The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
A 65-year-old man in Germany was attacked and kicked in the head after an argument over an Israeli flag pin he was wearing, a German pro-Israel group says in a statement.
The German–Israeli Society says in the statement that one of its members in the city of Würzburg was approached overnight Sunday-Monday by a man who remarked about the pin and then attacked him. The statement says the attacker kicked the man in the head and body while he was on the ground.
The statement says passersby called the police, who stopped the attack, and that the victim is in stable condition.
The society’s president, Volker Beck, expresses shock over the incident and condemns it.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Iran war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May.
“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defends a request for some $67 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says it has been “hard to prepare for death threats” made over his anti-Israel views.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the Democratic socialist mayor is asked about criticism he and his wife, Rama Duwaji— also a staunch anti-Israel activist — have faced over their views on Israel and Gaza.
“It is hard to prepare for death threats,” he says. “It is hard to prepare for getting a phone call from a district attorney telling you that someone from another state is going to be charged for what they have said and hoped to do about you.”
In September, when Mamdani was running for mayor, Jeremy Fistel, a Texas man, was indicted on charges of making a terroristic threat as a hate crime for messages he had sent and left for Mamdani.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said at the time that Fistel told Mamdani “to go back to Uganda before someone shoots him in the head, to keep an eye on his house and family, to watch his back every second until he leaves America, and that he and his relatives deserve to die.”
US President Donald Trump announces that he has directed his administration to allow US air carriers to fly directly to Lebanon, more than 40 years after such flights were suspended.
Trump delivers the news on his Truth Social network shortly after his White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The US president says Aoun “has done a remarkable job working to transform his country” and expresses his hope that other countries will follow Washington’s path in resuming direct flights to “this beautiful land.”
Despite Trump’s announcement, the US State Department strongly urges against travel to Lebanon due to the security risks involved.
“Do not travel to Lebanon for any reason due to the risk of crime, terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, landmines, and armed conflict,” a State Department advisory says.
Aoun came to today’s meeting aiming to secure US support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, which is tasked with helping disarm Hezbollah.
He has also been pushing for the US to urge Israel to hasten its withdrawal of troops from southern Lebanon.
Trump’s announcement does not mention either of these issues.
US Senators launch pointed remarks in a hearing with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the US’s ongoing conflict with Iran, as Republicans push a $95 billion budget package to fund the military, along with aid to farmers and voting law changes that are top White House priorities.
Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are set to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members died in the conflict, bringing the death toll to 17, and that more than 100 have been injured since early July.
“This war is now spiraling out of control again,” says Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the panel, who warns the conflict with Iran “could be another forever war.”
US President Donald Trump “has told us over 40 times now that a deal is near, and the war will be over soon,” Murray says. “But now, he’s asking for $70 billion more — and for us to just trust him it’ll all work out fine.”
Ahead of the hearing, the White House issued a statement of administration policy urging support of the budget resolution “without modification—immediately.”
War funding makes up the bulk of the GOP’s new budget proposal, one last priority package the Republicans hope to launch before lawmakers recess to campaign for the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
“The commander in chief and the whole Department of War are working very hard to bring this to a resolution,” US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, says at his weekly press conference. “There’s a lot of questions about how that will be done.”
Senators have also pressed the defense secretary to release the Pentagon’s report on the deadly attack on an Iranian primary school at the start of the war and threatened to withhold his own travel budget unless he complies.
This week, the Senate will consider another war powers resolution, having voted nearly a dozen times to try to halt the conflict.
The US Senate Intelligence Committee backed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Jay Clayton, to become the director of national intelligence, the committee’s Republican chairman says, days after a confirmation hearing in which Clayton refused to acknowledge former president Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“The committee just voted to move Mr. Clayton’s nomination to the full Senate,” Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton tells reporters.
Cotton says the vote was 9-8. He does not provide a party breakdown, but nine of the committee’s members are Republicans and eight are Democrats or an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
The committee vote, which sends Clayton’s nomination for the post for consideration by the 100-member Senate, comes after a confirmation hearing last week in which Clayton angered Democrats by refusing to directly acknowledge Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
A full Senate vote on Clayton’s confirmation has not been scheduled. He will need just a simple majority in the 100-member Senate to be confirmed to the position overseeing the 18-agency US intelligence community.
Trump’s Republicans hold a 53-47-seat majority in the chamber.
Lawmakers also questioned Clayton during the hearing about his recent subpoenas of New York Times journalists in his current role as the US Attorney for Manhattan.
Three explosive-laden drones were shot down near the US consulate in Erbil, Iraq, security sources tell Reuters.
The local airport temporarily suspends flights, which have since resumed.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun expresses gratitude for the United States’ support of his country following his meeting in Washington with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
In a statement, the Lebanese presidency says Aoun wrote in the White House guest book that he felt “deep appreciation for President Trump’s friendship and for the support the United States of America provides to Lebanon, its sovereignty, its legitimate institutions, and the Lebanese Armed Forces.”
About 6,600 people who indicated they were noncitizens while obtaining New Jersey driver’s licenses and other state IDs were improperly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024, Gov. Mikie Sherrill says.
The Democratic governor, who took office this year, blames a Motor Vehicle Commission system software error but says a preliminary analysis showed that fewer than 400 of the people registered that way went on to cast ballots.
The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to assert that voting by noncitizens is rampant in US elections, even though it’s rare and, when caught, can be punished as a felony that can lead to deportation.
Sherrill says she has ordered that erroneously added voter registrations from that 2023-24 period be removed, and is replacing the vendor who ran the system. She also is launching an investigation into how the error happened.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” she says in a statement.
Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, was governor at the time. The Associated Press is making efforts to contact him or his representatives.
New Jersey is among several states that allow noncitizens to hold driver’s licenses and other state-issued ID cards.
Bill Gates and the staff of his charitable foundation met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than two dozen times even as employees expressed concerns about the reputational risk of working with him, an external review commissioned by the Gates Foundation finds.
The conversations appeared to focus on a public health fund that never materialized and a grant to the International Peace Institute, which was run by an associate of Epstein.
The roughly 30 meetings, which took place from 2011 to 2014, included several visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and one meeting on the Gates Foundation campus, according to the review by law firm WilmerHale. The review finds no evidence the foundation paid Epstein or did anything illegal. The foundation releases a three-page summary of WilmerHale’s report and does not say if it will release the full version.
Gates, who chairs the Gates Foundation, has not been accused in connection with Epstein’s crimes and has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of girls. He told a congressional committee last month that he made a “grave error in judgment” by meeting with the disgraced financier.
