in response to US strikes.
“We deny any Iranian bombardment targeting the Al-Tanf area,” the source says, speaking on condition of anonymity.
US forces said they withdrew from the base earlier this year after troops were stationed there as part of a US-led anti-jihadist coalition.
Iran’s energy ministry calls on citizens to reduce electricity use after the power grid came under strain following US strikes on energy infrastructure in the south.
The ministry in a statement urges people to switch off air conditioners in peak hours “to help ensure a stable electricity supply in the southern provinces, which are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities.”
Armed assailants are believed to have boarded the chemical tanker Asana off the southern coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden and are in control of the vessel, maritime security sources say.
The small tanker, which has no confirmed flag, had listed the Somali port of Bosaso as its next destination, ship tracking data shows.
Based on initial assessments, the incident appears to be related to Somali piracy rather than Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia, one of the maritime security sources says.
The vessel was boarded Tuesday by unauthorized personnel while transiting east in the Gulf of Aden, 65 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Al Mukalla port, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said earlier today.
“Details regarding the number of assailants, the circumstances of the boarding, and the status of the vessel and crew remain unclear,” British maritime risk management group Vanguard says.
A South Korean warship had been dispatched to the area, an official with Greek maritime security company Diaplous says.
The vessel issued a distress call and did not have an armed security team when the incident occurred, British maritime security group Ambrey says, adding that the assailants are suspected to be part of a pirate action group.
Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.
Kuwait says that a power and water plant had been damaged by an Iranian attack, as the war in the Middle East continues to escalate.
“One of the power and water distillation plants was the target of an attack as part of the Iranian aggression… resulting in a fire, damage and the impairment of several production units,” the electricity ministry says in a statement, urging users “to ration their electricity consumption during this exceptional period.”
Iran has told its regional allies, including Hezbollah, to prepare for the possibility of a broader conflict amid military escalations with the United States, Lebanon’s Nidaa Al Watan newspaper reports, citing information obtained from meetings held in Tehran on the sidelines of the recent funeral of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
According to the report, leaders of the Iran-backed regional “Axis of Resistance” told allies that the period of waiting is nearing an end and that preparations for military scenarios have become a priority.
Hezbollah was reportedly instructed to be fully prepared for any escalation, with Iranian officials warning that any future conflict could be broader and more severe than previous fighting.
Nidaa Al Watan also reports that Tehran still views Hezbollah as its most important regional asset following setbacks suffered by Iranian terror proxies in recent months.
A vessel was boarded by unauthorized personnel while transiting east in the Gulf of Aden, 65 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Al Mukalla port, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says.
The identity of those who boarded the vessel remains unclear.
The report comes after Iran reportedly asked Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure.
Two former heads of government from the Elders group of international figures founded by Nelson Mandela warn of the potential disappearance of the Palestinian territories and called for an end to what they called Israeli “impunity.”
The call from former Ireland president Mary Robinson and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark comes after they visited Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Lebanon.
They say in a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was seeking “to make Palestine disappear physically, economically, culturally and politically.”
Speaking to journalists in Jerusalem on Thursday, they said the international community must do more to end Israeli “impunity” in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Palestinians seek as the future capital of a sovereign state.
“I think if we were to summarize the key message that we’ve heard across civil society, both in the West Bank and here, as to what are they looking for, it’s accountability and no impunity,” said Clark.
Robinson said she was “ashamed” that the European Union had not taken a firmer stance on the issue, calling for Brussels to suspend the trade component of its association agreement with Israel and to ban the trade of products from Israeli settlements.
The two leaders said they had observed a severe deterioration of the situation in the West Bank since a previous mission in 2023.
The two former leaders warned that continued settlement expansion would result in “Palestine disappearing before our eyes.”
During their visit, the two former leaders met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“We disagreed on a number of points,” said Robinson.
