Latest war news. US Ambassador to Israel: ‘Settlers’ siege of Palestinian homes is terrorism’

The United States has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones since the start of the war with Iran, around 25 per cent of the entire fleet available to the US armed forces. This is according to the Washington Post, which cites three US officials with knowledge of the figures. Given that each Reaper can cost between 30 and 50 million dollars depending on the sensors and weaponry fitted, the total value of the losses exceeds 1.3 billion dollars. The drones have been used primarily for surveillance missions and targeted strikes, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz area, but their low speed and operating altitudes make them relatively easy targets for Iran and its regional allies. Not all of them, however, are believed to have been shot down: some are thought to have crashed after losing contact with their operators.

Before the conflict began on 28 February, the US armed forces had around 185 Reapers at their disposal – 165 belonging to the Air Force and 20 to the Marines. These losses add to the growing strain on US military stocks, already depleted by years of support for Ukraine and high ammunition consumption in the war with Iran. The Trump administration is asking Congress for an additional $67 billion in funding to cover the costs of the conflict and replenish stockpiles, whilst the Pentagon continues to deny that its stocks are reaching critical levels.

Replacing the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, currently in the Arabian Sea, with the USS George Washington, which is normally based in Japan. This is what the United States intends to do as controversy mounts over the conditions – including mental health – of the sailors on board the ship at the centre of the military campaign against Iran. The Lincoln has been at sea for over 250 days and has not called at a port for 200 days – a record. The Wall Street Journal has reported on the change of guard between the two aircraft carriers, which, citing US officials, explains that the handover had been planned before pressure mounted on the Pentagon and the Navy to provide clarification on the mental health of those on board, following rumours that several sailors had attempted to throw themselves overboard. A shortage of food, soap and toothpaste was also reported.

The United States is preparing to send the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for over 250 days and has been operating at an intense pace in the war against Iran. American officials have told the Wall Street Journal, specifying that the handover is part of a rotation plan already scheduled before the recent controversy over conditions on board the Lincoln. Having set sail in November for a mission in the Pacific, the aircraft carrier was diverted to the Middle East in January, taking part in the bombing campaign of Operation Epic Fury and, subsequently, in the US blockade of Iranian ports.

A Lebanese official has denied a report by Reuters claiming that Beirut had reached an agreement with Israel on a shortlist of countries that could send troops to Lebanon to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament, following a a similar denial from the Israeli side. A US-brokered agreement of 26 June linked the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon to the ‘verified disarmament’ by the Lebanese government of all non-state armed groups, including the Iranian-backed organisation Hezbollah. Hezbollah, which is not a party to the agreement, has rejected the idea of laying down its arms.

Last week, Reuters reported that Lebanon and Israel had agreed on a shortlist and, on Wednesday, citing three sources, it was reported that this list included the United Kingdom, Italia, Switzerland and Indonesia as potential participants in the verification mechanism. A Lebanese official stated today that no such agreement exists and that the authorities in Beirut are still in talks with their US counterparts on the matter.

Iran has reported environmental damage in the Strait of Hormuz after an oil slick reached the southern coast of Qeshm Island, and has demanded compensation from those responsible. The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, stated that the spill had ‘polluted the waters’ of the Gulf and the Sea of Oman and that ‘preliminary evidence points to a foreign bulk carrier as the source’ of the pollution. According to Tanker Trackers, however, the spill is believed to have been caused by the Iranian attack on 3 August in Omani waters against the bulk carrier Minoan Pioneer, from which the oil is thought to have then drifted across the strait to the Iranian coast.

Baghaei wrote on X that incidents of this kind have ‘caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to Iran’s coastal areas over recent decades’. “Every party that benefits from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has a legal and moral obligation to remedy the environmental damage caused,” he added. According to Habib Masihi, head of environmental protection for Hormozgan Province, the oil slick affected around 32,000 square metres of coastline and 90,000 square metres of sea, but by yesterday evening it had been ‘almost completely cleaned up’.