Gates’ name appears in the trove of documents released by the Justice Department as part of its Epstein probe. The Epstein files include the names of powerful men across tech, finance, politics and business, all of whom have denied involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Epstein was federally indicted in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He died by suicide while awaiting trial.
Throughout their interactions, according to the review, Gates knew about Epstein’s sex offense and heard concerns about their association from staff working with Epstein on the charitable investment fund.
Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman says the board has approved measures that will strengthen their vetting process and risk management.
“The work we do depends on integrity and earning and maintaining the trust of partners,” Suzman says in a press release. The foundation offered no further comment.
At the outset of an election campaign that is widely expected to be close, bitter and brutal, President Isaac Herzog issues a plea to maintain societal cohesion, warning voters and candidates to eschew violence and not to make the race into a “civil war.”
“In recent days, we have once again seen dangerous violence rearing its head across the country,” he says. “I turn to elected representatives, activists, and all candidates from all parties, and demand that you do not cross red lines. Do not turn rivals into enemies.”
He adds, “I call on the people of Israel, in a clear voice: remember that elections are not a civil war.”
Herzog warns of “internal and external” threats to the integrity of elections, and notes that the campaign is especially fraught in the age of social media. His comments come hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared an AI-generated ad that critics said mocked rival Gadi Eisenkot’s slain son.
“In the age of social media, the dangers are great,” Herzog says. “All of us must be thoughtful, careful, and responsible in the content we consume, and all the more so in the content we broadcast.
The president also references a meeting he held earlier this month with Shin Bet chief David Zini and Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg – which followed backlash over remarks from Zini about being loyal to the current government – in which the participants stressed their commitment to “ensuring the integrity of the election,” with Herzog warning that there are “many elements seeking to sabotage from within, and especially from the outside,” though he did not elaborate.
In his address, Herzog says Zini and Sohlberg had presented him with “various threats to the integrity of the elections, both internal and external.”
“We presented a unified front on this issue, and we committed to supporting and backing the Central Elections Committee and all our security and law enforcement bodies. I call on all of the law enforcement authorities to stand firmly and effectively against these threats,” he says.
Ahead of the Tisha B’Av fast beginning tomorrow night, which commemorates the destruction of the ancient First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, Herzog urges Israelis to remember that Jewish tradition attributes the destruction of the temples, and the subsequent exiles of Jews, to internal divisions. He calls on the public not to repeat that trajectory.
“Baseless hatred destroyed our home,” he says. “Twice in the history of our people, we merited independent sovereignty in our land. Twice we failed. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.”
Israel’s security cabinet held a six-hour meeting yesterday to discuss possible scenarios of escalation against Iran, as officials voice concern that Jerusalem could embark on a renewed military campaign only to then be pressed by Washington to halt it after several days, Channel 12 reports.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to coordinate on the various scenarios, and discuss respective American and Israeli interests, according to the report, which cites Israeli officials.
One official tells the Hebrew network that Jerusalem is wary of rejoining the fray only to be stopped by a Washington diktat, as has occurred in past rounds of fighting with Iran.
“Our interest in this campaign depends on its substance. We do not want to find ourselves entering another military campaign only to be told to stop after a few days,” the official says.
There is no indication from the report, however, that Washington has itself asked Israeli to get involved in the campaign.
In a separate report, Channel 12 says US President Donald Trump is expected to decide in the coming days whether to accept a reported proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire, or to pursue a broader escalation against Iran.
No final decision has been made, according to the network.
Israel believes that Iran transferred some of its 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to the Pickaxe Mountain site after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025, CNN reports.
The report quoted a single Israeli source assessing that “part” of the stockpile of 60% enriched uranium was moved to the fortified underground site.
An unsourced report on Israel’s Channel 12 says Pickaxe Mountain, which was constructed to be impervious to bombing, may well be able to withstand the kind of bunker-buster attacks the US used against three other Iranian nuclear facilities in the June 2025 war.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Israel assesses that Iran moved thousands of its advanced centrifuges to the site as well. Experts such as David Albright say 60%-enriched uranium can potentially be further enriched to weapons grade in a matter of weeks or even days.
Pickaxe Mountain has not been hit by the US or Israel yet.
US President Donald Trump claimed today that the US will attack the site “probably pretty soon.”
Iran has not allowed the UN’s nuclear watchdog access to the Pickaxe Mountain site. And International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi has said Iran in 2021 declared its “intention to have nuclear activity” there.
Responding to France’s complaints that Iranian officers detained and intimidated its diplomats in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posts on his Telegram account that he told his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, that the “unconventional and unprofessional” actions of the two French diplomats was “unacceptable,” urging Paris to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
“Respecting the laws and regulations of the host country and adhering to recognized diplomatic principles and norms are necessary for the continuation of the activities of foreign missions,” he says.
“We expect the French government to prevent the repetition of such actions and take the necessary measures,” Araghchi adds.
President Isaac Herzog’s address this evening, set to begin shortly, will focus on the upcoming election campaign, The Times of Israel has learned.
During his time in office, Herzog has repeatedly urged civil discourse and maintaining a standard of decorum from elected officials.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urges US President Donald Trump during their Oval Office meeting to continue supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are tasked with helping disarm Hezbollah.
Aoun tells reporters he has told Trump during recent phone calls that he needs two things from him, “political support and support for the LAF.”
He asserts that the LAF is the most trusted institution in Lebanon.
“We need to support the LAF. The LAF [keeps] the country safe and stable. Without the LAF, everything will collapse. We don’t want that. I think President Trump doesn’t want that,” Aoun says, recalling that the LAF’s collapse in 1975 led to the emergence of militia groups, a civil war and the Palestinian takeover of the country’s south, which was used to launch attacks on Israel.
“We don’t want to see that (happen) again. All we’re asking is keep supporting the LAF. They know that the LAF is doing a great job performing its duty to the fullest. I fully trust the LAF. I fully trust the leadership of the LAF,” Aoun says, amid reports of US frustration with the LAF’s performance.
Chiming in, Trump changes the subject slightly by again touting Aoun for signing last month’s framework deal with Israel for an eventual peace treaty between their countries.
Trump is asked if he is still interested in advancing his widely-opposed idea of tasking Syria’s new government with entering Lebanon to fight Hezbollah.
Trump appears to tacitly recognize the pushback to the idea by not insisting that it be advanced. “It’s a concept,” he says, but insists that it could be effective.
Asked what concrete deliverables Aoun will be to bring back to Lebanon from today’s meeting, Trump responds, “You’ll find out.”
