War latest news. Lebanon, drone on Unifil base with Italians: damage to buildings but no injuries

Eight people, including two children, were killed in the three drone attacks carried out today by Israeli forces against cars south of Beirut. This was reported by the Ministry of Health.

The drones hit cars in the area around Jiyeh, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut.

At least 2,896 people have been killed in attacks by Israeli forces in Lebanon since 2 March. This was reported today by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, adding that at least 8,824 were injured.

Opec has cut its forecasts for global oil demand growth for 2026, while raising those for the coming year. This was reported by Reuters, after viewing a copy of the organisation's monthly report. Opec has aligned itself with the estimates of other institutes, such as the International Energy Agency, which have revised the scenario to take into account the consequences of the war with Iran.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to set sail tomorrow with a convoy of boats bound for Gaza from the port of Marmaris, a town in south-western Turkey in the province of Mugla and close to the Greek island of Rhodes. This was announced by activists during a press conference in Marmaris. The convoy will consist of a total of 54 boats, said Sumeyra Akdeniz Ordu, a Turkish activist of the Flotilla committee, explaining that in addition to some 30 boats that arrived from Greece, the convoy ready to leave has other boats that were already in Turkey.

BETHLEHEM - An old piece of paper. The lives of Daoud and Amal Nassar are tied to a yellowed and worn-out ownership document dating back to the First World War. Had it not been for this deed of ownership issued by the Ottoman authorities, later registered by his grandfather under the British Mandate, and then again by his father under the Kingdom of Transjordan, Daoud would not be here, on this windswept hill north of Bethlehem. There would be neither his family nor the puny olive trees in his garden, which receive only a can of rainwater every other day. Here, on a clear day, the view reaches as far as the Mediterranean.

For Palestinians, water has always been a precious commodity. Among the Nassar it is even more so. It is collected in cisterns and still distributed by hand. A few dozen metres away, Jewish settlers who arrived a year ago cool off from the early heat with generous showers.

Israel hasescalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since the suspension of joint bombings with the US against Iran, redirecting them towards the devastated Palestinian enclave, where the army believes Hamas fighters are strengthening their grip. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, have been killed in Gaza since the suspension of the conflict with Iran on 8 April, 20 per cent more than in the previous five weeks when Israel conducted air raids over Iran.

The Acled Conflict Observatory, which monitors Israeli attacks in Gaza, indicated in its April monthly report that Israel carried out 35 per cent more attacks last month than in March. The intensification of Israeli bombing of Gaza is a further sign of the impasse in US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in the region and begin reconstruction.

The United Arab Emirates has reportedly launched large-scale covert strikes against Iran during the conflict with the US and Israel, and this threatens to drag some Gulf states into a direct war with Tehran. The news was given exclusively by the Wall Street Journal citing well-informed sources, who described the Emirates as ready to use their Western-made fighter planes to protect their economic power and growing influence throughout the Middle East. At the same time, however, sources quoted by the Guardian highlight divisions within the Gulf states, particularly between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, over whether Arab anger over Iranian attacks should result in military reprisals or whether this would generate a level of hostility from Iran that would threaten the delicate diplomatic relations between the Gulf states.

In any case, the Emirati attacks, which have not been claimed, include a bombing in April of a refinery on the Iranian island of Lavan in the Persian Gulf, according to sources with knowledge of the facts. Kuwait, on the other hand, announced the arrest of at least four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who were attempting to carry out 'terrorist attacks' on the island of Bubiyan.

"We have spent €35 billion more on energy" and "we have zero extra molecules of energy". So says European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen at a press conference at the Informal Energy Council in Cyprus, referring to the start of the conflict in Iran.

Oil pipelines, but also trucks and in perspective trains. After ten weeks of war in the Persian Gulf - and almost total paralysis of transit in the Strait of Hormuz - logistics is reorganising itself on new routes to recover at least part of the international trade in oil and other goods.

Some are temporary remedies, dictated by the urgency to save what can be saved, which at the moment is very little compared to the trade of yesteryear. But at the same time, larger projects are also emerging (in some cases conceived in the past and then shelved), which in the future could definitively change the geography of trade in the Middle East.

A series of nine small earthquake tremors struck the Pardis area, east of Tehran, overnight, rekindling fears that the Iranian capital could be hit by an earthquake disaster. Reuters writes this on its website. The Iranian capital is located near several active faults. The tremors, recorded overnight in the eastern province of Tehran, were felt in an area close to the Mosha fault, one of the most active in Iran.

