Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they unfolded.
IRGC navy threatens to hit US targets in the region if oil tankers come under fire
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatens to target US sites in the Middle East and “enemy ships” if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reports.
“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centers in the region and enemy ships,” it says, a day after US attacks against two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
Man arrested for allegedly hurling antisemitic abuse at Jewish passengers on London bus
A man has been arrested on suspicion of hurling antisemitic abuse at Jewish children on a bus in London and claiming to have a knife on his person, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle newspaper reports.
According to the report, the incident occurred on Thursday on a bus that travels through Stamford Hill, a neighborhood of London that is home to more than 15,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Witnesses cited by the Jewish Chronicle recount that the suspect told Jewish passengers aboard the bus, including children, that it was a “shame Hitler didn’t kill you,” and that they should have been sent to the gas chambers.
Shomrim, a Jewish security organization in London, says in a statement that as the incident unfolded, “the bus driver stopped the bus and activated the emergency alarm” while members of the public stepped in to assist the Jewish passengers.
The organization says it arrived on the scene and “swiftly detained the suspect” until the police arrived, at which point they were handed over and arrested.
In a statement carried by the Jewish Chronicle, the Metropolitan Police confirm that a 50-year-old man was arrested “on suspicion of making threats to kill.”
Although the man claimed that he was carrying a knife with him during the incident, the police say he was searched and was not found to be carrying any weapon.
AJC condemns antisemitic AI image depicting Israeli reporter as puppet master
The American Jewish Committee condemns an artificial intelligence image depicting Israeli reporter Barak Ravid as a puppet master, as the Axios and Channel 12 journalist’s reporting on the Iran war has come under antisemitic attack.
Accusing the well-sourced Ravid of trying to manipulate markets with his coverage, one X user posted an AI image portraying Ravid as a puppet master — an age-old antisemitic trope.
“The sheer volume of antisemitic lies packed into this one AI-generated fake TIME cover is astonishing. A Jewish journalist as puppet master. Controlling markets. Manipulating governments. In it for the money. A secret Mossad agent pulling strings from the shadows,” AJC says in a statement.
“These are centuries-old antisemitic smears. They didn’t disappear. They just got an AI upgrade,” it continues. “This is bigotry, and it has a target: Barak Ravid a Jewish journalist doing his job.”
It was just a matter of time until the Antisemites come out of their filthy holes and join the campaign of lies against me. The classic tropes: Mossad, controlling the world, trying to make money. Decent people here should come out publicly against this kind of hate pic.twitter.com/etVo8aNvEI
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 8, 2026
Rubio, Witkoff met with Qatari PM in Miami today to discuss Iran talks, source tells ToI
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff met today in Miami with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, as Doha assists in efforts to mediate a permanent ceasefire deal between Washington and Iran, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
Qatar has been quietly operating as a go-between, while allowing Pakistan to play the main mediating role, the source says, confirming an earlier report.
While the Trump administration had wanted Qatar to serve as the main conduit, finding its services useful during the Gaza war and other world conflicts, Doha has been hesitant to take on a more prominent role in the Iran talks, believing it would be blamed if they collapsed or accused of bias toward Iran by pro-Israel hawks if the negotiations bore fruit, the source says.
The Qatari premier also met with US Vice President JD Vance on Friday at the White House, the source says.
Syria’s Al-Sharaa partially shuffles cabinet; replaces brother, who held key office, with former governor
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has replaced several government officials and ministers on Saturday, including his own brother, in a partial government overhaul, state media reports.
The new appointments, announced by Syria’s official SANA news agency, include former Homs governor Abdul Rahman Badreddine al-Aama replacing Sharaa’s brother Maher as secretary-general for the Syrian presidency.
Information Minister Hamza Almustafa and Agriculture Minister Amjad Badr are replaced by Khaled Fawaz Zaarour and Bassel Hafez al-Sweidan, respectively.
The reasons behind the overhaul are unclear.
The Syrian transitional cabinet created in March 2025 came after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, and was dominated by Sharaa’s inner circle.
Sharaa also appointed new governors for several provinces including Homs, Quneitra and Latakia and Deir Ezzor, SANA says.
At least 69 killed in militia attack in Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources say
Commanders of the Codeco militia walk through the village of Linga on January 13, 2022, in Ituri province, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. (ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP)
A militia attack killed at least 69 people in Ituri province in the troubled northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local and security sources tell AFP, in the latest in a series of attacks in Ituri, a gold-rich province that borders Uganda which has suffered years of deadly conflict.
Armed men affiliated with the Codeco militia (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) carried out the attack at the end of April, the sources say.
The lack of security in the zone because of the continued presence of Codeco fighters delayed the recovery of the bodies for several days, they add.
Security sources put the toll at 69 dead but a local civil protection official, Dieudonne Losa, tell AFP that more than 70 people had been killed.
The Codeco militia claims to defend the rights of the mainly farming Lendu community, notably against the mainly pastoral Hema community. Another armed group active in the province, the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP), says it fights for the Hema community.
They are just two of several armed groups active in the area, which also include the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group formed by former Ugandan rebels that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS).
Local and security sources on Thursday said ADF fighters killed at least 36 people in two days of attacks in Ituri and North Kivu.
Since 2021, the Ugandan army has, alongside the Congolese military, been deployed in the northern part of North Kivu and in Ituri to fight the ADF. The Congolese army sometimes uses Codeco as an auxiliary force.
Earlier today, the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo warned of a “deadly” wave of attacks in the country’s restive east targeting civilians.
“Dozens of civilians have been killed in recent days” in areas in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, MONUSCO said, without elaborating.
The mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving various armed groups, militia and army troops.
IDF says it intercepted another drone flying near troops in southern Lebanon
Another apparent Hezbollah drone identified over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are deployed was intercepted a short while ago, the military says.
Young Palestinian man from East Jerusalem stabbed to death in West Bank; police launch probe
A young Palestinian man from East Jerusalem has been fatally stabbed in the West Bank.
Paramedics in the Palestinian Red Crescent brought the wounded 22-year-old to al-Za’im checkpoint outside Jerusalem this evening, where Magen David Adom teams picked him up and rushed him to the hospital.
The young man sustained a severe stab wound and paramedics attempted to resuscitate him on the way, Magen David Adom says. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The victim is identified as Ahmad Almashny by Arabic-language outlets. According to police, he was brought by Red Crescent paramedics from Anata, a Palestinian town just beyond the West Bank security barrier.
The Binyamin police station in the West Bank has launched an investigation into the incident, police added.
Yoram Cohen, former Shin Bet chief and new Yashar member, says Smotrich is ‘legitimate’ political partner, but Ben Gvir isn’t
Former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen speaks in a Channel 12 interview, May 9, 2026. (Screenshot)
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is a “legitimate” political partner, says former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who is running for the Knesset with Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party.
Speaking with Channel 12, Cohen calls Smotrich a “Zionist” and a “patriot” who served in the IDF, stating that “for all these reasons, he is legitimate” even if some of his statements and policies are “immature.”
By contrast, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party ran together with Smotrich’s Religious Zionism in the last election, is not a legitimate partner. Ben Gvir, who has convictions for incitement to racism and support of a terrorist organization (Kach), was not conscripted because of his extremist background.
Cohen, who announced his entry into politics with Eisenkot’s party on Tuesday, says he did so in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failures, asserting that if the current government is reelected it will be “catastrophic” for the country.
“If I hadn’t seen the behavior of Mr. Netanyahu, of his government, of the failures… of the future risk, I wouldn’t have entered politics,” he says.
Cohen objects to the fact that the current government includes “non-Zionist” elements who “do not serve in the army, and send our children to repeated wars while they themselves do not serve” — a reference to the coalition’s two ultra-Orthodox parties. He also denounces the inclusion of ministers “who have a criminal background and administer the law,” in an apparent reference to Ben Gvir.
“I am surprised at us, too, at our public that gives legitimacy to people who stood at the head of the system on October 7, for example, the prime minister specifically, who also shaped the policy in the preceding years,” he adds, slamming Netanyahu for refusing to allow an investigation of the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks by way of a state commission of inquiry.
Cohen also castigates Netanyahu for his attacks on the judiciary and law enforcement. He repeats a previous claim that Netanyahu once asked him to “disqualify” political rival Naftali Bennett from his security cabinet by revoking Bennett’s security clearance. (Netanyahu’s office has denied the claim and accused Cohen of making it up.)
“I told him I wouldn’t do it. I reported it to those who needed to be reported to immediately afterward,” including Bennett himself, Cohen tells Channel 12.
He accuses the prime minister of again attempting to misuse the Shin Bet in 2019, when Netanyahu allegedly phoned Cohen’s successor as Shin Bet chief, Nadav Argaman, and demanded that Argaman declare rival Benny Gantz unfit to be prime minister due to reports that the Blue and White chief’s phone had been allegedly hacked by Iranian operatives.
Netanyahu went from attacking individuals to launching attacks on the entire system after his criminal indictment for corruption in late 2019, Cohen asserts, claiming that the premier has been appointing officials based on the criteria of “personal loyalty.”
He says current Shin Bet chief David Zini will need a “strong backbone” to stand up to inappropriate demands from Netanyahu, and says he is worried about the newly appointed Zini’s stance on issues including delaying hearings in Netanyahu’s trial for reasons of security and the so-called Qatargate scandal involving aides to Netanyahu.
Asked if he would sit in government with Arab parties, Cohen replies that they would need to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, accept universal service, and back the principles of the Declaration of Independence in order to be partners. He adds, however, that he would not want to have to rely on an Arab party inside the coalition to muster a Knesset majority, but, rather, supports a “Zionist” majority coalition that others could then join.
Cohen says he has no ambition to be prime minister, refuses to state a preference for any ministerial portfolio, and says he is committed to serving a full term in the Knesset but makes no promises beyond that.
Bennett issues public appeal to disaffected Likud members to join his party ahead of upcoming elections
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks in a video statement, May 5, 2026. (Screenshot)
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett issues a public appeal to disaffected Likud members to join his and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Together list, positioning it as an alternative to a ruling party that he says no longer reflects its founding values.
“I come from a Likud home,” Bennett says in a video posted to X, stating that both his parents voted for the party when it was “a party of unity, of nationalism, of love for the Land of Israel, a proper liberal party that built a wonderful country here.”
“Today’s Likud members of Knesset openly embrace criminals left and right and praise them. Today’s Likud promotes mass draft evasion for 100,000 of our young Haredi brothers who could relieve our children a bit from the Lebanese border,” he says, accusing the party of running “massive patronage mills at the expense of the citizens.”
Bennett urges Likud voters to jump ship for Together, which he calls “a real home for those who love the land of Israel, the people of Israel and the unity of Israel.”
Forty-two percent of Israelis who voted for Likud in the previous election are either considering or have decided to back a different party in the fall Knesset elections, according to a Channel 12 news poll broadcast Friday.