Several armed Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives and other gunmen were killed in a strike in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The IDF says soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit spotted the gunmen moving weapons into a vehicle and entering it.
“The weapons they transferred were intended to be used in attacks against IDF troops operating in the area,” the military says.
The IDF says that a short while later, it carried out airstrikes on the armed terror operatives who were inside the car and near it, “to remove the threat.”
צה"ל חיסל מספר מחבלים חמושים שהעבירו אמצעי לחימה ברצועת עזה
כוחות צה"ל הפועלים בדרום רצועת עזה זיהו אתמול, מספר מחבלים חמושים מארגון הטרור גא"פ, לצד מחבלים חמושים נוספים, בעת שהעבירו אמצעי לחימה לתוך רכב ונכנסו אליו. אמצעי הלחימה שהעבירו נועדו לפגוע בכוחות צה"ל הפועלים במרחב.… pic.twitter.com/U96eJ8gjxG
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 21, 2026
US President Donald Trump claims the US will be striking Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “probably pretty soon,” amid reports that Tehran has moved nuclear centrifuges to the underground enrichment site.
Trump, in a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, clarifies that those reports haven’t been confirmed before claiming that such a development “doesn’t mean anything” anyway because Iran doesn’t have access to its stockpiles of enriched uranium needed to create a bomb.
The US has claimed that Iran can’t reach the nuclear material it possesses because it is buried deep underground after US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last year. Trump insists that the US is monitoring those sites to make sure that the stockpiles are not retrieved.
Regardless, Trump declares, “We’ll be hitting that area probably pretty soon, and there’s not a thing they can do about it.”
“They’re trying to possibly reconstitute a site. We’ll hit that site. Any site where they’ve been thinking about nuclear, we’ll be hitting it very powerfully,” he adds.
Trump has been threatening to strike Pickaxe for the past week in addition to other attacks on Iranian infrastructure.
Trump in the past has reportedly told advisers he prefers to keep Iran confused about his intentions by making bombastic threats, even if he doesn’t actually plan to carry them out.
Asked how long it will take the US military to restore safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran is blocking, Trump dodges the question.
“We’re not finished at all, but if we left right now, it would take them 20-25 years-to rebuild. But we’re not leaving right now,” he responds.
Trump reiterates his disgust with Iran’s leaders over their crackdown against anti-government protesters, saying that the regime has been killing children “like candy.”
Last week, he praised Iran for releasing a wrongfully detained American citizen.
The United States announces a trade deal with Jordan that the White House says would remove barriers for US exporters and provide new access for critical US industries.
As part of the deal, Jordan will remove non-tariff trade barriers and expand market access for US goods, including agricultural products and motor vehicles, the White House says in a statement.
US President Donald Trump says he’s prepared to speak with officials from Hezbollah if Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would like him to.
“I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody. I’ll speak to people that a lot of people think I shouldn’t be speaking to, and things work out,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office alongside Aoun.
“If the president wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, I would,” Trump adds.
Asked whether the US will provide assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces tasked with disarming Hezbollah, Trump is noncommittal, saying that he’ll be discussing the matter with Aoun privately.
“We have some very concrete plans already in store for that. Others [may be] going in and helping, but [Lebanon is] also becoming much more self-sufficient,” Trump says.
Raising the LAF’s announcement from earlier today that Israeli forces had opened fire in their direction while they were trying to deploy in one of the first pilot zones, a reporter asks Trump whether he will pressure Israel on the issue.
Trump says he just heard about the incident and will be looking into it further. The IDF says it fired warning shots at Lebanese troops crossing into an Israeli-held buffer zone.
The IDF says it fired warning shots after Lebanese soldiers crossed into the Israel-held buffer zone in southern Lebanon today, outside of one of the pilot zones where the Lebanese Armed Forces is being deployed.
The LAF had accused Israel of firing near the pilot zone.
According to the military, troops stationed in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area identified LAF soldiers and heavy machinery crossing into the IDF’s buffer zone by around 150 meters (some 500 feet) and “breaching barriers.”
The LAF was supposed to deploy to the adjacent town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, following the IDF’s withdrawal.
The IDF says that the LAF’s actions were “contrary to the understandings between the parties,” and that the troops in the area “fired warning shots into the air only, which did not endanger the Lebanese army personnel, to distance them from the area.”
The LAF soldiers withdrew from the area, and no injuries were reported.
The IDF says it calls on the Lebanese army to “continue operating in accordance with the understandings and within the agreed areas.”
“Any deviation from these areas without prior coordination could endanger its forces,” the Israeli army adds.
A reporter asks US President Donald Trump what he plans to do in light of Iran’s continued strikes on American assets in the region, indicating that it is not prepared to end the conflict.
Trump angrily rejects the premise of the question. “You don’t know what the dialogue is behind the scenes,” he says.
“They want to meet desperately to try to end it because they’re getting decimated,” Trump claims of Iran.
But while Iran purportedly wants to meet with the US, Trump asserts the US is not interested “until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way.”
The comments suggest that Iran’s terms for ending the ongoing conflict regarding control over the Strait of Hormuz are too much for the US to accept.
Trump claims the US is “degrading [Iran] at levels that nobody thought was possible,” before acknowledging Tehran’s weekend strike in Jordan that killed two American soldiers.
“They did slip something through in Jordan,” he says before appearing to blame their deaths on foreign operators of US equipment meant to shoot down such strikes.
Trump says he’ll be traveling to Dover, Delaware — where the bodies of the two fallen soldiers are being flown — to pay his respects.
US President Donald Trump, meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House, is asked whether he wants Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanon and whether there is a timeline for such a pull-out.
The US president is noncommittal, but says Israel is “in the process of doing that.”
“They’re in the process of redeploying other sections,” Trump adds.
Aoun is also asked about Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s opposition to the US-brokered framework deal between Israel and Lebanon.
Aoun downplays criticism from Berri, who is seen as an ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group. Aoun argues that the deal doesn’t require the endorsement of the Lebanese parliament.
While Berri may oppose the framework deal for eventual peace between Israel and Lebanon, Aoun notes that the parliament speaker and he are in agreement on their desire to end the conflict in south Lebanon.
“He’s from the south, and he did his best to rebuild the south. But unfortunately, things are being destroyed in front of his eyes,” Aoun says of Berri.
Aoun claims Berri is actually supportive of his government’s approach to dealing with Israel but has to be careful with how he presents those views publicly, given that he is a representative of the Shiite population.
