Iran, Khamenei: ‘There is no other way but jihad’. Netanyahu is travelling to the US

Everything you need to know: it was tomorrow, 26 July, fourteen years ago, when Mario Draghi’s statement made it clear that the ECB would use any means necessary to prevent the collapse of the euro. The energy spread is no less serious than the financial one, but it does not provoke the same reaction. The surge in interest rates in 2011 threatened the sustainability of the single currency and the wealth of Europeans.

Global energy cost differentials, and those between industries within the EU, undermine the sustainability of manufacturing – and, once again, the prosperity of Europeans. In 2025, average electricity prices for energy-intensive sectors were double those in the US and 50 per cent higher than those in China (source: IEA). Even before the Hormuz crisis, energy costs for Italian businesses were around 30 per cent higher than the EU average.

Two suspicious drones were intercepted by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on the border with Jordan, near the Dead Sea. This was reported by The Times of Israel, citing a military source. Further details are being investigated by the IDF.

The Israeli army has carried out further raids in the countryside around Daraa and Quneitra, in southern Syria, searching civilian homes and arresting a resident. This was reported by a correspondent for the Syrian news agency Sana.

According to the news agency, a contingent of Israeli troops, supported by several military vehicles, advanced today from the Al-Jazeera barracks towards the village of Ma’ariya, in the Yarmouk Basin, in the western part of Daraa. The SANA correspondent reported that the forces took up positions on the road linking the village to the barracks, before clearing the way to the nearby village of Al-Arida, where they searched several civilian homes.

The authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today condemned the “aggression” by Israeli settlers in the West Bank against Palestinians and accused the Israeli government of being “responsible” for what they described as acts of “provocation” and of “incitement” to take action against the Muslim population.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release that these are cases of “extremism” and urged the Israeli authorities to “bring those responsible to justice. “Any failure to ensure that those responsible are held to account will be interpreted as acquiescence and will only serve to fuel the cycle of hatred, racism and instability,” the statement reads.

During yesterday’s cabinet meeting, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly informed his ministers that the US is pressing Israel to withdraw its troops from the “security zones” in Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. This was reported by Channel 13, citing Israeli security sources, and emphasising that Netanyahu stated that “he will oppose the request with all his might”. The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu is the first since the start of the joint attack on Iran on 28 February; the previous summit at the White House had taken place on 11 February.

The Pentagon has updated the war casualties database: the four US service personnel killed in recent days following the resumption of hostilities with Iran have officially been placed in the new category known as “Overseas Operations” (Overseas Operations), used to count personnel killed or wounded (as many as 207) ‘from 7 July’. According to the Defence Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), the official toll for the initial phase of the war, known as Operation ‘Epic Fury’, now stands at 14 dead and 417 wounded. Adding up the figures, therefore, since 28 February, there have been 18 fatalities and 624 wounded, an increase of 140 compared with a few days ago.

Six ships that attempted to ‘illegally’ cross the Strait of Hormuz were intercepted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported this on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to leave for Washington, DC, at 11 am (10 am Italian time), according to a statement issued by his office to *The Times of Israel*.

A meeting with the President of the United States Donald Trump is scheduled for tomorrow at the White House. The Prime Minister will also attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham. Netanyahu is due to return on Thursday.

The pause in the bombing has not entirely ruled out the continuation of the war between the United States and Iran. Having left the battlefield, Tehran has in fact responded to yesterday’s posts by US President Donald Trump using artificial intelligence, in which Pasdaran ships are shown being destroyed by the Americans and a massive attack by US aircraft on Kharg Island. The Mahar news agency has published a video created by AI featuring Lego characters. The video shows an American Lego soldier crawling out of a crashed helicopter, suffering from the scorching heat. An Iranian soldier then appears, drinking tea, with the caption: “Too hot for you, weakling. Go back to your air-con.” Mahar wrote that “Kharg Island is too hot for non-locals; go back to your own island.”

“We have far more ammunition than anyone else in the world, and far more than we need.” This was stated by US President Donald Trump during an interview with the Wall Street Journal, thereby refuting reports that the United States was running out of ammunition in the conflict with Iran.

The US president has also shared several images created using artificial intelligence that depict attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure on his Truth Social platform. One of the images shared by Trump is a photo of fighter jets bombing an oil facility, captioned ‘ATTACK ON KHARG’, referring to Kharg Island, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s main oil export hub.

Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential ally of Donald Trump who died on 11 July shortly after returning from Kyiv, had planned to travel to Florida in early March to persuade the tycoon to join Israel in bombing Hezbollah in Lebanon, until a friend dissuaded him from doing so. That friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told him in a phone call prior to the trip that involving the US, in the midst of a war with Iran, would have meant going too far, too fast.

This is revealed by previously unseen footage taken from a documentary about the South Carolina senator. “We are currently focusing on Iran,” Netanyahu said during the phone call on 4 March, according to the Wall Street Journal. “If we tell Hezbollah that we are prepared to go all the way, we are threatening them; but if we then actually do so, they would have no reason not to go all the way against us. And at the moment, that is not in our interest,” he said, speaking on speakerphone.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has stated that the Islamic Republic will continue to support Hezbollah as a matter of strategic policy and that “there is no other path but jihad and resistance”, in a letter to the group’s secretary-general published on Telegram. He also stated that perseverance on the path of resistance will lead to “divine victory” and described Hezbollah’s stance as “a message of inspiration”. Preserving Lebanon’s territorial integrity and ensuring a “complete and unconditional” end to Israeli attacks, he said, are the primary conditions for an agreement.

Further reading

Latest war news. Escalation in the West Bank: settlers set fire to two mosques. Oil tanker explodes after hitting a mine in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatens Ukraine

26 July 2026