The poll showed 10% of those who backed Likud in 2022 will support Together; 6% will vote for former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party; 4% will back Avigdor Liberman’s secular right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party; 3% will cast a ballot for far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party; 2% will vote for Yoaz Hendel’s right-wing Reservists party; 1% will support Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party; and 1% will cast a vote for Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism party.
Putin says he thinks war with Ukraine is ‘coming to an end’
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he thinks the war with Ukraine is coming to an end.
“I think that the matter is coming to an end,” Putin tells reporters in the Kremlin. after Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years.
He does not elaborate further.
Suicide bomber, gunmen kill 3 police officers in attack in northwest Pakistan
A suicide bomber and several gunmen detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a security post in northwest Pakistan late Saturday, triggering an intense firefight that killed at least three police officers, police say.
The attack took place in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, police official Zahid Khan says. He says multiple explosions were heard shortly after the attack and that several nearby houses and the security post collapsed from the impact of the blast.
He provides no further details, saying the exchange of fire was ongoing and that some officers were believed to be wounded and trapped under the rubble.
No group immediately claims responsibility.
However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, and allied militant groups that have carried out similar attacks in the past. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years.
The TTP is a separate group but allied to the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Israel built and defended secret base deep in Iraqi desert to support Iran air campaign – WSJ
Illustrative: Bulldozers clear sand dunes and extract clay in the desert south of Samawah, Iraq, December 21, 2025. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Israel set up a secret military base in the Iraqi desert to support its aerial campaign against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials and other sources.
According to the sources, Israel built the base shortly before the war began in late February to serve as a hub for logistics to support the Israeli Air Force.
It also housed special forces troops and search-and-rescue teams, the report says.
To protect the outpost, Israeli troops even launched airstrikes against Iraqi forces who nearly discovered it in early March, the report adds.
The strikes killed one Iraqi soldier, Baghdad said at the time, after Iraqi media reported that a local shepherd witnessed “unusual military activity,” including helicopters and gunfire in a remote area. According to the Journal, the Israeli strikes succeeded in deterring Iraqi forces from further investigation.
Iraq, which initially blamed the attack on the Americans, said: “This reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval.”
The US was not involved in the operation, sources tell the American outlet.
“It appears there was a certain force on the ground before the strike,
supported from the air, operating beyond the capabilities of our units,” a top Iraqi military official said at the time.
The report points to statements made by Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar in March, when he said that special forces had been conducting “extraordinary” operations during the conflict with Iran.
“The troops of the air force’s special units are currently carrying out extraordinary missions that can spark one’s imagination,” Bar said, without elaborating further.
According to an expert speaking to the Journal, the western desert of Iraq, where the reported base was located, is a perfect spot for a clandestine military outpost, given its sparse population and vast size.
“It’s normal that before operations you reconnoiter and set up these kinds of locations,” says Michael Knights, the head of the Horizon Engage intelligence firm.
The IDF declines to comment on the report.
Man arrested after Tel Aviv anti-government protest for allegedly insulting cop; police use water cannon at Jerusalem demo
Anti-government protesters at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, May 9, 2026. (Gilad Furst / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Police arrest a man for allegedly insulting a public worker following an anti-government protest on Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, with central Tel Aviv police chief Avi Ofer accusing the man of calling him a “zero.”
Officers drag the man away to a police car and drive away as fellow anti-government activists protest that the incident does not constitute grounds for arrest.
המשטרה עיכבה פעיל מחאה בתל אביב, לאחר שלפי החשד העליב את מפקד תחנת לב תל אביב, סגן ניצב אבי עופר. כשעופר התיישב לכתוב את הדו״ח הוא אמר לשוטריו: ״הוא אמר לי שאני אפס. על העלבת עובד ציבור. כוסאמא שלו״ pic.twitter.com/R5pr6cxosr
— Yair Foldes (@Yair_Foldes) May 9, 2026
The protest is organized by the Movement for Quality Government, which has petitioned the High Court against the government’s efforts to weaken the judiciary, codify the Haredi exemption from military service and avoid forming a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
The protest attracts hundreds of people, with a large group marching over from the memorial outside City Hall where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot dead in 1995.
Some of the protesters chant: “October 7– the Netanyahu massacre.”
Dani Elgarat, whose brother Itzik was kidnapped during the onslaught and killed in captivity in Gaza, accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers of seeking to distract the public from the government’s failure to prevent the Hamas invasion and massacre.
Elgarat cites as an example Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s comment this week that the last government’s inclusion of an Arab party was “a thousand times worse” than the current government’s “tactical failure” regarding October 7.
“This is not a tactical failure,” says Elgarat. “This was and still is a holocaust, and we demand the truth.”
Elgarat, who recently joined the left-leaning Democrats party, also says the government’s failure to crack down on “Jewish terrorism” against Palestinians in the West Bank will ultimately rob the state of its ability to protect its own citizens.
“When human beings are attacked because of their identity, it’s terrorism,” he says.
“It’s not a ‘price tag,’ and it’s not ‘local organizing,’ and these are not ‘bad seeds’,” says Elgarat, ticking off euphemisms for settler attacks, which occur on a near-daily basis but are rarely prosecuted.
“This is Jewish terrorism, and the state that doesn’t enforce the law equally loses the ability to protect its citizens,” he says.
Beside the stage, a smaller group of left-wing protesters stand in silence, holding signs that call to “stop the genocide” in Gaza and “release Palestinian hostages” from prison in Israel.
When a speaker who follows Elgarat repeats the bereaved brother’s call for a state commission of inquiry, a woman from the left-wing group starts calling through a megaphone for a state probe of Israel’s “torture camps” for Palestinian inmates.