Trump chimes in to praise Berri, adding that he’ll come around on the deal “when he sees the progress made.”
Trump is asked whether he will raise his previously stated desire for Lebanon to scrap legislation outlawing contact with Israel during his meeting today with Aoun.
Trump briefly responds that he will before pivoting to tout the importance of the Abraham Accords. Scrapping the legislation doesn’t appear to be as much of a priority for the US anymore, given that it hasn’t prevented direct talks between the two countries.
Trump also calls Aoun “handsome,” adding that he “could become one of the most important leaders in the Middle East.”
Gadi Eisenkot hits back at an AI-generated attack ad from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that he’ll need to rely on Arab parties to form a government, posting an montage of Netanyahu’s allies praising Arab politician Mansour Abbas.
The ad from Netanyahu shows Eisenkot, the centrist running to unseat the premier, declining an embrace from a young man wearing a shirt reading “Israeli unity” in favor of an embrace with Abbas. It claims Eisenkot will only be able to form a coalition with the support of Arab parties such as Abbas’s Ra’am.
Critics say the young man is heavily implied to be a stand-in for Eisenkot’s son Gal, who was killed fighting in the Gaza war.
Eisenkot’s ad shows an actual montage of Netanyahu’s allies — both fellow Likud lawmakers and pro-Netanyahu pundits — praising Abbas and suggesting that he could serve in a Netanyahu-led coalition or cabinet, or as a committee leader in the Knesset. It also shows Abbas saying Netanyahu invited him to the prime minister’s residence four times.
The ad ends by saying Netanyahu can only form a government by partnering with non-Zionist parties.
Abbas has said repeatedly that Netanyahu courted him as an ally, before the Ra’am leader chose to form a government with the prime minister’s opponents in 2021, which unseated Netanyahu for a year and a half.
אדם צועק את שחסר לו
לא חסר לו – לא צועק. pic.twitter.com/AIsEh1l5Pk— Gadi Eisenkot – גדי איזנקוט (@gadi_eisenkot) July 21, 2026
US President Donald Trump downplays concerns that the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen may try to block shipping in the Red Sea.
Trump says this hasn’t happened yet, but that the US would be able to deal strongly with the terror group as it has before.
Trump references a spring 2025 US bombing campaign against the Houthis, which lasted nearly two months before a ceasefire was reached.
“We haven’t heard from them in a while since we did what we did originally,” Trump tells reporters while sitting alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office.
“We’ve had no problem with the Houthis. They’ve had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict [with Iran],” he adds.
US President Donald Trump begins his Oval Office meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun by pledging to help Lebanon.
“We’re going to help it. We’re going to help it a lot,” Trump tells reporters while sitting next to Aoun, without elaborating.
“We are going to solve a lot of problems. We’ve already solved some of them for Lebanon. There’s a Hezbollah problem, but we’ve done some things that I think the world will take notice,” Trump says.
He reiterates that Lebanon has been “very badly treated,” without specifying by whom. “We’re going to have it properly treated with the respect that it deserves,” he says.
In the past, Trump has knocked Israel for being too heavy-handed in its strikes against Hezbollah that have also killed civilians.
In his opening remarks, Aoun touts Trump as a “great president,” leading Trump to smile and quip, “He knows how to get to me.”
Aoun goes on to hail the framework deal that the US brokered last month that has “the ultimate objective of ending the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever.”
“This will be your legacy. Together, we’ll be able to achieve this objective,” Aoun says.
“It’s about time for Lebanon and for the whole region to be stable and secure. Your vision is peace. Your vision is stability, and I think my vision coincides with your vision,” he adds.
US President Donald Trump is meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office. They are discussing Lebanon’s negotiations and framework agreement with Israel as well as the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Watch the meeting live here:
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has arrived at the White House, where he is greeted by US President Donald Trump ahead of their Oval Office meeting.
Trump largely ignores questions from shouting reporters, but he touts Aoun as “highly respected,” adding that he “feels very good about Lebanon” and that the US is making a “lot of progress” on the issue.
US Vice President JD Vance’s office flatly denies an Israeli media report claiming that it has been working to block a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.
Citing unnamed Israeli officials, Ynet said Vance’s staff is concerned that Netanyahu will push Trump to take a more aggressive line against Iran, while the vice president is pushing a diplomatic resolution to ongoing tensions.
“This is 100% fake news, and we would’ve told YNET so if they bothered to reach out to our team,” Vance’s communications director Taylor Van Kirk says in a tweet.
This is 100% fake news, and we would’ve told YNET so if they bothered to reach out to our team. https://t.co/Ty9aj2RUcr
— Taylor Van Kirk (@VPCommsDir) July 21, 2026
“This claim is completely false. The idea that the vice president’s team — or any official in the administration for that matter — would try or even be able to interfere with a visit by a foreign leader with the president is laughable,” a senior White House official tells The Times of Israel.
Vance recently slammed what he characterized as Israeli efforts to undermine the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, saying on a podcast that Israelis allegedly doing so should “go to hell.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington next week to attend the funeral of Republican US senator Lindsey Graham, and to meet US President Donald Trump, remains up in the air, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu’s office said he pushed off a trip last week in order to attend Graham’s funeral, but reports have emerged that Trump has not been eager to finalize the meeting.
Trump and Netanyahu last met face to face in February, prior to the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Kuwait says it is intercepting Iranian attacks, as sirens sound in Bahrain, with AFP correspondents in the capitals of both countries hearing explosions.
“Kuwaiti air defense is currently intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks as part of the heinous Iranian aggression,” the Kuwaiti defense ministry says on X.
The Bahraini interior ministry says in a separate statement that sirens had sounded and called on residents to “head to the nearest safe place.”
Two oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India make U-turns in the Red Sea, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea’s mouth following a warning from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi terror group.
The changes in direction by the ships, the Xin Long Yang and the Rodos, suggest a second potential disruption to a major shipping route that could compound the shortfall in global energy markets caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is blocked by Iran.
The Houthis yesterday declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front in the US-Israeli war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
The group, in an email sent to shipping companies, warned them not to load or discharge cargo at Saudi Arabian ports and said such activity may result in being targeted “in any location.”
The Houthis control northern Yemen, including the coast of the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. Since the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf has been blocked during the war, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu has become the main alternative route for Middle East oil, allowing exports of millions of barrels per day.
A US appeals court overturns a lower court’s 2025 ruling that ordered the Trump administration to release pro-Palestinian protester Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention.