Herzog’s office tells The Times of Israel that he held a respectful, candid, and open discussion” with the group, and “categorically rejected their one-sided criticism of Israel’s conduct during this war—a multi-front war that was forced upon Israel by Iran’s Empire of Evil.”
“He strongly emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense and affirmed that Israel has acted and continues to act in accordance with international law,” says the President’s Residence, adding that he emphasized that “Israel was the only democracy in the region and was currently in an election campaign, and called on the group and the entire international community to respect Israel’s democratic processes and debate.”
Herzog also stressed to the importance of international organizations understanding Israel’s pain and trauma since October 7th.
“In particular, he raised his longstanding disappointment and dismay over the silence of international bodies, such as UN Women, regarding the crimes of sexual violence committed on October 7th,” his office says.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they struck US military aircraft stationed in Jordan with ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation for overnight US strikes.
In a statement, they claimed to have destroyed “several US refueling aircraft and fighter jets” and caused “serious damage to many more.” They also called on Jordanians to target “the interests of the aggressive and anti-Islamic Americans” in their country.
There is no immediate comment from Jordan or the US military regarding the IRGC’s claims.
Earlier today, Jordan said it intercepted three Iranian missiles targeting its territory, with no reports of injuries or damage.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
A Palestinian terrorist who murdered an Israeli civilian in a shooting attack in the West Bank nearly two decades ago has been indicted, the IDF announces.
Military prosecutors yesterday filed an indictment against Shadi Jumaa for the murder of Ido Zoldan near the West Bank village of al-Funduq in November 2007.
Jumaa was arrested in Qalqiliya on May 26 this year by officers of the elite police Gideonim unit (Unit 33), after being freed from detention by the Palestinian Authority, where he had been held since the attack.
According to the indictment, Jumaa and two other attackers formulated a plan to carry out a shooting attack on Israeli settlers on a highway.
Jumaa and his accomplices, after obtaining equipment and a vehicle, set out on November 19, 2007, to search for cars driven by Jewish Israelis.
“After locating Ido Zoldan’s vehicle, they approached it in their own vehicle, and one of the accomplices fired at him from close range with the intent of killing him,” the military says, citing the indictment.
Zoldan was killed by the gunfire, and the three terrorists fled the scene.
Juma was detained by the Palestinian Authority some two weeks after the attack, where he was held until May 2026.
The other two terrorists behind the attack, Dhafer Barham and Abdallah Barham, were detained by Israeli forces on the night of the attack and sentenced to life in prison. The pair were freed in October 2025 as part of a hostage deal with the Hamas terror group.
Jumaa has been charged with intentionally causing death, the equivalent of murder under military law, the IDF says.
Colombia’s president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, has announced that his country will withdraw its intervention in South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Foreign Ministry says.
The announcement comes after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met yesterday with Colombia’s incoming foreign minister Omar Bola Escobar.
“Colombia will return to a responsible position in the international arena, including within UN bodies, and will withdraw its involvement in the case brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” the president-elect’s office says, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Since late 2023, the ICJ has been considering whether Israel’s military operation in Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, amounts to genocide under a treaty drawn up after World War II.
During his meeting with Sa’ar, Escobar also said that his country will open an embassy in Jerusalem, restore full diplomatic relations between the two nations and remove visa requirements.
Shin Bet chief David Zini has asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to authorize the security agency to summon journalists for questioning as part of its investigation into the alleged leak to Channel 12 over the timing of this year’s opening strikes on Iran, Haaretz reports.
According to the report, Zini believes that questioning journalists could help investigators identify the leaker, given that thousands were privy to the operational plans ahead of the joint US-Israel strikes on February 28.
“When there are 4,500 people who share the secret and there is no indication whatsoever that any of them leaked anything, the only way is to take testimony from the journalists and perhaps in that way understand what happened,” a security source tells Haaretz.
The report comes after Hebrew media reported last week that Zini had sought the attorney general’s approval to investigate suspicions that Channel 12 was tipped off ahead of the US-Israeli strikes that launched the war with Iran.
