What to know as the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran continues
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held his first press conference since the war began, giving a veiled threat to kill Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iranian state media released the first public statement attributed to new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, as the country continued attacking U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf and ships in the region. The statement said Iran should keep leveraging its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to continue attacks on targets in Gulf Arab nations.
An American aerial refueling tanker that was involved in the U.S. military operation in Iran crashed in western Iraq. The status of the plane’s crew is unknown.
The Israeli military has issued an urgent threat to the residents of Beirut, specifically those in the Bachoura district. The Israeli military spokesperson addressed everyone present in a building marked in red on the attached map, as well as the adjacent buildings, stating: “You are located near a facility belonging to Hezbollah—according to our claims—against which the Israeli military will take action.”
Iran’s relentless assaults have fueled an apparent lack of investor confidence, with oil prices topping $100 a barrel and stock prices sliding despite President Trump’s repeated assertions that he’ll end the war soon and announcements of major oil reserve releases.
Lebanon: Death toll from Israeli military operation over 634, including 91 children The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health says Israel’s ongoing, expanding military operation in the country has killed more than 630 people, including 91 children, since the assault stepped up in tandem with the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Around 500 oil tankers remain in the Persian Gulf due to Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as of Thursday, according to data available from the vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic.com.
President Trump said he’s “not interested” in winning the Nobel Peace Prize now, after insisting for months that he should earn the prize for, by his tally, having a hand in ending eight global conflicts. In a phone interview with the Washington Examiner Thursday morning, the president said he has “no idea” if Operation Epic Fury will “get him over the finish line” with the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Israel issues new evacuation orders for for southern Lebanon Thursday directing people south of the Litani River to leave their homes.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told reporters on Wednesday night that Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon had launched an attack in coordination with Iran that included some 200 rockets fired from Lebanon and ballistic missiles from Iran at the same time.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he had spoken to Lebanon’s president and warned him that “if the Lebanese government does not know how to control the territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening the northern communities and firing at Israel, we will take the territory and do it ourselves.”
Lebanese President Slams Hezbollah, Says Open to Negotiations with Israel
Ashraq al Awsat
News agencies/CBS