Mahdawi, a student at Columbia University, was arrested in April 2025 upon arriving for an interview for his US citizenship petition. A judge swiftly ordered the Trump administration not to deport him from the US or take him out of the state of Vermont.
Hamas-affiliated media outlets in Gaza report that three people were killed and another seriously wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in the central Gaza Strip.
The IDF has not yet commented.
Yaya Fink, a candidate for the left-wing Democrats party, says that Arab politician Mansour Abbas is “more Zionist,” and loves Israel more, than lawmakers from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party.
Fink, in an interview on Channel 12, is asked whether he’d prefer to form a governing coalition with Arab-Israeli parties or with Haredi lawmakers.
“I think Mansour Abbas loves Israel more than United Torah Judaism and its Knesset members,” Fink, who recently placed fifth on the Democrats’ election slate, responds. “And he’s more Zionist than the members of United Torah Judaism who sing, ‘We will die rather than enlist.'”
Fink is referring to Haredi demonstrations against military conscription, including one last night at the Beit Lid military prison, protesting the arrest of a Haredi draft dodger, that drew 25,000 people, including UTJ party chief MK Yitzhak Goldknopf. Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators also protested last night outside the home of Attorney General Gali Bharav-Miara in Tel Aviv.
Whether to explore a partnership with Haredi parties, which have been staunch allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a topic of debate among the anti-Netanyahu opposition. The opposition is likewise split on whether to partner with Arab parties to oust the premier.
Abbas’s Ra’am party broke with precedent in 2021 to join an anti-Netanyahu coalition that unseated the long-serving premier for a year and a half. More recently, Abbas announced that Ra’am would depart from its historically Islamist stance and become a civic party.
The Netherlands announces that it will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank beginning on September 22.
The Netherlands will join Ireland, Belgium and Spain among European Union countries that have imposed restrictions on trade with the settlements, which they consider to be in occupied territory. All of those countries also recognize a State of Palestine.
“With the proposed measures, the Netherlands is reinforcing its commitment to fulfilling its international legal obligation not to contribute to this unlawful situation,” the Dutch Foreign Ministry says.
The ban will apply to “the import, purchase, and sale of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements located in the Palestinian territories,” the ministry says.
There have been growing calls for the 27-nation bloc to impose EU-wide restrictions over Israel’s military action in Gaza and increased violence in the West Bank, but some EU members are reluctant.
The Global Echo organization, which pursues legal cases on behalf of Palestinians, said in a report released in June that the Netherlands accounted for a third of agricultural exports from Israel’s settlements and nearly half of the total sent to the European Union.
Funeral services for the late senator Lindsey Graham will begin in the US Capitol on July 28, and will continue in his home state of South Carolina the next day, his sister and successor Sen. Darline Graham announces.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said that he plans to attend.
The remains of Graham, a retired US Air Force colonel, will be carried into the US Capitol by members of the US military. A US Capitol Police memorial guard will then bear his body into the Rotunda, after which there will be a short ceremony in the Senate.
His coffin will then be taken to the National Cathedral for a 2 p.m. service to be attended by US President Donald Trump.
Graham’s remains will be flown to South Carolina on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday morning, Graham’s coffin will be carried across the South Carolina State House, which will include a flyover by F-16s. He will then be brought to the First Baptist Church of Columbia for a funeral service.
Graham will be buried in a family service in Pickens County, South Carolina. He died on July 11.
The French foreign ministry summons the Iranian charge d’affaires, two days after it said French embassy staff were detained and physically intimidated by Iranian security services in Tehran.
“France expects the Iranian authorities to shed light on this incident, punish the perpetrators, and ensure the security of its premises and personnel, in accordance with their international obligations,” the ministry says.
Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin congratulates Khalil al-Hayya on being elected as Hamas’s new leader, according to a statement from the terror group.
Kalin “congratulated [al-Hayya] on the confidence placed in him by his colleagues” and “reaffirmed Turkey’s support for the Palestinian people,” according to the Arabic-language statement.
Al-Hayya, who previously served as the head of Hamas’s political bureau and is close to the regime in Iran, “expressed his appreciation for the positions taken by the Republic of Turkey and for the strong bilateral relationship, affirming that communication and consultations would continue,” the statement adds.
Turkey has long maintained close ties with Hamas, which it does not designate as a terrorist organization, and frequently hosts its leaders — a major source of friction between Ankara and Jerusalem.
US Sen. Bernie Sanders’s former Jewish liaison says Sanders and his movement are harming the American Jewish community by boosting “anti-Israel, antisemitic candidates.”
Joel Rubin, a former US State Department official and repeated candidate for public office, managed Jewish outreach for Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign.
He tells Jewish Insider that the far-left wing of the Democratic Party is fomenting hostility to Israel, to the detriment of the party and American Jews.
“I think what Sanders and the Sanders operation have done is shove into our system the most categorically anti-Israel, antisemitic candidates that we’ve seen in a generation — if ever, certainly within the Democratic Party — and it’s by design,” Rubin tells Jewish Insider. “The goal is to undermine Democratic unity and even rationality on Israel at this stage.”
Rubin describes Sanders as an “outright hostile actor” who is fomenting a “highly unproductive debate about whether or not Israel should exist.”
Rubin adds, “It violates the goals of promoting peace in the Middle East and the two-state solution, and I believe that it exacerbates the pain and distress that the American Jewish community is experiencing right now in Israel policy.”
He claims the Democratic Party is no longer progressive but has become “something much darker” and is promoting a “hate-based narrative.”
“What it’s doing now is gutting American Jewish confidence in the Democratic Party, which is not a way to win elections, and it’s unethical as well, considering American Jews have been a bedrock community supporting the Democratic Party,” Rubin says.
“The American Jewish community doesn’t deserve this,” he says, adding that the community is “getting beaten up as if we were the opponent. It’s totally offensive and it’s politically dangerous for the Democratic Party to do that as well.”
The Lebanese army says that during its deployment in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, from which the Israeli military recently withdrew, Israeli forces opened fire in their vicinity.
There are no reports of injuries in the incident.
The IDF said it would withdraw from Zawtar al-Gharbiya as part of implementing the framework agreement with Lebanon, under which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take control of two zones in southern Lebanon.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shared an AI-generated campaign ad depicting rival Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot rejecting an embrace from a young man with a T-shirt proclaiming “Israeli unity” in favor of the mainly Arab Ra’am party’s chairman Mansour Abbas.
The AI video shows Eisenkot smiling as he runs through a field of flowers toward the young man, who smiles back as he runs toward him, only to be disappointed as Eisenkot passes him by to instead hug Abbas. The clip then displays the message: “Eisenkot has no government without [Democrats party chair] Yair Golan and the Arab parties.”
