War, latest news. Turkey, Flotilla: international arrest warrant issued for Netanyahu. The response: ‘Erdogan is an anti-Semitic dictator’

The IDF carried out a raid today on a facility in the Baraachit area, within the ‘Security Zone’ in southern Lebanon. This was announced by the IDF spokesperson in a statement, according to which ‘soldiers identified several suspects who had crossed into the “Security Zone” in the Baraachit area, had entered a building and posed a threat to the soldiers. Following their identification, the IDF carried out an attack on the building’. ‘The IDF remains committed to upholding the agreement between Israel and Lebanon’, the statement added.

“We are deeply disturbed by the news of the arrest of Dr Dima Mohammed Amin, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology, who was taken from her home in the West Bank. Dr Dima is the latest victim of the campaign to detain Palestinian medical staff”. So says Médecins Sans Frontières on X.

“This morning, IDF soldiers intervened in the Sa’ir area following reports that Palestinians were throwing stones at a group of Israeli civilians who were in the area without prior authorisation. As a result of the stone-throwing, several Israeli civilians were injured. A security officer opened fire, causing Palestinian casualties’’. This was reported by the IDF spokesperson in a statement regarding the events that took place this morning near the Palestinian town of Sa’ir, north of Hebron, in the southern West Bank. The man’s gunfire resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy and left a 70-year-old man seriously injured. The security officer referred to in the statement is the head of security for the adjacent Metzad settlement, who was called by settlers who were wandering without authorisation in the Sa’ir area – where entry by Israelis is prohibited – prompting the Palestinian reaction. According to the statement, ‘soldiers intervened to disperse the attackers and remove Israeli civilians from the area. District police officers are now on the scene alongside the soldiers to gather evidence and witness statements as part of the investigation that has been launched’’ The IDF also confirms reports of a fire set to a building under construction, without, however, attributing responsibility for it, noting that the fire service intervened to extinguish the flames. ’’The IDF states that the presence of Israeli civilians in the area without prior coordination and authorisation endangers their safety and diverts the soldiers’ attention from defence and counter-terrorism operations’’, the statement adds.

Turkey has issued an international arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in connection with the Gaza Flotilla case. This was announced by the government in Ankara.

‘It is better to bring the war to an end today, whilst we are in a position of strength and dignity and the whole world recognises our victory and emphasises that America, in contravention of all the rules, has attacked our schools, our hospitals and our infrastructure and is hated throughout the world.’ According to the ISNA news agency, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made this statement at the 31st General Assembly of the Islamic Association of the Iranian Medical Society.

A young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli settlers in Khirbet Hamroush, north-east of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. This was reported by a medical source to Al Jazeera Arabic.

“Any miscalculation and any threat, whether conventional or of a new kind, from our enemies will be met with revolutionary, crushing, deterrent and devastating responses”. This was stated by the Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, General Ali Abdollahi, in a message sent to the acting Minister of Defence, Majid Ebn al-Reza, to mark Defence Industry Day, which is celebrated on 31 August. In the message, released by the Iranian Ministry of Defence, Abdollahi described the occasion as “an expression of Iran’s deterrent strength” in the face of international sanctions and pressure. According to the Chief of the General Staff, the defence industry represents “an indispensable pillar of national power” and plays a central role in strengthening the country’s security and dignity. “What has been achieved in recent years,” he emphasised, “goes beyond the production of military equipment: it is an industrial revolution in defence and deterrence”, encompassing design, technology management, the defence economy, knowledge-based supply chains and advanced production models.

Iran “is not seeking war”, but “if we are not prepared for war, no one will respond to us when we resort to diplomacy”. This was stated by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, at a meeting held in Baghdad with Iranian and Iraqi business leaders, during which he also described economic pressures and US sanctions as “part of an economic war”, to be tackled through “planning”. “Military power alone is not enough without economic growth, domestic production and sustainable financial activity,” added Ghalibaf, emphasising that “security and the economy must be strengthened at the same time”.

