Israeli strike in Qatar: Hamas says chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya is still alive | LIVE

Drone strike in Aitaroun

The person injured in an Israeli drone strike in Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district) succumbed to his injuries, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, which was later confirmed by the Health Ministry.

Israeli strike in Qatar

Hamas says its chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, whose son was killed in the Israeli strike on a Hamas delegation in Doha, is still alive

Drone strike in Aitaroun

An Israeli drone carried out a strike in Zhour, in the town of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district). One person was injured in front of their home.

Houthi prime minister vows to fight Israel

Mohammed Ahmad Mouftah, appointed Houthi prime minister after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike at the end of August, vowed on Friday to continue fighting Israel at a rally in Sanaa.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Houthis have increased their rocket fire against Israel and attacks on Israeli-linked merchant ships off the coast of Yemen, in solidarity with Gaza. In response, Israel has carried out several series of deadly strikes in Yemen, targeting ports, power plants and the international airport in Sanaa.

Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa met with the new head of the U.S. Military Command for the Middle East (Centcom), Admiral Brad Cooper, in Damascus on Friday, according to statements from the presidency and Centcom.

The United States has maintained military bases in Syria for several years, claiming they are present to fight the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), which conquered vast territories in Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014.

“The meeting focused on prospects for political and military cooperation (...) and on strengthening security and stability in Syria and the region,” the Syrian presidency said in a statement.

UN declaration on Palestinian state: Macron hails an “irreversible path to peace”

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the U.N.'s adoption of the New York Declaration, which aims to revive the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, seeing it as a step on an “irreversible path to peace.”

“Under the leadership of France and Saudi Arabia, 142 countries have adopted the New York Declaration on the implementation of the two-state solution,” Macron wrote on X.

The text was adopted by the General Assembly 10 days before a summit to be co-chaired by Paris and Riyadh on Sept. 22 at the U.N., where Macron announced France will recognize the Palestinian state.

UN General Assembly supports future Palestinian state, but without Hamas

On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the “New York Declaration” aimed at reviving the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, but unequivocally excluding Hamas.

While Israel has been criticizing the Assembly — and the Security Council — for nearly two years for not condemning the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, the text adopted by 142 votes in favor, 10 against (including Israel and the United States) and 12 abstentions, condemns Hamas and demands that it surrender its weapons.

Rubio to visit Israel this weekend despite strikes on Qatar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel on Saturday to emphasize U.S. support ahead of the upcoming recognition of a Palestinian state by several countries, including France, at the U.N. General Assembly, the State Department announced.

The visit was announced despite Donald Trump's disapproval of Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, an ally of the U.S.

Rubio will meet with Israeli leaders to discuss “the [U.S.] commitment to fight against anti-Israel measures, including the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which rewards Hamas terrorism,” said Tommy Pigott, spokesman for the State Department.

Rubio will emphasize Washington's support for Israel's security, the spokesman added.

“He will also emphasize our shared goals: ensuring that Hamas does not rule Gaza again and bringing all hostages home,” he continued, adding that Rubio would meet with families of hostages.

The statement did not mention the Israeli strikes on Qatar, while Rubio is set to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Washington on Friday.

Rubio's visit to Israel confirmed for next week

Trump's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, will fly to Israel this weekend amid tensions among fellow U.S. allies in the Middle East over Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, Reuters reports.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement that Rubio would depart on Saturday to visit Israel before joining up with Trump's planned visit to Britain next week.

In Israel, Rubio plans to emphasize Washington and Israel's shared goals of ensuring Hamas never rules Gaza again and returning hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Pigott said.

Rubio and Israeli leaders will also discuss "our commitment to fight anti-Israel actions, including unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state that rewards Hamas terrorism, and lawfare at the ICC and ICJ," Pigott said. 

Netherlands will boycott Eurovision next year if Israel participates

The Netherlands has joined Ireland in saying it will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates in the event due to the scale of the suffering in Gaza, Reuters reports, citing Dutch broadcaster AvroTros.

A day earlier, Irish broadcaster RTE said Israel's participation was "unconscionable" given the "ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza."