The ad has been met with anger, as critics say the young man is heavily implied to be a stand-in for Eisenkot’s son Gal, who was killed fighting in the Gaza war. Though the man does not particularly resemble Gal Eisenkot, he is approximately the same age, and the location chosen — a blissful field of flowers — is seen by detractors as implying a heavenly setting.
Eisenkot’s son Gal was killed while serving in Gaza in December 2023. In addition, two of his nephews were also killed during the war. He is widely seen as Netanyahu’s chief challenger in the October 27 election, with recent polls placing his Yashar party ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest in the Knesset.
גדי, זה לא ישר pic.twitter.com/awy47dINmq
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 20, 2026
Responding to criticism of the ad, Likud denies that the figure in the video was intended to resemble Eisenkot’s son.
“The attempt by extremist elements to draw such a shocking comparison is merely an effort to conceal the simple fact that Gadi has no government without Yair Golan and the Arab parties,” the party says.
The video is the latest in a series of AI-generated campaign ads released by coalition parties as part of a broader campaign portraying any government headed by Eisenkot as necessarily a left-wing coalition dependent on Yair Golan’s Democrats and the Arab-majority Ra’am party (though any such government would also presumably include the right-wing Avigdor Liberman and Naftali Bennett and their parties).
Yesterday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party released an AI-generated ad targeting members of the Democrats’ newly elected Knesset slate, writing “these are Eisenkot and Tropper’s partners,” referring to former Blue and White MK Chili Tropper, who has joined forces with Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists party to form a new slate.
“This isn’t a broad, Zionist government — it’s a left-wing government,” the ad continues.
The video depicts MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi, surrounded by Palestinian flags, pigs and bacon, with the caption “Gilad ‘Bar Mitzvahs for dogs’ Kariv” — a reference Kariv condemned as antisemitic and denigrating to Reform Judaism. Meanwhile, MK Naama Lazimi is depicted flanked by portraits of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong, while activist Naor Narkis, who ran in the primaries but was not elected to a realistic spot in the slate, is shown surrounded by Pride flags, in an apparent attempt to denigrate him for being openly gay.
קבלו בתרועות את החברים הבכירים החדשים בממשלת איזנקוט-טרופר.
וזה הרבה יותר קיצוני ממה שאתם מדמיינים >>> pic.twitter.com/ji3IhNOIHJ
— הציונות הדתית (@zionutdatit) July 20, 2026
Neither video is labeled as AI-generated, despite a law passed by the Knesset last week requiring election and campaign materials created with AI to be identified as such.
Ozgur Ozel, the court-ousted leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, says he is formally resigning from the party and forming a new one.
In May, a Turkish court annuled the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress that elected Ozel as chairman, citing irregularities, amid an unprecedented crackdown on President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents. It reinstated as chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the CHP’s former leader who lost to Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election.
“Today, we are on the brink of a sad farewell that has become inevitable and whose time has come. However, we would like to share with the people that we carry the hope of a new beginning,” Ozel says in a fiery speech to CHP lawmakers in parliament.
“Once the necessary procedures are completed, the new party we are about to establish will become the main opposition force in the Grand National Assembly by a wide margin,” he says.
Kuwait says Iran hit several power and water desalination plants yesterday, causing fires in the fourth such attack in as many days.
“In light of the continued Iranian heinous aggressions on the state of Kuwait, several electricity power plants and water distillation stations were subjected to attacks for the fourth day in a row, resulting in fires in several facilities,” the ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy says in a statement on X.
State-run Israel Aerospace Industries has named Guy Barlev as chief executive to replace Boaz Levy, who became chairman in May, it says.
Barlev, a retired brigadier general, served as executive vice president and the general manager of IAI’s Systems Missiles & Space Group for the past six years, having joined IAI in 2016.
IAI, one of Israel’s largest defense contractors, says that Barlev headed the group that was responsible for a range of groundbreaking technological developments and systems critical to the defence of Israel.
His appointment requires government approval.
The state is planning a partial privatization of IAI as early as this year.
A new US intelligence assessment says that the ongoing American strikes on Iran, in their current scope, are unlikely to change Iran’s negotiating position, The Washington Post reports.
As long as back-and-forth strikes continue, says the assessment, Iran and the US will be caught between peace and war indefinitely, according to the report. The paper does not specify whether the report examines the potential effect of a different pattern of operations by the US military.
The White House has been briefed on the assessment, The Post says.
Police and the Shin Bet say a Nazareth resident has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to join Hamas and advance terror activity, including an attack on a government minister.
Muhammad Awad, 29, is accused of making contact with Hamas in a bid to join it and receive assistance in planning an attack.
The name of the minister Awad allegedly planned to target has not been disclosed, but Hebrew media outlets report it is National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
State prosecutors are planning to file an indictment against Awad.
An Iranian official begins meetings with mediators in Pakistan as diplomats seek to salvage the collapsed interim deal between Iran and the United States, even as both countries continue to launch attacks for a 10th day of renewed fighting.
The visit by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni comes as Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the deal. However, it remains unclear just what new arrangement could be reached to end the fighting.
Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, with improvements recorded across every continent, although mounting risks from climate shocks and trade disruption could threaten further progress, a United Nations report says.
Around 645 million people, or 7.8% of the world’s population, experienced hunger last year, down from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, jointly prepared by five UN agencies.
Progress was driven largely by gains in Asia, particularly India, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. Some African countries also began to reverse years of deterioration, though the continent had the world’s largest undernourished population in 2025, with 309 million people affected, one in five Africans.
Global hunger is projected to keep falling by 2030, according to the UN experts.
“The big difference to previous years is that this year the rate of hunger has declined in all continents, including Africa, although very, very slightly,” Máximo Torero, chief economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), tells Reuters.
Torero says the trend offers grounds for optimism but warns that geopolitical tensions and weather disruptions pose significant threats to global food systems.
Among the most immediate concerns are issues with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for energy and agricultural inputs. The interruption is driving up prices for fuel, fertilizers and transportation, increasing food production costs worldwide.
Syrian authorities say they foiled an attempt to smuggle over 200 grenades into Lebanon, apparently destined for the Hezbollah terror group.
The Syrian General Authority for Borders and Customs says it captured 226 grenades that were hidden inside a car that was heading into Lebanon at a border crossing near Damascus.
