An Israeli drone drops a bomb near a shepherd on the outskirts of Shebaa, causing no injuries | LIVE

Iran says it has killed six members of an Israel-linked group

Iranian forces have killed six members of a group described as “terrorist” and linked to its arch-enemy Israel during an operation in the southeast of the country, state media reported.

“During an intense exchange of fire with terrorists in Sistan-Baluchistan province, six assailants were killed and two arrested,” announced the IRNA news agency, citing a statement from the country’s intelligence services. The exact location and date of the attack were not specified.

“The available documents indicate the Zionist nature [Israel] of the group,” which was reportedly planning to attack “one of the country’s vital sites in the east,” IRNA added, without providing further details.

The agency said the group’s “main operational team” consisted of “seven non-Iranian terrorists,” though their nationalities were not specified. Two provincial intelligence officers and one police officer were injured, IRNA reported.

An Israeli drone targeted an excavator in the village of Yaroun, Bint Jbeil district.

The process of appointing deputies to Syria’s future transitional Parliament, scheduled for September, will be postponed in provinces with Druze and Kurdish majorities, a member of the electoral commission said today, AFP reports.

It will be postponed in the Sweida province, mostly Druze, in the south of the country, as well as in Raqqa and Hasakah provinces in the north and northeast, “until the conditions […] are met,” said Nawar Najmeh, a member of the electoral commission, cited by the official news agency Sana.

The delay is due to “security challenges in these provinces,” he added.

An Israeli drone dropped a bomb toward a shepherd on the outskirts of the town of Shebaa, in the Hasbaya district, causing no injuries.

Hundreds protest in Tel Aviv against war and Gaza food crisis

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv this afternoon, calling for an end to the war and for measures to prevent growing hunger in the Gaza Strip.

Gathered at Habima Square, protesters held signs reading “Stop the genocide” and displayed photos of malnourished Palestinian children. They chanted slogans such as “From Gaza to Jenin – stop killing children” and “We will not die for the settlements.”

The demonstration was organized by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, a body representing Arab citizens, with participation from the Arab political parties Hadash, Balad and Ta’al. Dozens of peace organizations also joined, including Peace Now, Breaking the Silence, Eye on the Occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian Forum of Bereaved Families.

Israeli forces continued their siege of the town of al-Moghayyir, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, for the third consecutive day.

Fatah spokesperson Maher al-Namoura said the siege constitutes a collective punishment attempt aimed at advancing Israel’s annexation and displacement plans, Wafa reported.

In a statement, al-Namoura affirmed that the party, which leads the Palestinian Authority, would not abandon its role in supporting Palestinians on their land and emphasized that al-Mughayyir is under siege as part of Israel’s broader campaign against Palestinian territory since October 2023. He paid tribute to the residents of al-Moghayyir, describing them as standing firm in defense of their land.

Al-Namoura also called on the international community and human rights organizations to take a firm stance against the Israeli government’s expansionist projects in the West Bank.

A humanitarian convoy arrived at the Bosra al-Harir border crossing in eastern Daraa countryside, heading toward the Sweida province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The convoy consisted of 18 trucks carrying food and flour provided by official authorities and several international and local organizations for the residents affected in the province, the SOHR said.

This initiative is part of a broader intervention plan implemented by the Red Crescent to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the region.

A humanitarian convoy arrived at the Bosra al-Harir border crossing in eastern Daraa countryside, heading toward the Sweida province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The convoy consisted of 18 trucks carrying food and flour provided by official authorities and several international and local organizations for the residents affected in the province, the SOHR said.

This initiative is part of a broader intervention plan implemented by the Red Crescent to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the region.

A humanitarian convoy arrived at the Bosra al-Harir border crossing in eastern Daraa countryside, heading toward the Sweida province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The convoy consisted of 18 trucks carrying food and flour provided by official authorities and several international and local organizations for the residents affected in the province, the SOHR said.

This initiative is part of a broader intervention plan implemented by the Red Crescent to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the region.

A humanitarian convoy arrived at the Bosra al-Harir border crossing in eastern Daraa countryside, heading toward the Sweida province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The convoy consisted of 18 trucks carrying food and flour provided by official authorities and several international and local organizations for the residents affected in the province, the SOHR said.

This initiative is part of a broader intervention plan implemented by the Red Crescent to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Turkey’s First Lady, Emine Erdogan, wrote to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump today, urging her to contact the Israeli Prime Minister to discuss the situation of children in Gaza, Turkish authorities said.

Emine Erdogan explained that she was inspired by the letter Melania Trump sent earlier this month to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding children in Ukraine and Russia.

“I have faith that the important show of sensitivity you demonstrated for the 648 Ukrainian children … will also be extended to Gaza,” Emine Erdogan wrote in the letter dated Friday and published by the Turkish presidency.

“In these days when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and recognition of Palestine has become a global will, I believe your appeal on behalf of Gaza would fulfill a historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people,” the letter added.