Recent editions of Eurovision have been overshadowed by protests at Israel's inclusion over its continuing military assault on Gaza.

AvroTros said it had also taken into account the high number of journalists killed by Israel in Gaza in deciding to boycott the 2026 contest, which was watched by 166 million people on television this year, if Israel attends.

Israeli army spokesperson threatens Lebanese journalists

The Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted a vide on X shot in southern Lebanon, opposite the village of Kfar Kila, in which he criticized three journalists close to Hezbollah: Ali Choeib, Ali Mourtada and Hussein Mourtada.

"They filmed themselves in heroic scenes, while throwing stones" at a wall erected on the border between Lebanon and Israel, Adraee says. "We'll see who has the last laugh. Where are they today? They've disappeared like so many others. They only represented the arrogance of Hezbollah, which led an entire country into war and destruction. We have put an end to this masquerade."

Israel has killed 13 journalists in Lebanon and nearly 300 in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

GHF closes deadly Khan Younis site, claiming security threats from Hamas

The controversial Israeli-backed U.S.-funded Gaza Humanitarian Fund announced today that it has shut down one of its aid distribution sites due to what it says have been threats from Hamas.

GHF spokesperson Chopin Fay claimed that it had received information of plans by Hamas to "rush the site ... dressed as women" and that the group had been spreading rumors of the site's closure next week.

GHF routinely makes such accusations against Hamas, despite both American and Israeli reviews having found no evidence to this end.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to collect aid from the site in question, dubbed "SDS3" and located in Khan Yunis.

Reporting has revealed American mercenaries hired for GHF security use live fire to "control crowds," and that its organization has been chaotic at best, with opening times regularly changing and sites located at great distances from the populations they claim to be serving.

Two injured in stabbing attack west of Jerusalem

Two people were injured, one seriously, in a stabbing attack at a hotel in the Israeli village of Tzuba, west of Jerusalem, according to reports in Israeli media.

The attacker is reportedly a man from Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem who worked as kitchen staff at the hotel. He was arrested at the site of the attack.

Senators say US complicit in Israel's ethnic cleansing of Gaza

U.S. senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley have said their recent visit to the region led them to the “inescapable conclusion” that Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing in both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and that "America is complicit."

Van Hollen and Merkley, who are both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report yesterday following their participation in a congressional delegation visit to Israel, the West Bank, the border of Gaza, Jordan and Egypt in late August.

"We found that the Netanyahu government has used a two-pronged approach to pursue its current strategy to displace Palestinians from Gaza — the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and the use of food and humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war," the report reads. "The goal is, in effect, to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population."

Iran says enriched nuclear material 'under rubble' of facilities hit during Israel war

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that enriched nuclear material remained "under the rubble" of facilities damaged during the recent war with Israel, AFP reports.

"All of our material is... under the rubble of the bombed facilities," said Araghchi in a televised interview, adding that Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was assessing the condition and accessibility of the stockpile.

The remarks came after Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed a new cooperation framework on Tuesday. Tehran had suspended ties with the agency following the 12-day war with Israel in June, which saw Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Read the full report here. 👈

Israel drops sound bomb on Wazzani, south Lebanon

Continuing its string of attacks on southern Lebanon this morning, an Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb on the town of Wazzani, in Marjayoun district, accompanied by machine gun fire, according to our correspondent in the South. No casualties have been reported.

UAE summons Israeli ambassador

The United Arab Emirates has summoned the Israeli ambassador over Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday, Israeli broadcaster KAN reported, cited by Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the UAE and Israeli foreign ministries.

The UAE, a primary signatory of the 2020 Abraham Accords, was the first Gulf country to normalize ties with Israel.

Doha will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit this Sunday and Monday to discuss the Israeli attack and a "coordinated response."

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has toured Gulf countries this week to coordinate positions after the attack, his diplomatic adviser said yesterday.

US imposes 'largest' round of sanctions yet on Houthis

The United States imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Yemen's Houthis yesterday, in what the Trump administration said was Washington's largest such action aimed at the Iran-aligned group, Reuters reports.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it was issuing sanctions against 32 individuals and entities as well as four vessels in an effort to disrupt the Houthis' fundraising, smuggling and attack operations.