On Saturday, Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed Zini to investigate the alleged leak. The report came days after the Shin Bet denied claims of government pressure to open the probe, after Channel 14 commentator and Netanyahu ally Jacob Bardugo said he had met with Zini to urge him to investigate Channel 12.
Iranian state media reports that overnight US strikes on infrastructure in southern and western Iran killed eight people, up from the earlier reported seven, and wounded 20 others.
“Some infrastructure in several provinces of the country came under US military attack,” the IRNA news agency says, reporting that six bridges in the southern province of Hormozgan were targeted.
British police say they have charged a 39-year-old man on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, and that the investigation is related to Iran.
The arrest comes amid heightened concerns about Iranian activities on UK soil.
Three Iranian nationals were similarly charged in May with suspected espionage for Iran’s intelligence services from August 2024 to February 2025.
Strikes in Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed eight members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group, the exiled party says, blaming the attack on Iran.
Idriss Kohlwazi from the Komala party tells AFP that “the Iranian regime attacked with drones and rockets a camp” belonging to the party near the city of Sulaimaniyah in the early morning, resulting in the “martyrdom of eight of our members and wounding others.”
Earlier today, Kurdish forces said they downed eight drones over Erbil, with no damage or casualties reported.
A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile yesterday while sailing about 19 nautical miles east of Khasab, Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency says.
The crew is reported safe and no environmental impact is reported, UKMTO adds.
An 18-year-old man from Bat Yam has been arrested on suspicion of throwing a grenade at a Japanika sushi chain restaurant in Kiryat Ono in the early hours of Monday morning, Israel Police says, amid an escalating conflict between the Jarushi and Musli crime families.
He is due to appear before the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court today for a hearing on extending his detention.
There have been around 15 grenade and shooting attacks over the past week, many of them targeting Japanika, with one person lightly injured on Monday in south Tel Aviv in one of the explosions.
The restaurant chain is owned by Barak Abramov, who also owns the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team.
According to Walla, Abramov was initially seen as being close to the Musli family but is now thought to be tied to the Jarushi family.
Just three commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, the fewest daily transits since May, shipping data shows, with most ships halting or making U-turns after recent Iranian attacks on vessels and the resumption of a US blockade on Iran-related shipping.
The re-escalation in fighting between the US and Iran has once again largely ceased traffic through Hormuz, the world’s most important shipping route for oil and gas, driving up global energy prices.
Miraan, a sanctioned product tanker carrying fuel oil, and Norita, a small vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas, exited the strait yesterday via the Iranian route but stopped at the Gulf of Oman, where the US blockade is, Kpler data shows.
Arolia, a bunkering tanker laden with Iraqi fuel oil that is used to refuel vessels at sea, made a U-turn to head back into the Gulf hours after it exited earlier today, LSEG data shows.
On Wednesday, 11 vessels crossed the strait, a fraction of the average of 125 vessels that transited the waterway daily before the war.
There were no Very Large Crude Carrier or liquefied natural gas tankers passing through the strait for a second day yesterday.
However, two VLCCs re-appeared on AIS tracking yesterday outside the strait, carrying 2 million barrels of crude each.
The VLCC Colombia Prosperity, laden with Saudi crude, is heading to Okinawa in Japan, while the Costa Rica Prosperity, carrying Iraqi Basra Medium crude, is destined for Turkey, the data shows.
Kpler’s database shows that the tankers crossed the strait on July 13, while S&P Global Energy assessed that they exited on July 14.
Iraq briefly suspended oil loadings yesterday after a drone hit an oil tanker at its Basra terminal, four Iraqi oil and security sources tell Reuters, before later resuming them.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said yesterday that no oil or gas would be exported through the Strait of Hormuz as long as US attacks continued, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
In a further threat to energy supply, Tehran has signaled it could prod its Houthi allies in Yemen to close another key strait, the Bab al-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea, sources tell Reuters, if Washington attacks Iran’s infrastructure.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has proposed replacing the expiring UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with an EU-mandated force to prevent a security vacuum, he tells the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
“We should examine in the EU whether we can ensure that no security vacuum arises with a European mandate following the UNIFIL mission,” Wadephul says in an interview.
