Photo-Firefighters work at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs today. Lebanon is facing a humanitarian crisis, with some 700,000 people displaced from their homes in the south
What we know
- OIL SPIKES AGAIN: The price of oil surged above $100 a barrel again before dipping, as the U.S. and Israel show no sign of halting their war and Iran escalates its attacks on global shipping and energy infrastructure across the Gulf.
- MORE TANKERS ABLAZE: Three more oil tankers were attacked overnight as Iran effectively halts supplies through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The war has created the “largest supply disruption” in history, the IEA says, despite dozens of countries agreeing to release 400 million barrels from their reserves.
- ‘FINISH THE JOB’: President Donald Trump offered yet more mixed messaging, telling supporters “we won” but also vowing “we’ve got to finish the job.”
- DEATH TOLL: Hundreds of people have been killed across the Middle East. In Iran, more than 1,200 people have been killed by Israeli and American strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, while 13 have died in Israel and six in the United Arab Emirates as Iran fired back. In Lebanon, 570 people were killed by Israeli strikes, officials said.
- Largest supply disruption: The war is “creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report released today.
- Israeli army to ‘expand operations’ in Lebanon
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has instructed the military to prepare to expand its operations in Lebanon. “I warned the president of Lebanon,” Joseph Aoun, “that if the Lebanese government cannot control the territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening northern communities and firing at Israel, we will take the territory and do it ourselves,” he said.
- Israel kills 8 on Beirut public beach: Lebanon has said that an Israeli airstrike on its capital’s downtown seafront has killed at least eight people and injured 31 others. The Ministry of Public Health said the attack hit the public beach of Ramlet al-Baida in Beirut. Lebanon is facing a humanitarian crisis, with some 700,000 people displaced from their homes in the south of the country as Israel issues evacuation orders and carries out attacks.
