Al Jazeera

By Enes Abuomer and Zaid Sabah

    Iran says a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is “on the verge of being finalised“, after both countries agreed on the coordinates of routes through the critical waterway.

    US President Donald Trump again claims Washington is in talks with Tehran and says he prefers diplomacy to war.

    Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on two Saudi oil tankers near Yanbu port in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden.

    Israel launches deadly air strikes on southern Lebanon after two Israeli soldiers died in an explosion in the town of Majdal Selem.

Data firm says 12 vessels crossed Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday

    Only 12 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz in the 24 hours ending at 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.

    The crossings included six inbound and six outbound vessels, far below the approximately 140 vessels that used the waterway daily before the US-Israel war on Iran, it said.

    Windward said three vessels travelled through the southern corridor, which Iran opposes, overnight with their tracking systems switched off for about 12 hours each. It also said an outbound bulk carrier sailed directly from Iran to a military anchorage in Oman and was flagged by its maritime intelligence system as a possible “blockade-breaker”.

    Another vessel travelling inbound towards Iraq reversed course shortly before reaching the strait, the firm added.

Timeline of key events as Iran and Oman near deal on Hormuz

    US strikes on Iran resumed on July 8 after Tehran attacked ships it said had used an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran insists the memorandum it signed with the US in June gives it sole authority over the strait during the 60-day period of negotiations for a final deal.

    As Iran launched retaliatory attacks across the Gulf and Jordan, Oman presented Tehran with a Gulf-backed proposal in late July for managing the strait, including shared oversight and voluntary payments by shipping companies for navigation and security services, according to media reports.

    Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on July 28 that Oman had also proposed splitting the shipping route between Iranian and Omani territorial waters. Iran rejected this, countering with a proposal in which Tehran would manage the route on its side of the strait and Muscat would oversee only part of the opposite lane – effectively giving Iran oversight of both inbound and outbound traffic.

    On August 1, Trump said he had cancelled planned attacks on Iran because talks were under way and the parameters of a deal had been agreed to.

    Iranian media later reported that the Iran-Oman talks were aimed at establishing a “middle corridor” through the strait, distinct from both the northern route Iran had established and the southern corridor favoured by the US.

    On Wednesday, Gharibabadi said an understanding with Oman was “on the verge of being finalised,” and the Foreign Ministry said the two sides had agreed on geographical coordinates for the new route.

Israeli forces launch major raid in Qalandiya amid election season

By Nour Odeh

Reporting from Qalandia refugee camp, occupied West Bank

    We’re at the entrance of the Qalandiya refugee camp, south of Ramallah, just north of occupied East Jerusalem. This is a very strategic location.

    The Israeli army says it’s conducting a major operation here that could go on for days in order to root out so-called “terrorist” infrastructure. Qalandiya is a key artery, connecting Ramallah and the northern occupied West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem and cities further south.

    We haven’t been allowed into the camp, but residents tell us their homes have been raided, with property damaged and people interrogated in makeshift interrogation centres soldiers have set up inside houses. Paramedics say they’ve treated several injuries, including at least two people severely beaten by Israeli soldiers.

    The larger picture here is political. This is election season. The Israeli minister of defence has said he wants his forces to occupy refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, just as they did in Jenin and Tulkarem. Those operations destroyed those refugee camps and forcibly displaced more than 30,000 people, who haven’t been allowed back.

    That is the fear in Qalandiya and other refugee camps. Palestinian officials are also accusing Israel’s right-wing government of using Palestinian lives for election propaganda, noting that right-wing media are cheering the raid on.

    They want to see more demolitions. They want to see the takeover of the UNRWA (the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees) training vocational centre here at Qalandiya, which serves hundreds, because they consider this a win for the government, a win against Palestinian presence in or near occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel’s military confirms death of 2 soldiers in Lebanon

    The Israeli military has issued a statement on the death of the two reserve soldiers in Lebanon yesterday, saying they were killed in combat.

    It said four others were severely injured and were evacuated to a hospital.

    The soldiers were killed in an explosion in the Lebanese town of Majdal Zoun, the military said.

    It has since launched a series of attacks across southern Lebanon, killing at least one person.

El-Sayed rejects US funding for defensive systems like Israel’s Iron Dome

    We have more from the Democratic candidate’s comments to CNN.

    Abdul El-Sayed made clear that his opposition to unconditional aid for foreign governments extends to defensive military technology, including Israel’s Iron Dome system.

    “I don’t believe that there’s really a difference between offensive or defensive weapons, and I also don’t believe it’s my responsibility to buy defensive weapons for a foreign government when our kids are defenceless against schools that have been underfunded for a very, very long time,” he said.

    “My responsibility as the next senator from Michigan is children in Michigan, rather than thinking about what’s in the interest of a foreign government.”

    When asked to confirm if he opposes funding for defensive systems like the Iron Dome, El-Sayed reiterated his position.

    “I am against it, in large part because I just don’t understand why anybody thinks it’s the right thing to do to send our tax dollars abroad to fund foreign militaries when our own kids barely get to go to schools that are functional.”

Gold hits seven-week high on hopes of Hormuz reopening

    Gold prices have risen for a fourth consecutive session today, reaching their highest level in seven weeks as hopes grew that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen, according to Reuters.

    Spot gold climbed 1 percent to $4,285.69 an ounce, its highest level since June 18, while US gold futures rose 0.9 percent to $4,345.50.

    The gains were also supported by a weaker US dollar and lower Treasury yields. Optimism increased after reports of a proposed Iran-Oman agreement could ease the five-month conflict between Iran and the US and restore shipping through the strait.

Iranian footballers become Australian citizens after asylum bid

    Former Iran women’s national team players Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh have become Australian citizens five months after seeking asylum following the launch of the US-Israel war on Iran.

    The pair were naturalised at a citizenship ceremony in Brisbane on Wednesday, according to The Australian newspaper.

    The women were among several Iranian football players who sought asylum during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia in March, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at a match.

    Five later withdrew their claims and returned to Iran, while Pasandideh and Ramezanisadeh remained in Australia.

    More than half the country faces a hunger crisis, and international aid has been halved.

El-Sayed opposes ‘unconditional’ US military aid to Israel, other countries

    Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Democratic Party’s Senate primary in Michigan, has outlined his stance on foreign military assistance in an interview with CNN.

    “I’m opposed to unconditional military aid for any country. That is Israel, yes, but that’s also Egypt, where my family immigrated from. That’s Pakistan, that’s Saudi Arabia, that’s UAE,” El-Sayed said.

    He argued that US tax revenue should prioritise domestic needs.

    “And that’s not because of a focus on what’s happening anywhere except for a focus [on] what’s happening here. We’ve got communities in my state where the median income is $14,000. And I believe they have a right to their tax dollars,” El-Sayed said.

    “I also believe in international law, in upholding international law, and there are Leahy laws against dealing arms to countries who are engaged in human rights abuses, and I don’t want to fund a foreign military that does genocide, apartheid or has taken us to a war we don’t need to fight,” he added.

    “I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians alike.”