Il primo ministro iracheno Ali al-Zaidi incontra il presidente del Parlamento iraniano Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf a Baghdad, in Iraq, il 19 agosto 2026. Ufficio stampa del primo ministro iracheno/Foto fornita tramite REUTERS.

Two Palestinian men were injured, one seriously, by gunfire from Israeli settlers in Khirbet Hamroush, a Palestinian village near the town of Sa’ir, north-east of Hebron, in the southern West Bank. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Channel 11 reports that IDF forces are heading to the scene.

China opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, in response to US calls to increase economic pressure on Iran. On 19 August, US President Donald Trump announced the launch of an “economic operation” against Iran, described as a “process of isolation on an unprecedented scale”, and called on Washington’s allies to join the initiative. And yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Beijing to join the campaign and impose extreme sanctions on Tehran. “China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorised by the United Nations Security Council,” said Lin, commenting on Bessent’s statements.

The diplomat emphasised that China urges the parties involved to act responsibly and to resolve outstanding issues through political and diplomatic means.

The Israeli armed forces have killed a Palestinian in the West Bank following an alleged attack. The news is reported by Al Jazeera: “The Israeli army states that its forces shot and killed a Palestinian near Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, in the early hours of Friday” after the victim “attempted to stab soldiers during a military operation”.

When relations between two countries have long been very strained, even a lack of communication regarding a military operation – particularly one involving a highly divisive issue – can ignite a powder keg in a region that is already in flames.

The eight Israeli air strikes which, at dawn on Tuesday 18th, targeted the Syrian air base at Abu al-Duhur, in the province of Idlib, just 70 km from the Turkish border, risked triggering a direct confrontation between Ankara and Jerusalem. This was emphasised by the US Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack: “Yesterday’s events were serious and worrying. However, we are relieved that no human lives were put at risk and that the situation did not escalate.”

There have been further Israeli attacks on the Ali al-Taher hills and the town of Mansouri, in southern Lebanon.

According to reports in *L’Orient Le Jour*, Israeli artillery fire on Ali Taher, in the Nabatieh region, began after 11 pm and continued until dawn, whilst Israeli drones flew over the area throughout. Witnesses told the newspaper of “particularly intense” attacks on the hills where, according to Israel, Hezbollah has strategic military installations. A village on the outskirts of Ali Taher, Dohat Kfarremane – which has been under fire for days – was also hit. As in recent days, the town of Mansouri, in the Tyre district, was struck several times last night: shortly after 10 pm there were powerful explosions; then, after 11 pm, a drone dropped a sonic bomb coinciding with an artillery barrage; and around 3 am, air raids were launched.

The conflict in Iran and other factors, such as regional rivalries and the economic hardships faced by local fishermen, are fuelling a resurgence in Somali pirate activity. This is highlighted today by the New York Times, after Somali pirates seized two ships within four days. Yesterday, pirates hijacked the oil tanker SIBU 1, flying the Eritrean flag, off the coast of Yemen. According to TankerTrackers.com, a company that monitors global oil traffic, the vessel is believed to be part of Iran’s shadow fleet. The tanker was carrying fuel to a terminal in the Yemeni port of Ras Isa, which is controlled by the Houthi group. The SIBU 1 is the second vessel to be hijacked by Somali pirates in four days: just a few days earlier, a Cameroonian-flagged merchant vessel carrying a cargo of weapons had been seized off the coast of the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland. The vessel was sailing from Turkey to Mogadishu, according to Abshir Hashi Ali, Director-General of the Ministry of Ports in the neighbouring Somali state of Galmadug.

The IDF spokesperson reports that on Wednesday the army carried out an attack in the Nuseirat area, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, killing “Sabahi Sami Mahmoud Shahata, a platoon commander in the military wing of Hamas, who had infiltrated Israeli territory and taken part in the massacre on 7 October, participating in the abduction of numerous hostages, and who was continuing to plan attacks against Israeli troops’.”

