Al Jazeera

By Heba Habib and Stephen Quillen

    US Central Command said its attack on Iranian oil carriers came after the IRGC fired ballistic missiles towards two US warships “patrolling regional waters”. Earlier, Iranian media said an Iranian oil tanker was hit off Kharg Island by several US missiles.

    Pentagon investigators have used polygraph lie detector tests on 50 Joint Staff members over Iran war leaks, including about how the Iran war has created a shortage of crucial munitions, according to The New York Times.

    US President Donald Trump has again threatened to attack Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “very soon”, repeating a warning he first issued in mid-July.

    Iran’s First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref, said the US has “resorted to economic warfare” after failing to achieve its goals militarily.

    The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said the Israeli government “must guarantee the safety and security of the population in the West Bank”, after visiting families of Palestinians killed by settlers there.

US ambassador to Israel condemns settler ‘lawlessness’

    US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that American citizens living in Turmus Ayya shared accounts with him of vandalised homes, threats against children, and violence and intimidation during a town hall he held in the town, according to a post on X.

    “I support Israelis living in Judea/Samaria [the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] where they have right to be, but no student of Bible supports lawlessness,” Huckabee wrote.

    Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have been deemed illegal under international law.

    The remarks continue a shift Huckabee has made over recent months. A longtime supporter of Israeli settlements who has argued Israel has a biblical claim to the West Bank, Huckabee first broke from that posture in July, condemning attacks on the Christian village of Taybeh as “sacrilege” and “terror.”

    In mid-August, after settlers besieged Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra, including one belonging to a dual US citizen, he went further, calling those involved “Israeli terrorists,” a term US officials have historically avoided applying to Jewish settlers. This week he said such attacks are doing “serious damage” to Israel’s international standing.

Tanker fire kills at least 11 in Iran: Red Crescent

    A fuel tanker has caught fire in Iran’s Kurdistan Province, our team on the ground reports.

    At least 11 people have been killed, according to the local Red Crescent.

    The truck caught fire near the Hamadan–Sanandaj police checkpoint and several firefighting teams were sent to the scene, said the acting head of the Sanandaj Fire Department.

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Israeli attacks hit Lebanon’s Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Meiss el-Jabal: Lebanese state media

    Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting several new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.

    Israeli forces carried out two air attacks on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while also targeting the town of Meiss el-Jabal, the agency said.

    Earlier, we brought you reports of Israeli attacks in Lebanon’s al-Mansouri and Bani Haiyyan.

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Civil defence recovers 106 sets of human remains in Gaza City’s Zeitoun

    Civil defence teams in Gaza have recovered 106 human remains, including 55 intact bodies, from beneath the rubble of destroyed homes in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, the Quds News Network is reporting.

    The recovery operation, which comes nearly three years after the start of the conflict, targeted the ruins of properties belonging to the Malka, Irheim, Salmi and Balawi families, according to the Palestinian news outlet reporting on Saturday.

    Crews are continuing search efforts beneath the debris of the Engineers’ Tower, where an estimated 150 Palestinians are believed to remain buried following an Israeli attack that Human Rights Watch has described as indiscriminate and unlawful.

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Israeli strikes destroy former MP’s home, public park in south Lebanon

    Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon have destroyed multiple buildings and a public park, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

    The home of the late former legislator, Habib Sadiq, was destroyed in Al-Kfour in what residents described as the town’s first air attack since the ceasefire in June. The building, which had been used as a cultural and arts venue and housed a notable literary library and rare paintings, was reduced to rubble.

    Also hit was the Lady Masouma Garden on the southern edge of Nabatieh city, demolishing the municipal park that opened in 2014 and included green spaces, playgrounds, a cafe and children’s recreational areas.

    The Habib Houmani building in Nabatieh al-Fawqa was destroyed and another structure in the Talat Nabatieh Shoukin area sustained heavy damage, according to local reports.

    Earlier, the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiya, near Meifdoun, came under heavy artillery fire, causing fires in farmers’ fields.

    A hostile surveillance balloon was observed over Zawtar al-Sharqiya, coinciding with the movement of armoured vehicles within the town. Sources said the balloon was providing support to Israeli forces in the area.

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Qatari, Emirati ministers speak about regional de-escalation efforts

    Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi has held a call with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, to review the two countries’ bilateral relations and the latest regional developments, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

    During the call, the two officials focused on “diplomatic efforts and joint coordination to de-escalate tensions and enhance security and stability in the region”, said the ministry.

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UKMTO reports several merchant vessels hit by ‘disabling fire’ in northern Gulf, Gulf of Oman

    Several merchant vessels have come under disabling fire in “the Northern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman”, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says, as part of ongoing military activity in the region.

    UKMTO said in an advisory issued today that it could not yet confirm whether the incident had caused casualties or environmental damage. The agency, which cited military authorities as its source, said relevant investigations remain ongoing.

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Israel’s settlers’ council providing drones to West Bank settlers for reconnaissance

    A group representing illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is providing armed settlers with surveillance drones and aerial reconnaissance equipment to track Palestinian communities and facilitate the expansion of outposts and settlements on Palestinian land, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

    In August, Human Rights Watch reported that settler “land preservation patrols” deploy these drones to monitor rural Palestinian farming and grazing lands, track livestock and gather aerial photographs.

    The resulting photography and coordinates are routinely compiled into petitions submitted to the Israeli Civil Administration to secure swift demolition orders against Palestinian homes, tents and agricultural structures across Area C.

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US defence secretary says ‘Iran’s oil tanker fleet is defenceless’

    US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US military has the capability to target Iran’s entire fleet of oil tankers, after the US earlier said it struck three Iranian vessels following attacks on its warships.

“It’s simple: if Iran shoots at US ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot” at the US Navy, Hegseth posted on X

    “Iran’s oil tanker fleet is defenceless – Iran has no navy or air force,” he continued. “Our planes, ships & subs can strike them all”.

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Hospitals in Gaza received 17 bodies over past 48 hours, says health ministry

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says hospitals received 17 bodies over the past 48 hours as well as 27 injured people, according to figures compiled from admissions.

    The latest casualties include five new fatalities, one person who died from previous wounds and 11 bodies recovered from beneath debris. Additional victims remain trapped under rubble or lying in the streets, with ambulance and civil defence teams still unable to reach them, it added.