State media reported that a tremor reached a magnitude of 4.6, but caused no casualties or material damage. The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted seismologist Mehdi Zare as saying that it was unclear whether the tremors were a release of stored seismic energy (which reduces the risk of future cataclysmic tremors) or warning signs of increased future activity along the faults. For Zare, Tehran's vulnerability is also amplified by dense urbanisation, population concentration and poor preparedness, as well as fragile infrastructure and traffic congestion, factors that would complicate emergency response. Iran is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world and the memory of the Bam earthquake of 2003, which caused the death of over 30,000 people, is still vivid.

Mossad chief David Barnea was reported to have secretly visited the United Arab Emirates at least twice between March and April during the war with Iran to coordinate war operations. The Wall Street Journal writes this. Israel and the UAE showed close security cooperation during the war, with Israel sending Iron Dome batteries and military personnel to the UAE to defend against Iranian projectiles. The UAE also conducted attacks in Iran, including an attack on a refinery on the Iranian island of Lavan in the Persian Gulf.

Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East 'the top priority has been to assist 90,000 Italians in the Gulf area, 14,000 of whom are tourists. Within hours, the Gulf task force was activated. With a great political and diplomatic effort, we assisted over 25,000 compatriots to return to Italia'. This was recalled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, opening the proceedings of the Plenary Assembly of the General Council of Italians Abroad.

Il Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei ministri e Ministro degli Affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale, Antonio Tajani in audizione davanti alle commissioni Esteri e Difesa riunite in relazione alle iniziative internazionali per il ripristino della libertà di navigazione nello Stretto di Hormuz. Camera dei Deputati Roma Mercoledì 13 Maggio 2026 (photo by Mauro Scrobogna / LaPresse) Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani on occasion of the hearing before the joint Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees regarding international initiatives to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Chamber of Deputies, Rome, Wednesday May 13 2026 (photo by Mauro Scrobogna / LaPresse)

The European Commission sees no signs of a crisis in the tourism sector due to the air transport situation with flight cancellations and confirms that "there are no indications so far of a shortage of aviation fuel". This was stated by Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

The commissioner said that "there are no signs of massive cancellations and on the contrary European tourism shows great stability and compared to 2025 there is a slight increase in activity although less than expected before the conflict in Iran". Regarding aviation fuel, TziTzikostas remarked that "70 per cent is produced in Europe and only 20 per cent comes from the Gulf countries".

"Early signs were already visible in the statistical data," with Eurozone growth "only slightly positive in the first quarter" and inflation accelerating to 3 per cent, European Central Bank Governing Council member and Finnish central bank governor Olli Rehn said, warning that the war in Iran and rising energy prices are increasing the risks of a stagflation shock in the eurozone.

In a speech, Rehn pointed out that the current shock 'is not as big as the previous price peak of 2022', but emphasised that recent developments have shifted the scenario away from the ECB's basic assumption and towards 'a less favourable scenario, at least as far as oil prices are concerned'.

US President Donald Trump left for China for a crucial summit with President Xi Jinping, saying he did not need Beijing's help to end the war with Iran and weaken Tehran's control over the Strait of Hormuz.

"I don't think we need help regarding Iran. We will prevail one way or another, peacefully or not," he told reporters, "The only thing that matters, when I talk about Iran, is that it must not possess the nuclear weapon."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security meeting this evening with several ministers from the restricted security cabinet and senior defence officials. This was reported by the Haaretz website.

"I want to reiterate once again that no ship will be deployed in Hormuz without this Parliament having been informed and having authorised it" and "none of our military personnel will be deployed in a theatre that does not offer adequate security guarantees, and without a precise international legal framework". This was stated by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani during the hearing on international initiatives to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz together with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto.

"More than ten weeks after the start of the war in the Middle East, growing supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil stocks at a record pace". So says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its new oil market report.

"With tanker traffic blocked in Hormuz," it notes, "cumulative supply losses by Gulf producers already exceed 1 billion barrels, with over 14 million barrels per day of oil stopped; an unprecedented supply shock.

"Global oil demand will contract by 420,000 barrels per day year-on-year in 2026, to 104 million barrels per day, or 1.3 million barrels per day less than our pre-war forecasts" but "global oil supply will fail to meet total demand this year" with the war with Iran devastating oil production in the Middle East. Moreover, 'more than ten weeks into the Middle East war, rising supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil supplies at a record pace'. Sounding the alarm is the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its newly published monthly oil market report. The IEA's forecast implies that supply will be 1.78 million barrels per day less than total demand in 2026, in contrast to a surplus of 410,000 barrels per day predicted in last month's report and a surplus of almost 4 million barrels per day in December's report. "With tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz still limited, cumulative supply losses by Gulf producers already exceed 1 billion barrels, with over 14 million barrels per day of oil currently locked in, an unprecedented supply shock," the agency said. Its basic forecast is a gradual recovery of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz starting in the third quarter.