People standing nearby, from the main bloc of protesters — including a woman in a Democrats shirt — try to silence the left-wing protester, telling her she is intruding on the main demonstration. A shouting match ensues, and fades away as the demonstration disperses.
In Jerusalem, hundreds of people participate in an anti-government demonstration. Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters in the road.
Canada’s Jews experiencing ‘most violent year in recent memory’, B’nai Brith Canada warns
Police investigate the site of North York's Temple Emanu-El after it was targeted by gunfire late on a Monday night, Toronto, March 3, 2026. (Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images via JTA)
Less than five months into 2026, Canada’s Jewish community has experienced more violent antisemitic attacks than all of last year, putting it on track to be the most violent year for the Jewish community in recent memory, B’nai Brith Canada warns.
According to the organization’s League for Human Rights, 11 violent antisemitic incidents have been recorded nationwide since January 1, surpassing the 10 violent incidents documented during all of 2025.
On Thursday night, three Jewish people were reportedly shot at with a replica firearm from a vehicle as they exited the Chasidei Bobov synagogue on Bathurst Street in Toronto. That followed numerous other synagogue attacks recorded in recent months.
“These brazen attacks on Jewish Canadians are a sign of a crisis of antisemitism that has spiraled out of control,” says Simon Wolle, chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “Violence such as this, which has escalated from targeting synagogues to targeting Jewish people directly, … happens when governments fail to act despite mounting evidence that antisemitism is becoming more normalized and dangerous.”
B’nai Brith took the unusual step of releasing preliminary 2026 figures because of the rapid increase in violent incidents, says Richard Robertson, the organization’s director of research and advocacy. He calls on the federal government to establish an emergency task force to combat antisemitism, warning that “Jewish Canadians are being terrorized.”
Last year, Canada recorded a record 6,800 antisemitic incidents, B’nai Brith Canada says.
Apparent Hezbollah drone shot down near IDF troops in southern Lebanon, army says
An apparent Hezbollah drone identified over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are deployed was intercepted a short while ago, the military says.
WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum gifts $200 million to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital
Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp, has given the largest single gift to an Israeli hospital, donating $200 million to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem through The Koum Family Foundation, the hospital says.
The hospital will be officially renamed as Koum Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
The 24-story building will encompass more than 1.5 million square feet, including new surgical and emergency care facilities.
The donation surpasses the $180 million donation made by Shmuel and Anat Harlap to Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Hospital) in August 2025 to build the “Tower of Hope.”
“This gift reflects our confidence in a future of medical innovation and research that will benefit patients in Israel and around the world,” Koum said in a statement
Iran approved passage of Qatari gas shipment to Pakistan through Hormuz, source says
Iran approved the passage of Qatari LNG tanker Al Kharaitiyat through the Strait of Hormuz, sources tell Reuters, after shipping data showed the tanker sailing toward the blockaded waterway earlier today.
A successful passage would mark the first transit by a Qatari LNG tanker through the strait since the start of the Iran war.
The gas is being sold by Qatar to Pakistan – a mediator in the war – under a government-to-government deal, according to two people familiar with the matter. They say Iran had approved the shipment to help build confidence with Qatar and Pakistan.
Pakistan has been in discussions with Iran to allow a limited number of LNG tankers to pass through the strait, as Islamabad urgently needs to address its gas shortage, a source briefed on the agreement tells Reuters.
Iran agreed to assist, and the two sides are coordinating the first vessel’s safe passage carrying gas supplied under Pakistan’s agreement with Qatar, its main LNG supplier, the source adds.
Former fire chief Dedi Simhi enters politics, says he has yet to choose party
Former Israeli Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Dedi Simhi attends committee meeting at the Knesset, January 21, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Former Israeli Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Dedi Simhi throws his hat into the political ring, telling a conference in Rehovot that “the country needs to be straightened out and I have the credentials to deliver it.”
The Ynet news site quotes the former senior official, whose son, Staff Sgt. Guy Simhi was killed on October 7, as saying that he “will not run in the Likud primaries” and has not yet chosen a party, although he had yet to decide if he would accept the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling party.
He adds that he will not boycott the next prime minister if whoever wins the upcoming election is a Zionist and calls “to fix the political culture,” arguing that today “politics in this country is now automatically associated with intrigue, corruption, and lack of professionalism, among other things, so good people don’t want to get involved.”
Several Palestinians, including pregnant woman, injured in multiple settler attacks across West Bank – reports
Palestinian media outlets report that two women were injured in a settler attack in Jurish, near Nablus, earlier today. The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it treated a 35-year-old pregnant woman and a 65-year-old woman who were reportedly injured after settlers threw stones at Palestinian homes.
In addition, settlers entered the village of Deir Jarir near Ramallah, where clashes broke out with Palestinians, recent reports say.
Two Palestinians were reportedly wounded by gunfire, the reports say, though it remains unclear at this stage whether the shooting was carried out by settlers or IDF forces. The IDF has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Last night, Palestinian media reported that an elderly man and a child were injured in the area of Shuwayka, south of Hebron, in a settler assault. Footage showed the two victims suffering head injuries by the side of the road.
إصابة فلسطيني وطفله إثر اعتداء مستوطنين عليهما بآلات حادة خلال وجودهما في أرضهما بقرية شويكة جنوب الخليل بالضفة الغربية٬ وفق ما ذكرته وكالة الأنباء الفلسطينية وفا #فيديو pic.twitter.com/Q0TTonNUnG
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) May 8, 2026
Separately, settlers reportedly assaulted a Palestinian farmer in the South Hebron Hills.
Overnight, Palestinian media reported that settlers set fire to vehicles near the village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, and cut off a water line serving a Bedouin community living in the area.