Turkey’s First Lady, Emine Erdogan, wrote to the wife of U.S. President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, urging her to contact the Israeli Prime Minister to discuss the situation of children in Gaza, Turkish authorities said on Saturday.

Emine Erdogan explained that she was inspired by the letter Melania Trump had sent earlier this month to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding children in Ukraine and Russia.

“I have faith that the important show of sensitivity you demonstrated for the 648 Ukrainian children … will also be extended to Gaza,” Emine Erdogan wrote in the letter dated Friday and published by the Turkish presidency.

“In these days when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and the recognition of Palestine has become a global will, I believe that your appeal on behalf of Gaza would fulfill a historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people,” Emine Erdogan added.

Protests planned across Israel for the release of hostages next week

Protests calling for the release of hostages will take place across Israel ahead of the “National Day of Struggle” scheduled for next week, Haaretz reports.

These demonstrations, demanding the release of hostages and opposing the Israeli government, are expected to occur this evening nationwide, ahead of the National Day of Struggle announced Tuesday by the Forum of Hostages and Missing Persons’ Families.

“Israel remains firm — alongside the hostages, alongside the soldiers, alongside the evacuees,” the forum said in a statement, noting, “The people of Israel choose life, choose restoration. It is time to bring back the 50 hostages and end the war. That will be Israel’s only true victory.”

In the past 24 hours, 61 deaths and 308 injuries have been reported in Gaza, the Ministry of Health said.

Eight people have died, including two children, due to famine and malnutrition.

Since the start of the war, 62,622 people have been killed and 157,673 injured.

Protesters gathered this morning in front of the home of far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and accused him of “sabotaging an agreement” for the release of hostages, according to Haaretz.

The demonstrators held up photos of the hostages and confronted the minister, insulting him as he went to the synagogue in the city of Kfar Malal, in central Israel. “You are sabotaging an agreement,” one protester shouted. Another yelled, “You are a historical failure, a terrorist, a criminal.”

An Israeli drone crashed in the village of Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon, according to local residents.

During the night, after striking the town of Deir Kifa, the Israeli army claimed on X that it targeted “a Hezbollah weapons depot.”

Update on the situation in southern Lebanon:

• An Israeli drone reportedly crashed in Bint Jbeil, according to residents.

• An Israeli drone also dropped a stun grenade near shepherds in the towns of Kfar Shuba and Majidieh, located in the Hasbaya district.

Update on the situation in southern Lebanon

- A surface-to-surface strike targeted Deir Kifa, east of Sour (southern Lebanon), last night, without causing casualties.

- Illuminating flares were dropped off the coast of Naqoura.

- Hezbollah announced the death of Mohammad Hussein Kassem, killed yesterday in the Israeli strike on Ainata.

The Dutch Foreign Minister, Caspar Veldkamp, resigned last night after failing to impose new sanctions against Israel in relation to the war in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.

Veldkamp had indicated on Thursday that he wished to take additional measures against Israel, after having declared in July the far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich “persona non grata.”

Israeli attacks kill three people in Khan Younis and Gaza City

At least two people were killed and 14 injured by Israeli drone fire that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis.

In central Gaza, one person was killed and many others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the al-Sabra neighborhood.

Katz’s threat to destroy Gaza City is a confession of “ethnic cleansing,” denounces Hamas

Hamas denounced the statement by the Israeli Defense Minister calling for the destruction of Gaza City, saying that Israel Katz’s words constitute “an admission of committing a crime equivalent to ethnic cleansing.”

The movement also declared that it would release captives in exchange for an end to the war, but rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.

Yesterday, Israel Katz had called for the destruction of Gaza City: “The gates of hell will soon open upon the heads of Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza, until they accept the conditions set by Israel to end the war,” he wrote on X.

At least 26 killed since dawn in Gaza

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that 26 people have been killed by Israeli gunfire and strikes since this morning.

According to rescue and emergency services, six people were killed and several injured while waiting for humanitarian aid near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza.

In addition, a Red Crescent field hospital reported that two women were killed and 14 people injured in an Israeli drone strike near tents sheltering displaced persons in Khan Younis.

Emergency services also reported an Israeli strike on a house in the Sabra neighborhood, in southern Gaza City, during which one person was killed and several others injured.

Earlier, Nasser Hospital reported that 17 people had been killed in strikes overnight from last night to today.

The famine in Gaza can be stopped, says UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) renewed its call on Israel to allow the agency to deliver aid into the Gaza Strip to end the ongoing famine.

“The only UNRWA warehouses in Jordan and Egypt are full. There is enough food, medicine and hygiene products ready to fill 6,000 trucks,” the agency said in a statement posted on X. “Reverse the ongoing catastrophe – flood Gaza with a massive increase in aid through the United Nations, including UNRWA,” it added.

On Friday, the U.N. classification system used to determine food access officially declared famine in Gaza, stating that more than half a million Palestinians are facing catastrophic famine conditions, including hunger, misery and death.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East: in Gaza, where the Israeli army continues its bloody offensive and prepares to occupy the main city; in Lebanon, where Israel continues its bombings and targeted strikes; as well as in Iran and Syria.