War: latest news. FT: Iran is considering striking US military targets, including those in Europe

“A short while ago, the IDF struck a commander of Hamas’s military wing in the Nuseirat area of the central Gaza Strip, who had infiltrated Israeli territory and taken part in the massacre of 7 October 2023. Furthermore, in a joint operation with the Shin Bet, the IDF struck a commander of the terrorist organisation Hamas in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City who was planning attacks against troops operating in the Gaza Strip.” This was announced by the IDF spokesperson in a statement.

The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it would launch criminal investigations into the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family, as well as that of 15 Palestinian paramedics in the Gaza Strip. The IDF added that it would not, however, be opening investigations into three other attacks in which aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Médecins Sans Frontières were killed. The news was announced in a statement in which the army said it had completed its investigations into 150 incidents relating to the conduct of its troops in Gaza.

“The Iranian people will never forget France’s repeated betrayals.” This was stated in a post on X by Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, following Paris’s decision to expel two Iranian diplomats in response to a similar measure taken against two diplomats from the French embassy in Tehran. “From the tainted blood scandal to the failure of Instex and the exploitation of the snapback mechanism. We will not forget: persisting with this hostility will only end up backfiring on Paris,” added Azizi.

“So far, Iran has used chaos and the escalation of the conflict as a tactic. If one follows this line of reasoning, then it can do anything, even attack China, which is clearly an unrealistic scenario. And that is precisely why it makes no sense to suggest scenarios or courses of action to them. It simply means that I regard what the Financial Times wrote as something they hadn’t thought of.” This was the comment made by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, when questioned by Adnkronos, regarding the Financial Times report suggesting that Tehran is considering the possibility of striking US military targets in Europe should US President Donald Trump decide to escalate the conflict and attack Iranian infrastructure.

At least six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. This was reported by the al-Arabiya news channel, which stated that the air strike targeted a Hamas police post.

La salma di un palestinese ucciso in un attacco israeliano contro un bar, durante una cerimonia funebre nella città di Gaza, il 19 agosto 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid say they will pursue a policy of uncompromising deterrence towards Iran, whilst seeking to rebuild strained relations with American liberals and the European Union. Bennett – regarded as a ‘hawk’ on security issues – has stated that attacks by pro-Iranian groups should be treated as if they originated from Iran. “If Hezbollah attacks us, we strike Iran. An attack by the tentacles of the Iranian octopus within Israel’s borders will come at a price within Iran’s borders,” he said, as reported by The Times of Israel. Bennett also stated that he would not allow Qatar or Turkey to play any role in post-war Gaza, reiterating his call for Qatar to be designated an enemy state.

A video posted by the Arab Hadash party shows a demonstration outside the Ministry of the Interior headquarters in Tel Aviv, with protesters lying on the ground, covered in fake blood, to protest against violence in the West Bank and Gaza. The footage shows protesters wearing T-shirts bearing the slogans “This is Israeli policy: pogroms, ethnic cleansing, genocide and extermination”. The fake blood symbolises the blood shed as a result of this policy, the predominantly Arab party stated in a press release. The participants also have numbers written on their foreheads, in reference to the arrest of several suspects in the West Bank, on whose arms and faces soldiers had written with a marker pen.

NATO is ready to face any threat and will always do whatever is necessary to defend all its allies, said a NATO official in response to questions about a Financial Times article claiming that Iran is considering the possibility of attacking US military targets in Europe should President Donald Trump escalate the conflict with Tehran. “As demonstrated earlier this year, when NATO’s air defence successfully intercepted ballistic missiles fired from Iran towards Turkey on four separate occasions, our deterrence and defence capabilities are strong and effective,” the official told Reuters.

The Wafa news agency reports that the IDF arrested the Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Ashraf al-Awar, this morning after raiding his home in the Silwan neighbourhood. The arrest, Wafa states, followed a previous Israeli order prohibiting al-Awar from entering the West Bank due to the restrictions imposed on Palestinian officials in East Jerusalem.

Israeli troops have sealed off two sections of Hamas underground tunnels in Gaza, with a total length of over two kilometres. This was reported by the IDF, which stated that the operation is part of efforts to neutralise the terrorist organisations’ tunnel network in the Gaza Strip.