متابعة | مستوطنون يضرمون النار في مركبة بمحيط دوار "كراميلو" قرب قرية الطيبة شرق رام الله، الليلة الماضية. pic.twitter.com/tkUHQDiU5Z
— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) May 9, 2026
Hospital says soldier seriously wounded by drone earlier today is stable, in ICU; 2 others set for surgery
The three soldiers who were wounded by explosive drones launched by Hezbollah today were admitted to Galilee Medical Center, the hospital says. One soldier in serious condition underwent surgery and is now stable in the intensive care unit.
The two other soldiers are in moderate condition and are scheduled for surgery later.
In addition, two soldiers who were wounded yesterday and arrived at the hospital in serious condition have undergone surgery. Their condition has stabilized, and they are now improving, the hospital says.
The medical center adds that it is now operating at heightened alert due to the ongoing events in Lebanon.
Several apparent Hezbollah drones intercepted in north, IDF says; no injuries reported
Several apparent drones launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon were intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the military says.
The “suspicious aerial targets” triggered sirens in several communities in the Western Galilee.
There are no reports of injuries.
Qatar said to be taking on key mediation role between US and Iran at Trump’s behest
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani speaks during his meeting with Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In the last two weeks, Qatar has emerged as a central player in negotiations between the US and Iran, Channel 12’s Barak Ravid says, citing American officials and regional sources.
According to the report, US President Donald Trump pressured the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to help broker negotiations with Tehran.
Doha was reluctant to get involved, but eventually acceded after weeks of pressure, Ravid adds.
Pakistan is still the primary mediator in the talks, Ravid says, adding that Qatar is not “going behind the back” of Islamabad, but is instead joining the regional effort to reach a long-term deal between the US and Iran.
Yesterday, the Qatari prime minister met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington for talks on the US-Iran negotiations.
Qatar, whose leadership is seen as close to Trump, has been a central mediator in negotiating several ceasefires in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, including the current fragile truce, which has held since last October.
Qatari LNG tanker sailing towards Strait of Hormuz, shipping data shows
Qatari LNG tanker Al Kharaitiyat is sailing toward the Strait of Hormuz after departing Qatar’s Ras Laffan en route to Port Qasim in Pakistan, according to LSEG shipping data.
A successful passage would mark the first transit by a Qatari LNG tanker through the strait since the start of the Iran war. There is no immediate comment from QatarEnergy.
The vessel, managed by Nakilat Shipping Qatar Ltd and sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, has a cargo capacity of 211,986 cubic meters, according to LSEG data.
Qatar-owned LNG Carrier "Al Kharaitiyat" approaching the Strait of Hormuz, could be the first non-Iranian linked Tanker allowed to pass in days, if it doesn't stop before.
Destination: Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/JT9fkYa8aB
— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) May 9, 2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards halted two Qatar LNG tankers, Al Daayen and Rasheeda, that had been heading toward the Strait of Hormuz on April 6 and instructed them to hold position without explanation, a source told Reuters at the time.
Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of LNG, with shipments mostly going to buyers in Asia. Iranian attacks knocked out 17 percent of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, with repairs expected to sideline 12.8 million tons per year of the fuel for three to five years.
Hezbollah rocket lands in open area in north, IDF says; no injuries reported
A rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon a short while ago struck an open area in northern Israel, the military says.
The launch triggered sirens in the border community of Baram.
There are no reports of injuries.
“This is another violation of the ceasefire understandings by the Hezbollah terror organization,” the IDF adds.
Russia, Ukraine trade accusations of ceasefire violations
Russia and Ukraine trade accusations of violating a three-day US-brokered ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.
“Since the beginning of the day, the number of attacks by the aggressor has reached 51,” the Ukrainian General Staff says.
“Despite the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukrainian armed groups launched attacks using drones and artillery against our troops’ positions,” says the Russian defense ministry.
IDF says it struck Hezbollah weapons depots, drone-launching site in southern Lebanon
The IDF says it struck several Hezbollah weapon depots and a drone-launching site in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
The drone site had been used by Hezbollah to launch drones at Israeli forces stationed in southern Lebanon, the military says.
Earlier, two primed Hezbollah rocket launchers were destroyed in strikes, the IDF says. According to the military, one launcher was used in an attack on troops in southern Lebanon, while the other had been previously used in an attack on Israel.
#عاجل ‼️ منصة لإطلاق المسيّرات، مستودعات وسائل قتالية ومنصات إطلاق مجهزة: غارات لجيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي على بنى تحتية تابعة لمنظمة حزب الله الإرهابية في جنوب لبنان
???? يواصل جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي العمل لإزالة التهديدات عن مواطني دولة إسرائيل وقوات جيش الدفاع في جنوب لبنان.
???? قبل… pic.twitter.com/V3brRvRQg7
— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) May 9, 2026
IDF says it destroyed PIJ weapons manufacturing, storage site in north Gaza yesterday
The IDF says it struck and destroyed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad weapon manufacturing and storage site in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday.
The site had recently been used by Islamic Jihad, as well as Hamas, to build explosive devices and store other weapons “intended to harm IDF troops operating near the Yellow Line and Israeli civilians,” the military says.
בתקיפה מדויקת להסרת האיום: צה"ל ושב"כ השמידו אתר ייצור מטענים ומחסן אמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור גא"פ בצפון רצועת עזה
כוחות צה"ל בפיקוד הדרום ושב"כ השמידו אתמול, אתר ייצור אמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור גא"פ בצפון רצועת עזה.