Shortages of food and essential supplies, mould in the showers, out-of-order toilets and a growing psychological crisis amongst the approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines on board. Democrats in the US Congress are demanding answers regarding the conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier engaged in operations against Iran and now in its ninth month of deployment. In a letter to the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth and the acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Senator Richard Blumenthal has denounced “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing problems, deteriorating mental health and safety issues on deck”.

The Lincoln has been on a mission for over 250 days and, according to Blumenthal, has not set foot on land for more than 200 of them, setting a record for the longest consecutive period at sea. Of particular concern are reports, published by Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, of several sailors who were reportedly stopped whilst attempting to jump overboard. During a recent, tense meeting in San Diego, around 200 family members of the service personnel on board voiced their concerns directly to the Navy’s top brass, including Cao and Vice-Admirals Douglas Verissimo and Joseph Cahill, denouncing the severe psychological stress caused by the mission’s continuous extension. One woman accused the leadership of having ‘broken the bond of trust between us and the leadership’, whilst another recounted, in tears, that her husband had written to her that very day saying he hoped he would ‘not wake up tomorrow’. Annabelle Loma told the Navy Times that her husband had attempted to jump off the ship: “He’s scared. He thinks he’ll be discharged dishonourably and that, just because he was exhausted, his 13-year career is ruined.”

“The IDF carried out an attack today in the Khan Yunis area and struck a company commander from Hamas’s military wing,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement. “The terrorist was planning an attack against Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip, and the IDF neutralised the threat in an air strike. Prior to the attack, measures were taken to minimise harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance,” the statement added.

The campaign launched by Professor Eugenio Mazzarella in the pages of *Avvenire* on 4 August has now attracted over 10,000 signatures: to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the children of Gaza. The newspaper reports that the appeal has been backed by mayors, local councillors, nuns, lawyers, ‘even an actress’, retired and serving ambassadors, civil servants and professors, as well as associations and organisations such as Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam. There has been a great deal of support from ordinary people.

Politics is also in the mix, with support from the PD, AVS and M5S.

An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian man in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, marking the first fatality in over a week, whilst the Israeli army has scaled back targeted strikes in the enclave under pressure from the United States.

According to Palestinian doctors, as reported by Reuters, the air strike hit two people travelling on a motorbike in a western part of Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The other person was injured.

The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has announced that the security forces have dismantled two terrorist cells linked to the US and Israeli intelligence services, as they attempted to enter the country via the city of Khash, in the southern province of Sistan and Baluchistan. This was reported by Al Mayadeen on its English-language X account.

During the operation, four terrorists were arrested and a further two were killed in clashes with the security forces. According to the ministry, the cells were planning to destabilise security in the province and to target key economic infrastructure in its southern regions.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have reversed their decision to evict, for a few days, the Palestinian families whose homes are under siege by settlers in the village of Qusra, near Nablus, in the West Bank. This was reported by the public broadcaster Kan, which stated that the commander of the IDF’s Central Command, General Avi Blot, had ordered that troops enter only unoccupied homes.

Kan points out that the decision follows criticism levelled at Israel over its handling of the situation in Qusra. The IDF had initially asked the occupants of the besieged houses, as well as residents of other homes, to leave their homes for a few days ahead of a military operation in the area. Overnight, Israeli forces dismantled two illegal outposts on the outskirts of Qusra and in the nearby village of Jalud, in Area B of the West Bank.

According to the NGO Save the Children, two weeks after the mass arrival of over 70,000 people who crossed the border with Morocco illegally, there are around 2,000 children in Ceuta without protection or adequate support. This was stated by Save the Children after the Spanish daily El País reported that, according to the organisation, the total number of children and adolescents outside the protection system stood at 4,000.