Last week, Syria said it stopped a large shipment of advanced weapons and missiles heading over the border from Iraq that were destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
An anonymous online form asking people to report the locations of Jews and Israeli tourists in Italy has been taken down after government officials intervened, media reports say.
The Google form, circulated on social media and messaging groups before it was removed, asked users to identify Jews, Israelis and people believed to have ties to Zionism at hotels, vacation rentals, businesses and other public places. Its purpose was to “map Zionist tourism” and “Zionist neo-colonization” in Italy, the form said.
It was removed this week following the intervention of Italy’s commissioner for combating antisemitism, Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto.
“A real manhunt.”
In Italy 🇮🇹, an anonymous form has circulated, urging users to report the arrival of Jews, Israelis, or anyone affiliated with “Zionists” at hotels and businesses.
The form's stated goal is to "map Zionist tourism" in Italy, though many Jewish leaders are… pic.twitter.com/EhzWMXJnas
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 20, 2026
Jewish leaders condemned the initiative, with Livia Ottolenghi, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, calling the campaign a “new yellow star,” reminiscent of Italy’s 1938 fascist racial laws.
Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, warned that “hunting Jews” would encourage attacks by extremists. Government officials condemned the form as well.
The incident comes as antisemitic attacks continue to rise in Italy. According to the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation, 963 incidents were recorded nationwide in 2025, including a sharp increase in physical assaults.
The Jordanian military says three ballistic missiles launched by Iran at the kingdom were intercepted.
“The interception and shootdown operation resulted in no casualties or material damage,” a Jordanian military source says, according to the official Petra news agency.
Earlier, Jordan said it shot down five Iranian drones.
Iran has targeted Jordan several times in recent days amid an escalation in the conflict with the United States.
European shares edged higher after kicking off the week on the back foot, as reports of US-Iran mediation efforts push oil prices lower, while investors assess a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
Oil prices ease from one-month highs after reports of diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran. However, concerns over energy supply disruption linger after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Bahrain’s military says it intercepted a number of Iranian attacks, nearly two weeks into the resumption of US-Iran hostilities that have included daily attacks on the Gulf kingdom.
“The air defenses of the Bahrain Defence Force intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial aggressions,” the military says in a statement on X.
A Hamas terrorist who took part in abducting Nurit Cooper, Amiram Cooper, and Alexander Dancyg from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in a strike earlier this week, the IDF announces.
The strike on Sunday in the southern Gaza Strip killed Osama Kamal Shehadeh Abu Teim, a commander of a cell in Hamas’s military wing.
המחוסל בתקיפה בחאן יונס – אוסאמה כמאל אבו טים. pic.twitter.com/f1AVjERzr1
— כל החדשות בזמן אמת (@Saher_News_24_7) July 19, 2026
On October 7, Abu Teim raided Nir Oz and took part in abducting the three hostages, according to the military.
The IDF says that during the war and recently, Abu Teim acted to advance attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, and he was therefore targeted.
Air India extends the suspension of its flight services to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport through September 30 amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The Indian carrier previously put the Tel Aviv-Delhi route on hold until the end of August.
Israel calls on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee “to reject the cynical weaponization of cultural heritage,” citing Hezbollah’s use of the Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon as a military base.
The 48th session of the committee convenes today in Busan, South Korea.
“For years, Hezbollah has systematically weaponized and desecrated this historic Crusader fortress, converting it into a military stronghold,” Israel says of the castle, which is currently held by IDF forces.
“Hezbollah constructed a massive network of terror tunnels directly beneath the ancient site and launched approximately 400 rockets at Israeli civilians from this compound,” the Foreign Ministry continues in a statement, adding that the Lebanese state “bears full responsibility for allowing a terrorist organization to exploit its sovereign territory and sensitive heritage sites.”
Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets from the Beaufort Ridge toward northern Israel during the current round of fighting, mainly at the border community of Metula, the military says.
“UNESCO’s silence on Hezbollah’s systematic desecration of Beaufort, while targeting Israel’s defensive operations, is a moral abdication,” Israel says.
The Foreign Ministry also blasts the Palestinian delegation to UNESCO for trying to turn the West Bank site of Sebastia into a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Sebastia is the historic, biblical capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel,” says the Foreign Ministry. “The attempt to portray the site as facing an emergency is entirely unsupported by professional evaluation, and serves only as a political tool to erase the site’s profound, well-documented Jewish and Christian history. The real threat to Sebastia is the Palestinian Authority’s own record of neglect and complicity, which has allowed the ancient ruins to suffer rampant vandalism, theft, and desecration.”
“UNESCO cannot remain silent when terrorists systematically hijack heritage sites,” the statement continues, “nor can it allow its platform to be exploited to erase well-documented history.”
Israel has accused the organization of being biased against the Jewish state and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. Israel also objected to UNESCO’s acceptance of Palestine as a member state. In 2019, during US President Donald Trump’s first term, Israel and the US both quit UNESCO. The US, which subsequently rejoined the agency under former president Joe Biden, is slated to again withdraw at the end of the year.
The Jordanian military announces that five Iranian drones aimed at the kingdom were “neutralized.”
“The drones were neutralized efficiently and accurately, in accordance with operational requirements and established defensive procedures. The operation did not result in any casualties or material damage,” a Jordanian military source says in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.
Iran has targeted Jordan several times in recent days amid an escalation in the conflict with the United States.
The Israeli military is quietly but quickly building a giant earthen barrier separating the over 50% of the Gaza Strip it controls from the rest of the territory, according to satellite imagery, further entrenching the division of the Palestinian enclave.
More than 23 kilometers (14 miles) have been constructed in recent months, running through towns demolished by the military. That is equivalent to more than half the length of the coastal strip, which is some 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and 11 kilometers (7 miles) wide, and home to over 2 million Palestinians.
When presented with the satellite images, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to The Associated Press it has built a physical barrier in the area of the Yellow Line, the boundary to which Israeli troops withdrew under the October ceasefire deal with Hamas. The line was envisioned in the US-backed agreement as a temporary division of the territory pending a fuller Israeli withdrawal.
But as the truce stagnates, with Hamas refusing to demilitarize and give up control of the Strip, it appears Israel is digging in, heightening Palestinian fears that the line is morphing into a border.
Neither US Central Command, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, nor the Board of Peace, the body led by US President Donald Trump meant to eventually oversee Gaza, would comment on the barrier.
Along with the barrier, the military tells AP it has developed a “security zone” around the line, equipped with intelligence and technological assets. It declines to give details on the route of the barrier when asked how far it would be extended. It says the barrier aims to prevent infiltration and protect Israeli troops and Israeli communities near Gaza.