האתר ששייך לארגון הטרור גא״פ, שימש בעת האחרונה את מערך… pic.twitter.com/7vP04EZFoU
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 9, 2026
Pedestrian dies after being hit by Frontier Airlines plane on Denver airport runway
A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for takeoff from Denver International Airport on November 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff last night, airport authorities say, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” the airport’s official X account writes.
A spokesperson for the airport says the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They say the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines says in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.
“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline says. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated via slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson says 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.
Lebanese PM Salam, Syria’s al-Sharaa discuss need for tighter Lebanon-Syria border
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Damascus today on a visit tackling issues including security, transport and energy.
A statement from the Syrian presidency says the leaders discussed “developing economic and trade cooperation… and bolstering security coordination in order to support stability and confront challenges,” as well as regional and international developments.
Syrian state news agency SANA says the visit aimed to “develop joint cooperation… particularly the economy, transportation and energy” sectors.
The discussions also addressed “the need for stricter Syria-Lebanon border controls and preventing all types of smuggling,” Salam adds.
Lebanon and Syria share a porous, 330-kilometre (205-mile) border notorious for the smuggling of people, weapons and goods, especially by Hezbollah.
Syria’s new authorities are hostile to the Lebanese terror group and its sponsor Iran, and have announced the arrest of alleged Hezbollah-affiliated cells in recent months, while the group has denied having any presence in Syria.
Salam says that “we will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform to harm any of its Arab brothers, including Syria.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF says 3 reservists wounded, 1 seriously, in Hezbollah explosive drone attack on northern Israel
Three IDF reservists were wounded, one seriously, by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says the drone struck Israeli territory, close to the border with Lebanon, injuring a reservist soldier seriously and a reservist officer and another reservist soldier moderately.
The troops were taken to a hospital and their families were notified.
In another incident, the military says an explosive drone struck an unmanned engineering vehicle in southern Lebanon, causing damage. No injuries were caused.
Separately, several rockets launched by Hezbollah at troops in southern Lebanon were intercepted by air defenses, the IDF adds.
Russia sending Iran drone parts via Caspian Sea, bypassing Hormuz blockade – NYT
Seagulls sit on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in the port city of Bandar Anzali, Iran, December 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Russia is sending drone components to Iran via Caspian Sea shipping, US officials tell the New York Times, turning the world’s largest lake into a key conduit for both covert and overt trade.
According to the sources, who spoke to the American outlet on condition of anonymity, the long-overlooked trade corridor is helping Iran rebuild its military capabilities in the wake of the US-Israeli bombing campaign that ended last month.
If shipments from Russia continue at their pace, Iran could quickly restock its drone arsenal, US officials say, some 60 percent of which was lost during the recent war.
The Caspian Sea acts as a bridge, connecting the two countries which do not share a border but both have long coastlines on the massive inland sea. It allows Russia and Iran to trade openly, without fear of interdiction by US or other countries for evading sanctions, the report says.
According to the report, Russia is sending goods that would normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded for weeks now by both the US and Iran. Goods transiting the Caspian Sea include grains, animal feed, sunflower oil and other staple products.
“If you’re thinking about the ideal place for sanction evasion and military transfers, it’s the Caspian,” says expert Nicole Grajewski, a professor at Paris’ Sciences Po.
“For American policymakers, the Caspian is a geopolitical black hole; it’s almost like it doesn’t exist,” says Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank.
IDF says latest drone sirens near Lebanon border were false alarm
The IDF says sirens that sounded in the border community of Arab al-Aramshe, warning of a drone attack, were false alarms.
An interceptor missile was launched at a “false target,” which then also triggered rocket sirens.
Suspected drone sirens sound in town near Lebanon border; IDF investigating
Sirens warning of a drone attack from Lebanon sound in the border community of Arab al-Aramshe.
The IDF says it is investigating.
Israeli strikes target vehicles on highway near Beirut, Lebanese media says; no comment from IDF
Lebanese media reports that at least two vehicles were targeted in Israeli strikes on a coastal highway south of Beirut.
The vehicles were struck near the seaside town of Saadiyat, some 70 kilometers north of Israel’s border, according to the reports.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Airstrike targeted a car in the Saadiyat area in the Chouf district along the coastal highway. pic.twitter.com/P1ydaxoeRZ
— Beirut Wire (@beirutwire) May 9, 2026
Peter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister, ending Orban’s 16-year rule
Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar arrives at the inaugural session of Hungary's parliament in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Peter Magyar is sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister, ending Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule.
Magyar’s center-right Tisza party defeated Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz in a stunning blow last month, gaining more votes and seats in Parliament than any other party in Hungary’s post-Communist history.
Tisza has vowed to roll back many of the policies that gave Orban a reputation among his critics as a far-right authoritarian.
UK says it is sending warship to Middle East ahead of potential Hormuz mission
HMS Dragon, a Royal Navy Type 45 Daring-class air-defence destroyer warship, departs from HM Naval Base Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, on March 10, 2026. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
The UK will send a destroyer to the Middle East ahead of any international mission to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, its defense ministry says.
“The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and France, to secure the strait, when conditions allow,” a ministry spokesperson tells AFP.
Britain and France said last month that military plans to secure the Strait of Hormuz were coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage.
The MoD says deploying HMS Dragon would strengthen the confidence of commercial shipping and support mine clearance efforts once hostilities end.
At a two-day meeting in London in April involving more than 44 countries, military planners discussed the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway.
Some 40 countries are understood to have agreed to participate in plans for the mission to free up navigation in Hormuz.