Among the targets are several China-based companies that Treasury said helped transport military-grade components, as well as other companies that help arrange for dual-use goods to be shipped to the Houthis.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the region and continues to be in the grips of a food insecurity crisis that started as a famine from 2016-2018 and has killed upwards of 223,000 people.

Israeli drone launches grenade at Yarine in south Lebanon

An Israeli drone launched a stun grenade toward the town of Yarine, in southern Lebanon's Sour district, without causing any casualties, according to our correspondent in the region.

More reports from Washington indicating Trump's dissatisfaction with Netanyahu

Politico released a report citing two sources close to the Trump administration who say the U.S. president and his top aides are growing increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu, and have begun to believe he is trying to sabotage the peace-talks that Trump continues to push for, having made promises since the start of his term to end the war on Gaza.

Corroborating a similar report in Axios a few days earlier, Politico quotes one of the sources as saying: “Every time they’re making progress, it seems like he bombs someone. That’s why the president and his aides are so frustrated with Netanyahu.”

The same source said Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken in recent days with Qatari PM Thani about prioritizing a plan to expand their defense cooperation agreement. Rubio is scheduled to visit Israel next week.

Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon overnight

Some time after 10 p.m. last night, the Israeli army fired machine guns at the areas surrounding the towns of Markaba and Houla, in Marjayoun district, from an occupied Israeli military site inside Lebanese territory, on the road connecting the two villages, according to our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah.

After 2 a.m., the Israeli army carried out a demolition on the outskirts of the Bint Jbeil district village of Aitaroun, causing a loud explosion to be heard in the area.

Death toll from Israeli bombing of Yemen rises to 46

The number of people killed in Israel's bombardment of 15 sites across Sanaa and the northern province of al-Jawf has risen to 46, according to numbers released by the Houthi Health Ministry yesterday.

The attack followed an August 30 strike also on Yemen's capital that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several ministers, in the first such assault to target senior officials, Reuters reports.

"The strikes were carried out in response to attacks led by the Houthi terror regime against the State of Israel," the Israeli army said, "during which unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-surface missiles were launched toward Israeli territory."

The Houthis have been attacking Israel and Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea as part of a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli assault in Gaza.

Two Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon this morning

In short succession, the Israeli army launched a drone strike on a parked and empy car in Aita al-Jabal, in southern Lebanon's Bint Jbeil district, injuring two people, and then another drone strike on a fisherman on the shores of Lebanon's southernmost port, Naqoura. The fisherman survived the attack, with injuries.

Qatar's Thani to visit Washington today

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will meet top U.S. officials today and is expected to discuss an Israeli attack in Qatar and the status of talks for a cease-fire in Gaza, Reuters reports.

Thani will meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House in Washington, the State Department announced last night, as Israel escalates its bombardment of Gaza City ahead of a planned — and much opposed — operation to seize the urban center.

Politico and Axios reported the prime minister was also expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, throwing the region, and particularly its U.S.-allied Gulf states, into turmoil.

UN Security Council condemns strikes on Qatar, without naming Israel

The U.N. Security Council condemned the recent strikes against Qatar and called for “de-escalation” last night — without naming Israel as the perpetrator.

In its statement, which requires the agreement of all 15 members, including Israel's ally the United States, the Council expressed its “condemnation of the recent strikes on Doha, the territory of a key mediator” and offers its “support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”

Emphasizing “the importance of de-escalation,” the Council members stated their “solidarity with Qatar.” The U.S. reportedly pushed back against stronger language condemning Israel specifically, but the country's support for the resolution is still notable nonetheless.

"The U.S. cannot and will not defend Israel’s attack on Qatar," said acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea.

Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of events in the region, notably Israel's relentless military onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza, its ongoing attacks against various regions of Lebanon despite a cease-fire, and the flurry of diplomacy and condemnation in the region following Israel's attack on Doha earlier this week.

Read today's Morning Brief to catch up on everything you need to know going into today. 👈