Lunedì 17 agosto 2026, a Gaza City, alcune persone passano davanti alle tende che ospitano i palestinesi sfollati tra le rovine degli edifici distrutti dai raid aerei israeliani durante la guerra con Hamas. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Associated Press / LaPresse Solo Italia e Spagna

“If the United States attacks Iran again, the response will extend beyond the region.” This is according to Foad Izadi, Professor of International Relations at the University of Tehran, as quoted by the Adnkronos news agency. “Before the war began in February, Iran had said that if the United States were to attack Iran, it would be a regional war. This has come true. It has become a regional war,” explains Izadi. “Now Iran is saying that, if the United States attacks Iran again, the response will extend beyond the region.” “And beyond the region, more or less, means Europe,” the professor continues. “So yes, striking US bases in Italia could be an option.” Izadi clarifies, however: “I don’t know if Iranian officials have decided to do so.” According to the analyst, “going beyond the region logically means Europe” and “Iranian missiles can reach Europe, particularly southern Europe”. For Izadi, “the best option for these countries would be not to assist the United States and Israel in this illegal war against Iran”. The lecturer therefore argues that “the war is illegal under international law” and states that “more than 5,000 Iranian civilians have been killed” and that “billions of dollars” worth of damage has been inflicted on civilian infrastructure. “Supporting the United States in killing little girls in Iran is not a wise political choice,” concludes Izadi.

The White House is now putting all the pressure on the major arms manufacturers supplying the Pentagon. Following Donald Trump’s outbursts and the stammering responses from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, it is the American defence industry that must now play its part, on the President’s orders. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, as well as companies specialising in military technology such as Anduril, and data analytics firms such as Palantir, are being called upon to provide ‘swift and comprehensive’ responses: so wrote the Pentagon in an internal and confidential document, whilst US involvement in the war in Iran (following guaranteed supplies to Ukraine and its allies) is drastically reducing stocks of missiles and strategic weapons.

A week ago, the Deputy Secretary of Defence, Steve Feinberg, wrote to US industry leaders, giving them no more than twenty days to submit plans to ‘significantly speed up delivery times and increase production of critical capabilities’. The tone of the Defence Department’s memo – obtained by the Washington Post – reveals the full urgency of the requests, as well as a certain degree of improvisation on the part of the administration. ‘Development cycles lasting years are no longer acceptable; we must drastically speed up our programmes and immediately expand our production capacity,’ warned Feinberg, a highly experienced manager and former CEO of Cerberus Capital Management. He is a staunchly loyal adviser on a team to which Trump has entrusted the oversight of the strategy to replenish US missile stocks, bypassing Hegseth.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed party allied with Iran, will not abandon the strategic Ali Taher heights, which overlook the town of Nabatiye and which the Israeli occupying forces are attempting to capture. This was stated by Hassan Ezzeddine, a member of parliament for the Shia party, who said that the movement “will confront any act of aggression”. The hills have been the target of Israeli air and artillery raids for weeks. Quoted this morning by the Beirut media, Ezzeddine described Ali Taher as “one of the resistance’s key positions”, adding that the Party of God “will fulfil its national duty” in the event of an Israeli attack on the site. The MP also indicated that any support from Iran in this context would represent an additional source of strength, going so far as to state that Tehran “could establish a new dynamic regarding Ali Taher”. The Israeli authorities claim that Ali Taher is home to the military headquarters of the Party of God in occupied southern Lebanon, alongside high-ranking officers of the Iranian Pasdaran, party cadres and fighters of other nationalities. Finally, Ezzeddine dismissed the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel – signed at the end of June under Washington’s auspices – as worthless in Hezbollah’s eyes. This follows remarks made last Friday by Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who stated that “anger on the streets exists and persists”, but that its expression awaits “the appropriate moment and circumstances”.

The Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing has issued a call for tenders for the construction of 1,234 new housing units in the West Bank, as part of the E1 settlement plan, according to a report by the Times of Israel. E1 is the name of the area east of Jerusalem where the Israeli authorities intend to expand the nearby illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. If carried out, the project would prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state in the occupied territories. Last May, Italia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany warned companies of the legal “consequences” of participating in settlement construction, stating in a joint statement that “they should not participate in tenders for the construction of settlements in the E1 area”.