Israeli forces are preventing ambulances from reaching Palestinians injured following attacks by settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera. The incident took place in Khirbet Deir Shams, south of Hebron, when three Palestinians were injured following attacks by Israeli settlers on their homes.

The US Navy is working to change the name of one of its aircraft carriers currently under construction, which was originally intended to honour an African-American sailor, Doris Miller, celebrated for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbour. CNN reports this, citing three sources, two of whom have reported that there are internal discussions about the possibility of naming it after Donald Trump – an unprecedented move as it would favour the name of a sitting president.

The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln has completed its mission in the Middle East and, together with its crew of around 5,000 sailors, has begun its journey to San Diego, California, following a nine-month deployment. It has been replaced by another aircraft carrier, the George Washington, which has arrived from Japan. The Lincoln’s departure was confirmed to the New York Times by a US official. The Abraham Lincoln had been deployed to the Middle East as part of US operations against Iran. In recent weeks, reports had emerged regarding the poor quality of life on board the ship due to logistical challenges caused by Iran’s destruction of a naval base in Manama, Bahrain, which served as a vital resupply hub. The Abraham Lincoln had set sail from San Diego on 21 November last year and has spent all 272 days at sea, apart from a brief stopover in Guam in December and another in Oman to refuel. Thousands of sailors on board the ship have had no days off to rest and now face a return journey of around 13,000 miles, which could take between four and five weeks.

La portaerei della classe Nimitz della Marina degli Stati Uniti, la USS Abraham Lincoln, che sta fornendo supporto alle operazioni militari statunitensi nella guerra contro l’Iran, effettua un rifornimento in mare con la nave rifornitrice della flotta USNS Henry J. Kaiser, il 16 agosto 2026. Marina degli Stati Uniti/Foto fornita tramite REUTERS

The UN states that its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon continue to be subjected to incidents involving Israeli forces, which restrict their freedom of movement and raise concerns for their safety. This was reported on the website of the Qatari satellite network Al Jazeera. “On Wednesday, a tank (belonging to the Israeli army, ed.) aimed its turret and a laser at one of the peacekeepers’ posts near Adshit al-Qusayr,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, during a press conference. He added that near Meiss el-Jabal “several shots from small arms struck the vicinity of a UNIFIL post” whilst Israeli forces “were operating nearby”. Dujarric stated that between Monday and Wednesday, seven incidents were recorded which restricted UNIFIL’s movements.

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Economic pressure is the “most effective tool” the United States has against Iran, but it is a “delicate balancing act”. This was stated by US Vice-President JD Vance in an interview on the “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” podcast, reported by CNN. “The most effective tool we have is the economic pressure we can exert on them. And this is a delicate dance, because if we exert economic pressure on them, they will try to do the same to us”, said Vance, arguing that “over the last two weeks they have been under far more pressure than we have”. Vance acknowledged that “obviously oil prices are high, as you can see at the pump”, but highlighted the administration’s ability to ensure ships can pass through the Strait of Hormuz. “They are trying to close the Strait, and if we can – not so much restore it to its previous state, but get enough oil and gas through to provide some relief for Americans at the petrol pump, some relief on energy prices,” added the vice-president. According to Vance, “the Iranians are being punished for firing on merchant ships” and “this is exerting strong economic pressure on them and changing their assessments of the sort of deal they want to strike”.

“We’ve wiped out Iran”. Donald Trump said this in a telephone interview with Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and the key witness against him in the trial concerning the tycoon’s relationship with the porn star Stormy Daniels. Tehran “has a few missiles and drones but has limited production capacity”, the US president continued, adding that “the United States essentially controls the Strait of Hormuz and will soon have full control of it”.

Il presidente Donald Trump interviene durante un incontro con i leader del settore tecnologico nella Roosevelt Room della Casa Bianca, mercoledì 19 agosto 2026, a Washington. (Foto AP/Jacquelyn Martin) Associated Press/LaPresse Solo l'Italia e la Spagna