Save the Children points out that, although the exact number is still unknown, organisations already working on the ground have reported that the figure is likely to be around 2,000. Many of these children and teenagers, the children’s charity reports, are still living on the streets, without a safe place to sleep or adequate access to basic services. Around 1,500 of them are currently under the care of the NGO, which points out that the number of those awaiting identification is an estimate due to the difficulty of locating all those scattered acrossvarious areas of the city. A Save the Children team is currently in Ceuta to assess the conditions in which the children and adolescents are living, identify the most urgent protection needs and any situations of vulnerability.

“I am one of the most senior officials in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and I recognised this phenomenon right from the start, many years ago. I said at the time that the State of Israel is not doing enough to tackle it.” This was stated in an interview with Ynet by Shai Alon, mayor of Beit El , a settlement in the north of the West Bank, in reference to the violence perpetrated by extremist settlers following the latest events in the Palestinian village of Qusra.

“According to data from the security agencies, there are 300 to 400 young people who have gone off the rails, and the problem must first and foremost be tackled through education and welfare,” he added, pointing the finger at the management of the police under the Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

“We are opposed to violent unrest; I say this in no uncertain terms. We, as the authorities, are the only ones authorised to act – and no one else. Violence causes extremely serious damage, even amongst our friends.” This was stated by Defence Minister Israel Katz, as reported by Ynet, regarding the events unfolding in the Palestinian village of Qusra, during a speech at the ceremony marking the re-establishment of the Ganim settlement in the northern West Bank.

In the same speech, Katz also referred to settler violence as a ‘marginal phenomenon’, claiming that ‘there is no such thing as settler violence’. The Ganim settlement was evacuated in 2005, along with three other Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, as part of the wider disengagement from the Gaza Strip initiated by the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

A resident of the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, told the Times of Israel that the Israeli military had evacuated the occupants of 15 houses in the village, telling them that the measure was part of a three-day military operation, apparently aimed at dismantling the outposts set up by settlers who, since last Sunday, have been blocking access to the homes of two families on the outskirts of Qusra.

When questioned by the newspaper, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) stated that soldiers “are taking up defensive positions in houses in the village to maintain a presence there and protect the residents, including in one of the Palestinian houses whose inhabitants are under siege, in order to protect them”.

Israeli forces are continuing to demolish homes and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, in what Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has described as a “systematic destruction of homes, residential neighbourhoods, infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship” that violates international law.

According to a report today in the newspaper L’Orient Le Jour, Israeli forces carried out demolition operations in nine localities yesterday, destroying homes and infrastructure, particularly in Zawtar el-Charkiyeh, where public buildings and a school were demolished. In two other localities, houses were set alight, whilst in another, roads and homes were razed to the ground by bulldozers. Israeli drones also dropped bombs and explosives on four localities.

Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, commander of the Basij paramilitary organisation affiliated with the Pasdaran, has stated that the Strait of Hormuz is ‘under Iran’s control and management’. This was reported by Al Jazeera.

“It is clear today that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic , and our country is continuing on its path in complete safety,” Taeb said in a statement reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars.

“The United States has long made errors of judgement due to intelligence failures. A striking example: the war against Iran. Now, an even more serious error of judgement regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Disinformation is worse than fake news. Be careful.” This was written by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X.

The situation is becoming increasingly worrying for the more than 5,000 sailors on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been at sea for nine months, five of which have been spent at war with Iran. The Guardian, citing the Navy Times and other industry outlets, reports at least two attempted suicides.

In one case, a sailor’s wife recounted that her husband had tried to throw himself into the sea after his period of service at sea kept being extended. ‘He’s scared. He thinks he’ll be discharged in disgrace and that, just because he was exhausted, his 13-year career will be ruined, just like that.’

Israeli forces have carried out operations to blow up and set fire to homes in the southern Lebanese towns of Majdal Zoun and Al-Mansouri , as well as in the surrounding valleys. This was reported by the Lebanese National News Agency, which added that Israeli warplanes struck the town of Al-Mansouri in two successive waves during the night, and that the sound of the explosions was heard in Tyre. Last week, the Israeli army issued a forced evacuation order for the town of Al-Mansouri, the first such directive in several weeks.