The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, reiterated on Tuesday 18 August that violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank falls within the definition of ‘terrorism’, emphasising the embassy’s responsibility to protect American citizens. “When one engages in activities aimed at altering behaviour and instilling fear in an individual, an entire society or a community, that is the definition – the historical definition – of terror. So I don’t know how else to define it,” said Huckabee in an interview with Israel’s Channel 11. The reference is to the siege, which has been ongoing for 10 days, of several Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra, including those of the Palestinian-American Loui Ridi, who returned to his home on Monday 17 August. On Tuesday, Ridi confronted the settlers and asked the Israeli forces to remove them, but the soldiers ordered him to go back inside, stating that the area had been declared a closed military zone. “When this happens to an American citizen, as has happened recently, it is our responsibility, as the US Embassy, to intervene as firmly as possible, stating that ‘this behaviour is unacceptable’,” said Huckabee.

The Israeli army continued to launch attacks last night on the Ali Taher hillside area, in the district of Nabatiyeh, which it wishes to capture, and on the village of Mansouri, in the district of Tyre, which is split in two by the ‘Yellow Line’ unilaterally drawn by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon. This was reported today by the Lebanese daily *L’Orient Le Jour*, which also reported on Israeli demolitions in Haddatha, in the district of Bint Jbeil, and in Mansouri.

Iran has warned the Gulf states not to assist US military forces, arguing that any form of cooperation would amount to involvement in the conflict. The warning was issued by Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, according to Al Jazeera. In a statement carried by the Iranian news agency Fars, Abdollahi stated that nothing happening in the region is “hidden from our eyes”. The general specifically cited the presence of numerous military aircraft, particularly in-flight refuelling aircraft, at bases in the region, arguing that it would be difficult to explain such a presence without the knowledge of the countries hosting the facilities. “We warn: any assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressive US military amounts to participation in US military forces”, Abdollahi said, according to Al Jazeera.

The Likud is moving further and further to the right. And it is increasingly in the hands of its leader, the evergreen Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history.

The latest primary elections of Israel’s long-established conservative party – held to select the next members of Parliament – have in effect confirmed a predictable outcome: Bibi now exercises almost absolute control over a party that is, at this stage, largely aligned with its leader’s vision. Voting concluded on Monday night. Turnout stood at 53.5 per cent.

Russia has supplied Iran with drone components, ammunition and TNT explosives, as part of military support intended to help rebuild Iran’s arsenals following the war with the US. This is reported by NBC News, citing a document from a European government obtained by the broadcaster and verified by a Western official. According to the document, the transfers are said to have taken place via the Caspian Sea and date back to at least July. The material is said to include components for drones, ammunition and TNT, used as an explosive. The Russian supplies are said to be arriving as Tehran seeks to rebuild its missile and drone capabilities following the conflict with the US.

According to a US official quoted by CNN, President Donald Trump has ordered senior administration officials to halt talks with Tehran. Furthermore, according to a source familiar with the matter, White House officials have recently informed their political allies that they have changed their strategy, shifting from ‘striking Iran as soon as possible’ to ‘strangling it’ gradually. According to US officials, the United States is expected to impose new and extremely severe sanctions on Iran soon, possibly as early as this week. Trump and his entourage, explains CNN, believe that economic pressure on Iran will ultimately force the regime to accept their conditions for ending the war.

Il presidente Donald Trump fa un gesto mentre sale a bordo dell'Air Force One all'aeroporto di Morristown, domenica 16 agosto 2026, a Morristown, nel New Jersey. (Foto AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“Just as Trump correctly spelled the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, his misconception regarding the Strait of Hormuz will soon be corrected – or we shall correct the misconceptions of this deluded man.” This was posted on X by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in response to the post that Donald Trump published last night on his social media platform Truth, featuring an image of the Strait of Hormuz with the words ‘New US Territory’ written on it. Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, also mocked Donald Trump for his post. Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X: “The gap between America’s inability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its claim to ownership of it is greater than the 7,000-mile [11,265-kilometre] distance between Washington and the Strait itself.” “Welcome to the post-American order in the Persian Gulf,” added Tehran’s security chief.

According to the Financial Times, which cites sources close to the Iranian regime, Tehran is reportedly prepared to strike US military targets in Europe should the United States initiate a further escalation of the conflict. As reported by the British newspaper, possible targets include US bases in Bulgaria and Cyprus. The officials quoted also mentioned the option of striking submarine fibre-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz should the war intensify.