Former hostage Emily Damari reacts to the killing of Hamas commander Adham Ibrahim Shaaban Nasman, who commanded forces during the October 7 invasion and also held her and other hostages in captivity.
Damari, in a social media post, calls Nasman a “monster” and a “serious figure” in the terror group.
“So many of the brutal terrorists we encountered aspired to be like him. They were all evil, some at high levels and some at lower levels. Now they’re not talking about us on the phone. They’re burning together in the fires of hell… God willing, more will join them.”
Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh this morning after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, the Lebanese Armed Forces says in a statement, in line with a US-brokered plan for “pilot zones” in the south.
The LAF says it “renews its call on citizens not to head to the town until the security situation stabilizes, and to comply with the instructions of the deployed military units to ensure their safety.”
The plan sees Lebanese army troops confiscating Hezbollah’s weapons in parts of southern Lebanon and phased withdrawals of Israeli troops.
The Israeli military said yesterday that the plan had begun, but has not yet confirmed it has withdrawn forces in south Lebanon.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they targeted infrastructure belonging to US company Amazon in Bahrain, according to a statements published by state media.
There is no official confirmation from Bahrain.
A senior Hamas commander who oversaw his brigade’s invasion of Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and later held numerous hostages in captivity was killed in an airstrike over the weekend, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.
According to the military, the strike on Saturday in Gaza City killed Adham Ibrahim Shaaban Nasman, who served as chief of operations in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade.
Nasman previously served as a commander of a Nukhba force battalion, and during the October 7 attack, “he commanded and directed the infiltration into the State of Israel by Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade,” the IDF says.
🔴ELIMINATED: Adham Ibrahim Sha'aban Nasman, Hamas’ Head of the Operations Department of the Gaza City Brigade, who directed the October 7 Massacre infiltration of his brigade's terrorists and held numerous hostages captive.
Throughout the war, Nasman took part in holding Romi… pic.twitter.com/SGfHLzc3fQ
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 21, 2026
The military says that throughout the war, Nasman was responsible for holding numerous hostages in Hamas captivity, including Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Ziv and Gali Berman, Eitan Mor, Matan Angrest, and Omri Miran.
Additionally, the IDF says Nasman also previously served as the intelligence officer in the Gaza City Brigade and commander of the Shati Battalion. In those roles, he led numerous attacks on IDF troops and Israel.
Recently, the IDF says, Nasman tried to recruit and train terrorists in the Gaza City Brigade, as well as advance production and distribution of weapons, in an attempt to rebuild Hamas “while violating the ceasefire agreement.” He was therefore targeted.
Lebanon’s president will meet with US President Donald Trump today to wrap up a four-day visit to Washington, in a bid to bring about long-term calm in the war-torn country after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
Joseph Aoun’s landmark meeting with Trump comes as Lebanon and Israel continue to hold rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Lebanon hopes they will result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently hold, and for the Lebanese military to receive support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah had held sway.
Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, setting a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah, which for decades had a strong presence in the area. It also lays out steps toward an eventual peace agreement between both countries, which have never held formal diplomatic ties and have been nominally in a state of war for nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.
The US State Department announced yesterday that operations in three villages deemed part of a “pilot zone” had begun, without giving details on what that entailed.
Hamas-affiliated media outlets in Gaza report that five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in southern Gaza City this morning.
According to the reports, three of those killed were children, all from the same family.
اندلاع حريق في منزل جراء قصف إسرائيلي استهدف حي الصبرة جنوبي مدينة غزة، أسفر عن وقوع إصابات pic.twitter.com/qmTLAxwDN2
— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) July 21, 2026
A military source tells The Times of Israel that the IDF targeted a terrorist and that the results of the strike are still being assessed.
North Korea reaffirms its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine as the nations’ foreign ministers meet in Moscow, Pyongyang’s state media reports, increasing speculation Kim Jong Un may soon visit the Kremlin.
Diplomatically isolated North Korea and Russia have rapidly expanded cooperation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Pyongyang has sent troops to Russia’s embattled Kursk region and supplied Moscow with weapons systems, in return securing financial assistance, food, energy supplies and military technology, analysts say.
Following a Moscow meeting between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Pyongyang’s state media says the nations “reaffirmed their steadfast political will to accelerate the long-term multi-faceted development of the bilateral relations.”
The agency reports that Russia, meanwhile, expressed full support for North Korea’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and security.
The US State Department reissues a warning to American travelers across the entire Middle East due to rising tensions and fighting with Iran.
Issuing a “Worldwide Caution” alert, the State Department tells Americans currently in the Middle East to “exercise caution and heightened vigilance” and be prepared for the possibility of canceled flights and travel disruptions.
It also calls on all Americans to reconsider any travel to the Middle East.
“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” it adds.
It issued a similar alert several days ago.
Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes.
The Wall Street Journal, citing US and Israeli officials, reports that Israel has told the US that its intelligence shows Tehran made the move last fall, following the 12-day war in June 2025, during which the US deployed B-52 bombers to strike Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
US President Donald Trump said last week that “Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door.”
The US president added at the time: “We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation… We’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
CNN reported earlier this month that satellite imagery showed trucks going in and out of the facility at Pickaxe Mountain, possibly indicating that Iran is working to rebuild its nuclear facilities.
Two oil tankers caught fire after explosions while attempting to transit the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say, adding the strait will remain closed as long as the US actions in the region continue.
In a separate statement, the Guards say they targeted US military systems in Bahrain, including a radar and air defense system in Muharraq. They also say a Patriot air defense system in Riffa was hit in a simultaneous missile and drone attack.
The Iranian army says it has targeted a US base in Kuwait with missiles, as President Masoud Pezeshkian said the conflict had morphed into a “full-scale war.”
“The army’s ground forces targeted the HIMARS missile systems of the US terrorist army stationed at the Arifjan base in Kuwait with surface-to-surface missiles,” state news agency IRNA says, quoting the army’s public relations officials.
“HIMARS is a mobile missile system with the ability to move quickly against ground targets, which, when targeted, causes damage to the offensive and defensive layers and reduces the enemy’s missile power in aggressive crimes,” it says.
Camp Arifjan, located south of Kuwait City, accommodates elements of the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham names ex-health minister Wes Streeting as his defense secretary, the government says, as ministerial appointments run into the night.
Streeting, who quit the health job back in May saying he had lost confidence in then-premier Keir Starmer, had intended to challenge Burnham for the leadership of the ruling Labour party before backing down.
