NewzIsraeli airstrikes killed five people in Gaza and three in the West Bank on Friday, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States.Meanwhile, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the Iran war, while Iran is touting an energy deal with Russia and the U.S. has imposed restrictions on a major Egyptian bank for its ties with Iran.Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 5Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed five people, local hospital officials said Friday.Two brothers and another relative died in a strike on the family’s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said.
Israel's military said it was not aware of a strike in Khan Younis.Two separate Israeli strikes killed one person each in Gaza City on Friday, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. Israel’s military confirmed it struck two separate areas in the city, without elaborating.The five deaths are the latest in Gaza since an October ceasefire deal. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,303 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.Attack kills 3 in JeninIsrael's military said it killed three Palestinians in an airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, describing one of the dead as a Hamas operative and the two others as accomplices.The military identified one of the targets as Qais Bitawi who was alleged to be “involved in advancing significant terrorist activity.” The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Bitawi had been killed, along with two others.
Hamas condemned the strike as a “heinous crime.”Violence has escalated in the West Bank, where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials. Three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2026.Iranian leader bans actions undermining national unityIran’s leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Friday declared that actions undermining national unity in the political, security, cultural, social or economic spheres are prohibited.In a message marking Iran’s Government Week, Khamenei said every major government decision should take into account its potential impact on “social cohesion.” He warned that even measures supported by… Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed five people on Friday, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States.Meanwhile, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the Iran war, while Iran is touting an energy deal with Russia and the U.S.
28.There have been at least 70 attacks on international shipping in the Persian Gulf, according to the International Maritime Organization.IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez urged practical solutions and renewed cooperation to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.About 20% of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the vital commercial waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before the war.Iran and Russia look to revive energy dealIran’s ambassador to Russia on Friday said the two countries are seeking to deepen links between their energy grids by reviving a plan that dates to 2022, according to Iranian state media.Umud Shokri, a fellow at George Mason University, said the plan calls for piping 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually into Iran, via Azerbaijan.He said that would help Iran weather U.S.
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