Iran is battling an oil spill off the coast of Qeshm Island. Satellite images, reports Bloomberg on its website, show a dark, elongated trail in the waters off the coastal village of Shib Deraz – a breeding ground for the endangered hawksbill sea turtle – as well as black deposits on the beaches. The Iranian news agency ISNA reported that clean-up operations are underway, but did not specify the source of the pollution. It did, however, state that rescue workers are using absorbent mats to contain and collect the oil.

TankerTrackers.com commented on the spill in a post on X, suggesting that it was the result of an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier earlier this month. The reported oil spill comes just as Oman, south of Iran, is dealing with another oil slick near its south-eastern coast, following an oil tanker running aground. The affected area is also home to a rich variety of marine life, including turtles, dolphins and whales.

War in the Middle East – 13 August 2026

Tehran is seeking compensation for the oil spill that has damaged the waters of the Persian Gulf and surrounding areas. This was stated by Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. “Any entity that benefits from commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz,” he writes in X, “has both a legal and a moral obligation to remedy the environmental damage caused to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.”

According to a CNN video yesterday, a thick slick of oil washed up on a beach near the Iranian island of Qeshm, close to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused France of ‘hypocrisy’ on human rights, after Paris and 26 other countries condemned Tehran for the alleged execution of demonstrators involved in the protests that broke out at the end of last December.

“Countries such as France should stop lecturing the world on ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and shameful,” Araghchi wrote on X.

US intelligence officials were sceptical about the alleged Iranian threat to assassinate Donald Trump reported by Israel, which contributed to the decision to organise the complex covert operation to have the president leave Turkey on a military aircraft other than Air Force One. This is reported by the Washington Post, citing current and former US officials with knowledge of the matter.

According to the newspaper, the Israeli government passed the warning on to the CIA, but the agency’s analysts did not consider the information particularly convincing and conveyed their doubts to the administration. One official described it as information ‘of Israeli origin, not generated by the United States, and assessed as having low credibility’.

The gap between the Israeli-Lebanese negotiating table in Rome and the reality on the ground in southern Lebanon is widening by the day, as the Israeli army lays waste to southern Lebanon with air strikes, artillery fire and the use of white phosphorus bombs, whilst Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has denounced Israel’s violence as a violation of international law. The Israeli army, for its part, claims it is engaged in the destruction of the infrastructure of Hezbollah, the Lebanese party allied with Iran.

The battle has been raging for days in the Nabatiye district, on Ali Taher Hill. For the first time, details are emerging from the front line, via regional media, regarding the combined use of reconnaissance drones and toxic gases injected into the tunnels dug beneath the hill. White phosphorus, a weapon banned under international law but repeatedly used by Israel in areas inhabited by civilians, was used this morning on the Ali Taher heights. According to the Israeli army, the site houses a ‘Party of God’ facility, with command tunnels and an arms depot. Israeli forces have so far attempted unsuccessfully to capture it.

The Donald Trump administration has criticised Israel’s plans to maintain its occupation of southern Lebanon, stating that they violate the commitments made in the agreement between the United States, Lebanon and Israel. A State Department official, as reported by Barak Ravid of Axios, stated that ‘a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is not compatible with the commitments made in the framework agreement’.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has stated that the country will not withdraw from the occupied territories in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza ‘under any circumstances’. This is reported by Al-Jazeera, citing the Israeli news outlet i24. During a visit to frontline army positions in southern Lebanon, Katz stated that the forces will remain indefinitely in what Israel describes as ‘security zones’ in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

Al-Jazeera points out that Israel occupies territories in southern Lebanon, more than half of the Gaza Strip and several strategic positions in Syria, including part of Jabal al-Sheikh, the country’s highest mountain.

Further reading

Latest war news. Sources: Italia and the UK are among the countries being considered to monitor Hezbollah’s disarmament

12 August 2026