Syrian man, 12-year-old daughter said killed in Israeli strikes in south Lebanon
Smoke rising from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the village of Mayfadoun on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
A Syrian man and his 12-year-old daughter were killed in Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon today, Lebanese media report.
Lebanon’s National News Agency cites a health ministry statement as saying that the man and his daughter were riding a motorcycle when they were targeted in Nabatieh.
According to the statement, the first drone strike did not hit the pair, while a second killed the father. The man’s daughter then moved around 100 meters away before she was targeted in a third strike.
The girl was taken to a hospital in serious condition, where she succumbed to her wounds, NNA reports.
The IDF says it is looking into the report.
Israel to release two activists from Gaza flotilla for deportation, rights group says
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila is escorted into the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court on May 5, 2026. (Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Israel will release two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla from detention today then hand them to immigration authorities ahead of their deportation, the rights group representing them says.
“Today, the Shabak Israeli intelligence agency informed Adalah’s legal team that Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) activists and leaders Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek would be released from Israeli detention today, Saturday 9 May 2026,” Adalah says in a statement, adding the pair “will be handed to Israel’s immigration authorities later today and kept in custody pending their deportation.”
Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila were brought to Israel for questioning last week after their flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters off Greece.
The Foreign Ministry said both individuals were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group Washington says is “clandestinely controlled by Hamas,” referring to the Palestinian terror group. The PCPA is sanctioned by Israel and the US.
Australian far-right party wins first seat in House of Representatives
One Nation candidate David Farley speaks to the media at a polling station during the Farrer By-Election in Albury, New South Wales, in Australia, on May 9, 2026. (Hilary WARDAUGH / AFP)
SYDNEY, Australia — Australian far-right populist party Pauline Hanson’s One Nation won its first seat in the country’s House of Representatives in a byelection on Saturday, a preliminary vote count shows.
The result is in line with a surge of electoral support for far-right populist parties globally. Britain’s ruling Labour Party this week suffered a widespread loss of seats at council elections.
David Farley, a former agribusiness executive, won the rural seat of Farrer, some 550 km (340 miles) south of Sydney and 320 km (200 miles) north of Melbourne, for the anti-immigration party with a projected vote of 59.1%, defeating the incumbent center-right Liberal Party, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“It’s very clear, the next member for Farrer is David Farley,” Australian Broadcasting Corp election analyst Casey Briggs says in a broadcast. “It’s not a close result.”
The result is significant in that it marks the first time One Nation has won a lower-house seat since Hanson formed the party 30 years ago.
But it does not affect the parliamentary majority of the ruling Labor Party, which holds 94 of 150 lower-house seats.
The seat was left vacant when Liberals leader Sussan Ley resigned in February.
The Labor Party did not run a candidate in the contest for the seat that has been held by the opposition conservatives since it was formed more than half a century ago.
Hezbollah drone found inside Israeli territory near Lebanese border — IDF
A first-person view (FPV) drone fired by Hezbollah that landed without exploding in northern Israel, May 9, 2026. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
An explosive drone launched by Hezbollah was located in Israeli territory, close to the border with Lebanon, this morning, the military says.
The IDF says no damage or injuries were caused by the drone, and sappers are working to safely remove it from the area.
The incident is under further investigation, the military adds.
Images show that the first-person view (FPV) drone, which was guided by a fiber-optic cable, landed without the warhead exploding.
Two men charged over antisemitic social media videos in north London
Metropolitan Police officers stand on duty as people attend a rally organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, opposite Downing Street in central London on April 30, 2026, following the stabbing of two Jewish men the day before in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)
LONDON — British police have charged two men with religiously aggravated harassment offenses after they were alleged to have traveled to a Jewish area of north London to film antisemitic social media videos.
The two men, Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, are due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court, a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service says.
Bahrain arrests 41 people with ties to Iran Guards
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain’s interior ministry says it has arrested 41 people it said were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the state news agency reports.
Throughout the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Islamic Republic conducted dozens of missile and drone attacks on the country.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Three reported dead in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon after warnings
Lebanese media reports three dead in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that the strike hit a car on a road between the towns of Burj Rahal and Aabbasiyyeh. The IDF earlier issued evacuation warnings for both villages, along with seven others.
NNA reports several more strikes near the towns of Nabatieh, Kafra, Haris, and Mansouri.
Putin says Russia fighting NATO-backed force in Ukraine, calls invasion ‘just’ at WWII Victory Day parade
Russian servicemen stand in a formation before the World War II Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, Pool)
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his soldiers in Ukraine were fighting an “aggressive force” backed by all of NATO, and that the Russian army’s cause was “just,” as he addressed an annual Victory Day parade on Red Square.
“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin says in his address, referring to the Ukraine war.
“They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward,” he says, adding later: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.”
Settlers force Palestinians to move body claiming it was buried too close to settlement, as IDF troops stand by
Israeli settlers forced Palestinians to move a body from a freshly dug grave to another location after claiming it was buried too close to an Israeli settlement, all while troops stood by.
The incident took place yesterday near the newly re-established West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur.
According to the IDF, the funeral held by the Palestinians near Sa-Nur had been coordinated in advance with the military.
Despite this, a number of settlers from Sa-Nur arrived at the location shortly after with digging tools and began to exhume the body. The Palestinians then returned to the gravesite, and the settlers demanded that they take the body out of the grave and move it elsewhere, claiming that it was too close to the settlement.
The IDF says that troops were “dispatched to the cemetery following a report of friction between Israeli civilians who were digging in the ground at the site, and Palestinians.”
The army says the troops “confiscated digging tools from the Israelis and remained at the location to prevent further friction.”