The UNIFIL mission expires on December 31, 2026. Germany’s parliament extended the country’s participation in the mission for the final time just weeks ago.
Wadephul says Lebanon, with a stabilizing government, represents “one of the most hopeful developments in the region at the moment.”
Lebanon and Israel held ambassador-level talks at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday — their sixth round of face-to-face negotiations since a new war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, triggered by the wider regional conflict.
An EU-mandated force could “create the conditions for the Israeli army to withdraw without Hezbollah returning with its terror,” the minister adds.
The proposal comes as European nations seek to maintain regional stability while balancing relations with Israel and Lebanon.
The US-led coalition shot down several drones over Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, Kurdish forces say, in the second such incident in the city this week.
Kurdish counter-terrorism forces say that “coalition forces downed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil between 04:19 and 05:25 a.m.” local time, with no damage or casualties reported.
The forces do not say who was behind the attack.
Iran has stepped up attacks on Gulf countries following US strikes on its territory, targeting military facilities used by US forces in the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they struck two radar sites belonging to the United States in the Gulf sultanate of Oman.
A statement says their forces “targeted and destroyed the maritime surveillance radar at the Salamah Rocks and the US air surveillance radar stationed in the Ghanam area.”
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar have called for a ceasefire and the resumption of dialogue between the United States and Iran, the Chinese foreign ministry says, citing talks between the ministers in Shanghai yesterday.
Wang urged all parties to fulfill their commitments and abide by the ceasefire memorandum of understanding, the foreign ministry says.
Jordan says it intercepted three Iranian missiles targeting its territory, according to a statement by the Jordanian army.
There are no reports of casualties or damage.
The Health Ministry confirms the first case of the West Nile virus in a Tel Aviv resident.
This is the first confirmed case of the disease in Israel during the summer season of 2026.
However, the Environmental Protection Ministry reports that no mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus have been found.
Every year from the beginning of June until the end of November, the frequency of finding mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus increases, as do reports of human illness from the disease.
“West Nile fever is a disease transmitted to humans through the bite of female mosquitoes that feed on infected birds,” says Prof. Sigal Sadetzki, head of the ministry’s public health division. “In most cases, it is a mild illness without symptoms; in exceptional cases, severe symptoms such as encephalitis or meningitis can develop.”
The Environmental Protection Ministry has instructed the relevant local authority to increase prevention, monitoring, pest control and public awareness efforts. The ministry conducts thousands of mosquito larva monitoring tests, and hundreds of adult mosquito trappings throughout the year. The mosquitoes are transferred to the Health Ministry’s laboratories for identification and testing.
The ministry recommends using mosquito repellent products and devices.
It also urges the public to dry and drain sources of standing water, such as buckets, flowerpot saucers, gutters, ornamental ponds, and any other container that might accumulate water, and to report mosquito hazards or sources of standing water in public spaces to the local authority’s hotline at *106.
Following objections from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to a proposal to use crocodiles at a prison holding Palestinian security inmates, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has reclassified the Nile crocodile as a “tended wild animal,” a move intended to allow the plan to proceed, according to Hebrew media reports.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly first raised the idea last December during consultations with Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, proposing a prison modeled on the US “Alligator Alcatraz.” Senior prison officials subsequently toured the crocodile farm at Hamat Gader in northern Israel as part of a preliminary assessment.
The Nature and Parks Authority later concluded the proposal was not feasible under existing regulations, saying wild animals may only be kept for purposes such as education and research.
By reclassifying the Nile crocodile as a “tended wild animal,” Silman’s order would allow state bodies such as the IPS to launch a pilot program to keep crocodiles on prison grounds, subject to animal welfare requirements and appropriate holding conditions, according to reports.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shares an image on X of a tower appearing to collapse at Iran’s Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman following a series of overnight strikes.
