Jerusalem [Israel], July 8 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday (local time) voiced strong opposition to the possible sale of US-made F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, warning that such a move would alter the regional balance of power, CNN reported.
Saudi Arabia condemns Iran over attack on tanker in Strait of Hormuz Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry has condemned Iran for attacking a Saudi tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The ministry called on Tehran to immediately cease "practices that threaten international maritime navigation and global energy supplies".
Tehran [Iran], July 7 (ANI): Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, citing unnamed sources, on Tuesday reported that the Qatarti oil tanker 'Al-Raqayat' was targeted after allegedly attempting to transit through the Omani route in the Strait of Hormuz with US Navy support while ignoring repeated Iranian warnings.
ABU DHABI, 7th July, 2026 (WAM) -- The United Arab Emirates has condemned in the strongest terms the hostile Iranian attack which targeted Qatar's Al Rakeyyat vessel while transiting near the Strait of Hormuz.
Blasts near Damascus hotel housing Macron during historic Syria visit wounds 18 Two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, wounding 18 people and overshadowing the first visit to Syria by an EU head of state since Bashar al-Assad was toppled. Macron's motorcade left the hotel shortly before the blasts. The French president pressed ahead with his visit, meeting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.
Three vessels, including a Qatari LNG carrier, struck within hours close to Oman Qatar has warned Iran it will bear full legal responsibility after three tankers, including a Qatari LNG vessel, were struck within hours in the strait of Hormuz. All three vessels were struck close to Oman which had suggested a new shipping corridor close to its coastline – a proposal opposed by Iran, which wants to charge ships using the waterway. Continue reading...
Israeli strikes kill at least three Palestinians in Gaza Israeli strikes killed at least three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials in the enclave said. Medics said an Israeli air strike killed a man and wounded two children in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Later on Tuesday, another Israeli air strike hit near a tent encampment housing displaced families in western Gaza City, killing one person and wounding five others.
Three tankers struck within hours in Hormuz, Qatar slams Iran Three tankers, including a Qatari LNG vessel, were struck within hours in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting peace mediator Doha to denounce an "unacceptable" Iranian attack. An "unknown projectile" hit a tanker overnight, causing a fire, before two more were hit, at least one by a drone, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said. Earlier in the day, citing anonymous sources, Iran's IRIB said an oil tanker attempting to pass through the Omani route in the Strait of Hormuz was attacked "after ignoring repeated warnings".
Turkey and UK to sign new defence partnership deal Submitted by Ragip Soylu on Tue, 07/07/2026 - 15:25 The sensitive agreement is being compared to the 2021 defence pact between France and Greece, although sources declined to say whether it includes a mutual defence clause The UK had previously been in talks with Ankara to supply with Eurofighter jets, like the one seen here in Qatar in October, 2022 (AFP) Off Turkey and the UK are expected to sign a security and defence partnership deal on Wednesday, the latest development in the growing partnership between the two countries. The deal will commit both countries to closer cooperation on defence, multiple sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye. According to the sources, the document mandates both countries to support each on every matter on defence, including cooperation on their respective defence industries, counterterrorism, hybrid threats, and cybersecurity.
A German court heard that an alleged IRGC-linked operative sought a Palestinian or Somali woman in financial need to burn a Jewish kosher shop for about €4,000, as police detailed a wider plot against Jewish figures in Germany.
Peace Now report: 2025 witnessed largest West Bank settlement expansion Titled Annus Mirabilis: Actions by the Israeli Government to Annex the West Bank, 2023–2025 , the report by Peace Now and Kerem Navot concludes that the Israeli government has advanced de facto annexation of the West Bank at an unprecedented pace, WAFA reported. The report suggests that the measures advanced by the Israeli government form a single, systematic policy geared towards deepening Israeli control over the West Bank. Instead of focusing on isolated developments such as settlement construction, outpost authorisation, or state land declarations, the report, for the first time, consolidates all government actions and demonstrates that they constitute a single policy, WAFA reported.
Tehran [Iran], July 7 (ANI): Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, citing unnamed sources, on Tuesday reported that the Qatarti oil tanker 'Al-Raqayat' was targeted after allegedly attempting to transit through the Omani route in the Strait of Hormuz with US Navy support while ignoring repeated Iranian warnings.
Israeli strikes kill two Palestinians in Gaza, wound seven including two children An Israeli airstrike had killed a man and wounded two children in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Later on Tuesday, another Israeli airstrike hit near a tent encampment housing displaced families, killing one person and wounding five others, medics said. Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes in Gaza since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached last October.
NATO leaders are meeting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, for the alliances annual summit on July 7-8 in the shadow of the Iran war and American complaints that not all European allies are pulling their weight when it comes to defense spending.
Qatari LNG tanker and Saudi crude oil ship damaged in Hormuz The Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker Al Rekayyat reported that it had been struck overnight and its engine room set on fire. Maritime security sources said a Saudi crude oil tanker had also been damaged. "Mayday mayday mayday.
As reports of the blasts came in, state television said the Syrian president had welcomed Macron at the presidential palace.
Syria says 18 wounded in Damascus blasts during Macron visit The blasts occurred in central Damascus near the hotel where France's president spent the night, with the Elysee Palace saying his visit is ongoing. The blasts came moments before Syrian state television announced Emmanuel Macron's arrival to the presidential palace to meet his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Syrian interior ministry said that "18 people, including four police officers, were injured" as a result of the two explosions caused by "two improvised devices, the first of which was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road, while the second was placed inside a garbage container".
NATO foreign ministers to meet Gulf Arab counterparts to discuss Hormuz tensions NATO foreign ministers will meet Gulf Arab counterparts on Tuesday to address the stalemate over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including a Franco-British proposal for a multinational maritime mission that Iran has so far dismissed. The meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara will bring together ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates following weeks of tensions in the strategically important waterway despite an interim US-Iran peace deal. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said early on Tuesday that a tanker was struck east of Oman's Limah.
Commercial vessels were hit by missiles near the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday as stalled negotiations between Iran and the United States over security in the strategic waterway came under renewed strain, with Tehran and Washington offering different accounts of the attacks.
Explosion heard in Damascus during French president's visit An explosion was heard in central Damascus on Tuesday as French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Syrian capital, AFP journalists said, with witnesses reporting smoke rising near a high-end hotel where the leader spent the night. At least one blast was heard before ambulances rushed to the scene, while Macron, the first Western European leader to visit Syria since the 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, held talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.