Footage posted online shows soldiers standing by as the Palestinians carried the body to another location.
The IDF says that it “condemns any attempt to act in a manner that harms public order, the rule of law, and the dignity of the living and the dead.”
“The issue of coordinating the funeral and the management of the incident will be investigated by the commanders, and lessons will be learned accordingly,” the army adds.
في جريمة جديدة..
– المستوطنون نبشوا قبر فلسطيني تم دفنه اليوم بمحيط قرية "العصاعصة" جنوب جنين ثم وصل جنود الاحتلال للمكان.
– الجنود والمستوطنون أجبروا الأهالي على إخراج جثمان الفلسطيني من قبره؛ بحجة قرب المكان من مستوطنة "ترسلة". pic.twitter.com/NgaBKBZ63m
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) May 8, 2026
IDF issues evacuation warnings for nine villages in south Lebanon
The IDF issues evacuation warnings for nine villages in southern Lebanon ahead of airstrikes targeting the Hezbollah terror group.
Residents of Tayr Debba, Aabbasiyyeh, Burj Rahal, Maaroub, Barish, Arzoun, Jannata, Zrariyeh, and Ain Baal are instructed to evacuate at least a kilometer away.
“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force and does not intend to harm you,” warns army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee.
IDF says it struck over 85 Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon over past day
The IDF says it struck over 85 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day, along with an underground weapons site in the Beqaa Valley.
According to the military, the targets in southern Lebanon included weapon depots, rocket launchers, and buildings used by Hezbollah to advance attacks.
Members of the terror group who were planning attacks on troops stationed in southern Lebanon were also targeted in strikes, the military says.
In the eastern Beqaa Valley, the IDF says, it struck an underground facility where Hezbollah manufactures weapons.
ביממה האחרונה: צה"ל תקף יותר מ-85 תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במספר מרחבים בלבנון
צה"ל ממשיך לפעול להסרת איומים על אזרחי ישראל וכוחות צה"ל בדרום לבנון.
במהלך היממה האחרונה, צה"ל תקף מהאוויר ומהיבשה, יותר מ-85 תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. בין התשתיות שהותקפו: מחסני אמצעי… pic.twitter.com/2bpoxtlstY
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 9, 2026
The IDF says Hezbollah also launched several more rockets at Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon in the past day, with no injuries caused.
Officers shoot and kill suspect in Rahat who violently resisted arrest, police say
Two Border Police officers shot and killed a suspect in the southern Bedouin city of Rahat overnight, police say.
According to the police, officers attempted to investigate a suspicious vehicle, but the driver refused to stop and tried to flee.
The suspect eventually left the car and tried to escape on foot. Officers fired in the air, and eventually were able to catch up to the suspect.
The suspect forcefully resisted arrest and attacked the arresting officers in a life-threatening manner, at which point they shot him, police say, adding that the incident will be investigated.
S&P keeps Israel’s A/A-1 credit rating unchanged, says outlook is stable
An exterior view of the S&P Global headquarters building on March 18, 2025 in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
Global rating agency S&P leaves Israel’s credit score unchanged at “A/A-1” with a stable outlook.
“The stable outlook reflects our view that military de-escalation, underpinned by the ceasefire agreements, will lower immediate security risk for Israel,” says the report. “The outlook reflects our assumption that possible military hostilities will remain episodic and contained, even if tensions between Israel and Iran and its proxies persist and the broader regional security environment remains fragile.”
US intel said to assess Mojtaba Khamenei is playing key role in crafting Iran’s war strategy
A woman holds up a picture of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a state-organized rally, in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
US intelligence agencies believe Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is playing a key role in crafting Iran’s war strategy together with other senior officials, CNN reports, citing several officials familiar with the intelligence.
The sources say the US has been unable to visually determine Khamenei’s whereabouts since the strike that killed his father also wounded him. He has not been seen publicly since, with the sources adding that he remains in isolation while receiving treatment for bad burn wounds to his face, arm, torso and one of his legs.
Trump says expecting Iranian response to latest US proposal ‘tonight’
US President Donald Trump walks to speak with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, May 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
US President Donald Trump says he is expecting Iran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal on a deal to ending the Middle East war by “tonight.”
“I’m getting a letter supposedly tonight, so we’ll see how that goes,” Trump tells reporters outside the White House.
US sanctions 10 people and firms for aiding Iran’s production of Shahed drones
A photograph taken on December 27, 2025, shows an Iranian-designed Shahed 136 (Geranium-2) drone used by the Russian Army flying over Kyiv during a Russian drone and missile attack, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP)
The US Treasury announces sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, for aiding efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed drones.
The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before US President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war with Iran have stalled.
In a statement, Treasury says it remains ready to take economic action against Iran’s military industrial base so Tehran cannot reconstitute its production capacity and project power outside its borders.
Treasury says it’s also prepared to act against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that aid Iran’s efforts, including those connected to China’s independent “teapot” oil refineries.
“Under President Trump’s decisive leadership, we will continue to act to Keep America Safe and target foreign individuals and companies providing Iran’s military with weapons for use against US forces,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement.
Russian FM tells UAE counterpart ‘to focus on supporting’ US-Iran talks
In this photo released by Emirates News Agency, WAM, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, November 3, 2022. (Emirates News Agency via AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tells his United Arab Emirates counterpart that US-Iran talks need to be supported to prevent a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East.
“The Russian side emphasized the need to focus on supporting the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the USA,” a foreign ministry statement says of Lavrov’s telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The statement says Russia doesn’t want “to jeopardize the prospects for stabilization by resuming hostilities.”
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