The image circulated on social media via anti-Iranian government activists prior to Hegseth sharing it.
Chabahar port, which Iran has been running with support from India, has been a repeated target of American airstrikes. Iranian state media acknowledged a third round of strikes on the facility without immediately acknowledging the tower’s collapse.
Iran has described the tower as overseeing commercial traffic into the port. However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps also operates at other ports across the country.
https://t.co/jZlSVRePRC pic.twitter.com/Nj5o0oiphH
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) July 17, 2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they attacked a US special operations command center at al-Tanf in Syria in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, Tasnim news agency reports.
Reuters cannot not independently verify the claim.
The Guards also say Iran retains full control of the Strait of Hormuz and that no oil or gas will be exported through the waterway as long as US attacks continue.
Seven people were killed in overnight US attacks on bridges in Bandar Khamir, a port city in southern Iran, IRNA reports, citing the Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences.
Iranian state media reported last night that US strikes hit an airport and two bridges in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as two bridges near the village of Kohourestan and the Shor River in Bandar Khamir County.
Iran says it targeted US military infrastructure in Kuwait in response to American attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Iran says it deployed drones in Kuwait to target “the deployment sites of US forces and the logistical support centers of the ‘terrorist’ and ‘child-killing’ US military,” Iranian state TV reports.
“The attacks were in response to the crimes of the arrogant enemy and in revenge for the blood of the martyrs of the homeland,” it adds.
Kuwait said earlier it was responding to missile and drone attacks, a day after the Gulf nation faced aerial attacks from Iran. Gulf nations Bahrain and Qatar also reported attacks early this morning as well.
In his speech on election security, US President Donald Trump says the US is “winning big in Iran and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.”
The comments come as the US expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran overnight by hitting bridges as part of a broader attack on the nation’s infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military says it has completed its latest wave of strikes on Iran that were carried out at US President Donald Trump’s direction and mark a sixth consecutive night of American strikes.
“US forces, including fighter jets, aerial drones and warships, launched precision munitions that hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities,” the US Central Command says in a statement.
Qatar says it intercepted a missile attack, after AFP journalists in the capital Doha reported hearing several blasts.
“The Ministry of Defense of State of Qatar announces that armed forces intercepted a missile attack which targeted the State of Qatar,” the defense ministry writes on X.
The ministry does not say who was behind the attack.
Iran has stepped up attacks on Gulf countries following US strikes on its territory, targeting military facilities used by US forces in the region.
The Knesset votes 62-0 to pass a party financing bill that also includes a provision officially dispersing the Knesset ahead of the October 27 national election.
The Knesset will now go to recess and not officially reconvene until the next parliament is sworn in following the vote.
During the recess, committees may hold meetings under special arrangements, and the government or 25 MKs may demand that the Knesset plenum be convened.
Earlier, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri had threatened to not vote for the legislation dispersing the Knesset, demanding that opposition parties also support the bill, which they had refused to do. Ultimately the bill passes 62-0, with only coalition backing.
The Knesset passed a long list of laws in a marathon session wrapping up the 25th Knesset, including highly controversial legislation stripping powers from the attorney general, freezing the arrests of Haredi draft-dodgers and significantly expanding government oversight of media outlets.
Several booms are heard in Qatar’s capital Doha, while a government security alert is sent to mobile phones, according to a witness.
The cause of the sounds is not immediately clear.
AFP journalists in Doha report hearing several blasts, as Iran attacks US allies in the renewed Middle East war.
A public safety alert warns the security threat level is “elevated” and urges residents to take shelter.
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has reportedly threatened to hold up the legislation formally dispersing the Knesset ahead of the national election this fall.