The 'response' to Italy's position on the war in Iran 'came from the US president himself' Donald Trump who 'did not like some positions' of Italia. This was stated by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani before the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees of the House and Senate in response to questions

"Should peace 'break out', it would take almost a month for all the units of the indicated allied nations to reach the Persian Gulf. That is why we are also organising ourselves to approach that area, while remaining at a safe distance. This is the subject of part of my communication'. Thus the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, on the international initiatives to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a hearing before the House Foreign and Defence Committees and the Senate Foreign and Defence Committee. "As far as Italy is concerned, it will be the Parliament that will assess and decide whether or not to contribute to international initiatives and in what way," the minister added, explaining the importance of the Navy's contribution "Initially in the eastern Mediterranean, then in the Red Sea, as part of the missions already underway Mediterraneo Sicuro and Aspides, always strictly within the framework authorised for Italia's international missions. These are highly technological specialised assets that take weeks to be transferred to the area, which is precisely why advance planning and pre-positioning become essential. Preparing to intervene today in order to intervene tomorrow if possible. A choice of responsibility like that made by other European countries, France has in fact already moved, the UK, Germany and Belgium and others are developing similar planning activities for prudent provision of specialised aspects. This purely functional approach will allow Italia, should the conditions exist for a stabilisation of the area and subject to Parliament's assessments and decisions, to be able to contribute without further delay to any international initiatives aimed at restoring safety and navigation,' Crosetto explained.

"We are facing a very serious situation, the energy crisis in the Middle East puts Europe under pressure. It is an energy crisis but it is more correct to say that it is a fossil energy crisis. That is why we have to continue our goals to transition away from fossil fuels and step up our efforts to improve energy efficiency and replace a larger share of fossil fuels with renewable energy". This was said by EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen on arrival at the ongoing informal Energy Council in Cyprus.

Iran has reportedly restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites it operates along the Strait of Hormuz. The New York Times writes this, citing intelligence sources. According to assessments, only three of the missile sites along the strait remain totally inaccessible. This - it is explained - could pose a threat to American warships and oil tankers transiting the sea arm.

Enrich uranium to 90% in the event of a new US-Israeli attack. It is one of the 'options' Tehran says it will consider if the US and Israeli bombing resumes. "We will discuss it in parliament," says Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. A position diametrically opposed to that repeatedly made explicit by Donald Trump. 'Iran cannot get its hands on a nuclear weapon. That is a 100 per cent certainty,' says the US president on the eve of his trip to China for the eagerly awaited meeting with Xi Jinping, where the Iranian dossier will be among the hot topics at the centre of the talks. 'I don't think we need any help with Iran,' Trump downplays a possible Xi intercession, however, 'we're going to win one way or the other. We will win peacefully or the other way." The tycoon continues to consider the resumption of military operations, especially after Tehran's negative response to his latest proposal. In any case, according to sources close to the talks, 'hardly' any final decisions will be made before Trump's visit to China. The same sources add that US discontent with Pakistan's role as mediator is also 'growing'. Several Trump aides believe that Islamabad is not conveying the US president's 'degree of frustration' to Iran with 'sufficient firmness' and that Iran is not 'taking seriously' the warnings it has received. Meanwhile, as the US sends an Air Force B-1B Lancer strategic bomber to the area, the cost of the US operation continues to rise.

According to the US Department of Defence, the cost of repairing and replacing equipment and general operating costs would now be close to USD 29 billion. According to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who is part of the delegation accompanying Trump to China, the ceasefire with Iran remains in place, although the US has a 'plan b' for escalation 'if necessary'. Hegseth also explains that Operation 'Project Freedom' to restore traffic security in the Strait of Hormuz can be restarted at any time, 'should the commander-in-chief so desire'. In the disputed arm of the sea, ships continue to enter and leave with the dropper. In the last few hours, a Qatari tanker reportedly crossed the Strait, while a Maltese-flagged ship was stopped by the US military for 'violating the blockade' ordered by Washington.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed in a telephone conversation in April not to allow any country to impose tolls for transit through the Strait of Hormuz. A spokesman for the US State Department told the Japanese news agency Kyodo News.

'We don't need China's help with Iran'. Donald Trump said this, reiterating that he was happy to go to Beijing. "It will be an extraordinary trip," he added.

Donald Trump is back to attacking the media over the war against Iran. "When the 'fake News' claims that the Iranian enemy is gaining the upper hand, militarily, against us, it is an act of virtual Treason, given the utter falsity - and even absurdity - of such a statement," thunders the tycoon in tough post on Truth in which he accuses those media outlets "of aiding and abetting the enemy!" "All they achieve is to instill false hope in Iran where there should be none. These are American cowards rooting against our country," he attacked again