According to Hebrew media reports, Deri is refusing to vote in favor of the bill to provide election funding to parties, which also includes the dispersal of the Knesset. Such a move could give the Knesset an additional week to pass legislation, though it had previously been agreed upon that it would disperse today ahead of the October 27 vote.
Deri reportedly is demanding that opposition parties also vote in favor of the legislation, although they have said that they will refuse to support the bill and that the coalition must summon the votes for its passage.
Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik said earlier in a hearing that if the party funding bill does not pass today or some other mechanism to disperse the Knesset doesn’t pass, “the Knesset may continue operating until 90 days before the election date. My recommendation is to pass the bill in its entirety.”
Hours later, however, the Knesset Spokesman’s Office said early Friday morning that the Knesset House Committee approves legislation that will formally disperse the Knesset as of Saturday, July 18.
The Knesset will remain in recess from that date until the 26th Knesset convenes following the election, the statement says.
It was not immediately clear if the vote on the dispersal date still needs to come to the full Knesset plenum.
Earlier, Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman asserted that the Knesset dispersal is not tied to passing the bill but “was predetermined for July 17.”
Liberman claimed that “the coalition’s contemptible attempt to tie the end of the session to increasing party funding has no basis in reality.”
Kuwait says it is responding to missile and drone attacks, a day after the Gulf nation faced aerial attacks from Iran.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently engaging hostile missiles and drone attacks following the nefarious Iranian aggression,” the army writes on X.
In Bahrain, the interior ministry says that a siren has been sounded, urging citizens to take shelter.
Iranian state media said the Islamic Republic’s army was targeting US helicopters and planes at an air base in Bahrain “in response to the enemy’s hostile action in targeting urban infrastructure and innocent people.”
Republicans in the US Congress forged ahead on Thursday with a $95 billion budget plan to meet President Donald Trump’s demands for new defense funding for the Iran war, farm assistance and a sweeping overhaul of voting requirements ahead of the November midterm elections.
A Republican-controlled budget panel in the US House of Representatives approves the resolution, clearing it for a full House vote as early as next week. If passed, it would pave the way for a special budget reconciliation bill intended to clear the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes needed for most legislation in that chamber.
That could enable Republicans, who hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, to bypass Democratic opposition and advance legislation directing $60 billion for defense, $13 billion for intelligence, $12 billion for agriculture, and $10 billion to enact Trump’s signature voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, over the next decade. But it was too early to say whether a House reconciliation bill would qualify under strict Senate rules or even garner a simple majority.
“We’re not going to get any help from our Democrat colleagues to do what I believe are… critical things,” budget committee chair Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican, tells his fellow panel members, who approved the resolution for full House consideration in a 20-14 party-line vote.
The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol says that if the US and Iran do not come together to improve flows of oil through the Strait of Hormuz soon, the world should be worried about energy security.
“Oil security is still a critical issue,” Birol tells a Council on Foreign Relations event. “We should be worried, and I am worried if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks.”
The German state of Lower Saxony is interested in supporting plans by Israeli defense company Rafael to establish operations at Volkswagen’s Osnabrueck site, two people familiar with the matter tell Reuters.
The sources say various structures are being examined to facilitate Rafael’s entry into the site, where production of Volkswagen’s T-Roc Cabriolet is due to end next year.
One model under discussion is a split of the Osnabrueck operation into two companies, an option first reported by the Handelsblatt news outlet, though the sources say this is only one of several strategies being considered.
Rafael is interested in manufacturing components for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system at the plant. Reuters reported in April that the Israeli state-owned defense company had signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen regarding the site.
A second source familiar with the discussions says that Lower Saxony — where Volkswagen is based and where it operates five of its six western German assembly plants — is optimistic the project will succeed despite reservations from Qatar, one of Volkswagen’s major shareholders.
Volkswagen and Rafael do not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A junior lawyer at the International Criminal Court repeats her allegations that prosecutor Karim Khan had non-consensual sexual contact with her, in a CNN interview that is her first public media appearance.
Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Sareta Ashraph, tells CNN he denies “any form of sexual contact, relationship, consensual or non-consensual” with the alleged victim.
The woman, identified only as Sarah, does not comment on the ICC’s investigations into Khan, but tells CNN he showed escalating behavior of touching and groping her, recounting a time she said he touched her intimately while she was pretending to be asleep.
“There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity,” Sarah tells CNN.
Diplomats running the ICC’s oversight body have decided Khan did have an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and should be fired, according to documents seen by Reuters. The court’s 125 member states are set to vote on July 24 on a proposal to dismiss him for alleged sexual misconduct.
Khan’s supporters claim he has become a political target for seeking arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.
In the interview, Sarah denies rumors she worked for the Mossad spy agency, saying she underwent extensive security checks in order to be able to work closely with Khan and his predecessor.
“If ever there was even a hint of suspicion that I was a state agent of any kind, I would have been dismissed,” she says.
US Marines boarded a vessel in the Gulf of Oman for “verification,” US Central Command says in a post on X.
The military adds that the US has also redirected three commercial vessels trying to run its US blockade of Iranian ports and disabled another to ensure compliance with the blockade.
US strikes overnight hit an airport and two bridges in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reports.
“Three explosions were heard around the airport and at least one American enemy projectile hit Iranshahr airport,” in the southeast, state television IRIB says on Telegram.
Another report speaks of airstrikes on two bridges near the village of Kohourestan and the Shor River in Bandar Khamir County.
President Isaac Herzog sits down in his Jerusalem office with the Saudi Al Arabiya TV station, telling the outlet that is his dream to see peace between the two countries.
“I have great respect for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman,” says Herzog of the Saudi leader. “The thing that we want most in Israel is to see rapprochement between the nations.”
He says he hopes to “meet the Saudi Arabian leadership officially in due course.”
Herzog says he is “not surprised” that the US-Iran MOU broke down, given Iran’s behavior in the past.
At the same time, he says he trusts US President Donald Trump fully, and believes in a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but “we had legitimate concerns, we raised them, and now you see it in front of your eyes with the Iranian behavior.”
“I respect President Donald Trump, and I respect Vice President JD Vance,” Herzog stresses, after Vance blamed Israel for trying to undermine talks with Iran.
He says he is “happy that the US reaction is firm and clear.”
Herzog also says that his “heart aches” for every innocent Palestinian civilian who is killed, and says that the people of Gaza deserve a good life.
A siren that was heard in the northern border city of Kiryat Shmona a short while ago was a “false alert” activated in an area of southern Lebanon where Israeli troops are operating, the military says.
There was no actual attack on Israeli forces.
The Knesset has approved a bill extending the mandatory service period for male soldiers to 32 months.
Forty-three lawmakers support the bill, while 12 oppose it and one abstains.
The bill was advanced over the objections of the IDF, which repeatedly urged the government to extend the mandatory service period for men back to 36 months, from the current 30.
Mandatory service for male soldiers was once 36 months, before being slashed to 32 months in 2015. It was shortened again to 30 months in 2020, before being extended back to 32 months a year later, with the planned reduction to 30 months postponed by three years.
In August 2024, amid the war, the mandatory service period was automatically shortened again to 30 months.
The first cohort enlisted under this shorter service period was supposed to be discharged in January 2027, which would have exacerbated the military’s manpower shortages.
Under the legislation, the mandatory service time will be shortened to 30 months in June 2029.
The IDF has repeatedly said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits — including 7,000 combat troops — due to the strain on its standing and reserve forces caused by the yearslong multifront war.
If the 30-month service period had remained in place until January 2027, the IDF says it would have found itself short thousands more soldiers.
Iranian media reports indicate that the latest American round of strikes hit targets in Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz and Bushehr in the country’s south, near the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf.
Also reportedly among the targets are a bridge in Bandar Khamir — near Bandar Abbas — and the Iranshahr airport further north.
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