“We will maintain and manage the security of the Strait of Hormuz with all our might and we announce to all commercial ships and tankers to refrain from any action to transit without the coordination of the armed forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz so that their security is not jeopardised,” the military said.
“We warn that any foreign armed force, especially the aggressive US army, will be attacked if they attempt to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”
On April 14, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter, met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The goal is ostensibly to extend the ceasefire while working “on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries.” During the two hours in which the meeting took place, Israel bombed at least 23 towns in southern Lebanon; afterward, Leiter said that both Israel and Lebanon were united in “liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah.
This came less than a week after one of the most violent days in Lebanese history. On April 8, Israeli warplanes ravaged large parts of the country, killing at least 303 people and wounding 1,150.
Die Falklandinseln bleiben britisch – und daran wird sich nichts ändern. Mit dieser klaren Botschaft reagierte die Regierung der Falklandinseln im Südatlantik auf Berichte, wonach das Pentagon in Erwägung ziehe, die Souveränitätsansprüche Argentiniens über das Gebiet zu unterstützen – und sich damit gegen Grossbritannien zu stellen.
Wie ein brisanter Reuters-Bericht nahelegte, prüft die US-Regierung diese drastische Massnahme offenbar als Druckmittel gegen das Vereinigte Königreich. Dies, weil London die USA im Krieg gegen den Iran nicht unterstützen möchte.
(February 26, 2026)
The renewed political and economic engagement with the Taliban comes at a time of surging cross-border violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has plunged relations between the two neighbors to a dangerously low point. Just this week, tensions flared back up after a fresh round of deadly strikes and clashes. And nuclear-armed India wasted no time in strongly condemning Islamabad over the attacks and voiced support for Kabul’s sovereignty.
(December 9, 2025)
A Nigerian military aircraft, carrying 11 personnel, is detained in Burkina Faso for alleged airspace violation.
Burkina Faso, a member of the Alliance of Sahel States, claims the aircraft‘s presence was an unfriendly act that breached sovereignty.
The Sahel States Alliance has condemned the incident, emphasizing heightened alert for airspace protection.
The detention follows recent Nigerian airstrikes in Benin targeting coup plotters, which adds tension in the region.
BY the time the year comes to a close on December 31, the United States would have carried out one of the largest naval deployments to the Caribbean in more than two decades, sending multiple warships, 15,000 troops and the world’s largest aircraft carrier into waters once considered a “zone of peace”.
Accompanied by nearly 30 lethal so-called “boat strikes” that have killed at least 100 traversing the Caribbean and Pacific, the build-up sent the region’s small islands and South American countries into uncertainty, stoking fear of escalation, armed conflict and, in the case of Venezuela, the possibility of forced regime change.
The incident, reported by Israeli broadcaster KAN, has not elicited immediate responses from either the UAE or Israeli foreign ministries.
This development underscores growing tensions and the fragile nature of regional relations as the situation continues to unfold.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday criticized Israel, saying the Netanyahu government is isolating Israel after it revoked visas for Canberra’s diplomatic representatives to the Palestinian Authority.
The move came a day after Australia denied entry to far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. The visa denials followed Canberra’s announcement that it plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state next month.
Amos Hochstein, who was a senior official focused on the Middle East during the Biden administration, described a pattern of Israeli leaders presenting headstrong views on security and using the U.S. as a scapegoat to rein them in with hawkish security officials and hard-line political partners.
“I’ll say something a bit controversial, but in my mind, since Ronald Reagan, Israel doesn’t have a stop button,” Hochstein said on the “Unholy: Two Jews on the News” podcast June 19.
“Every prime minister, right-wing, left-wing centrist goes to his, whoever it is at the time, the military, the intelligence, his, you know, extremist parties and says, ‘I’m with you, but these darn Americans are forcing me to stop.’ And they’re like, all right, fine, we’ll stop and we’ll do a deal. And that’s been the case in every operation since the 1980s.”
The reported incident occurred on 13 October, when the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said two Israeli Merkava tanks broke through the gates of one of its bases. The tanks left after 45 minutes, following complaints from Unifil.
The Financial Times does not specify in its report where the incident took place, but on that same day, two tanks were reported to have hit the post of a Unifil base in Ramya, a town in southern Lebanon. Unifil said its peacekeepers were being treated for skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions.
Within the next hour after the tanks left, several rounds were fired 100 metres north of the Unifil base, and the rounds emitted a „smoke of suspected white phosphorous“ that ultimately injured 15 peacekeepers.
Ein Sprecher des nordkoreanischen Verteidigungsministeriums teilte am Montag über die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur KCNA mit, dass die schwerwiegende Verletzung der Souveränität durch die südkoreanischen Militärbanditen durch eindeutige Beweise und wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen bestätigt worden sei.
Bei der Drohne handle es sich um ein kleines Langstrecken-Aufklärungsmodell, das von der Drohnenoperationseinheit der südkoreanischen Armee stamme.
Das Aussendepartement hat den israelischen Vorstoss in einen UN-Stützpunkt verurteilt.
Zuvor hatten israelische Panzer das Tor zu einer Unifil-Einrichtung durchbrochen, über ein Dutzend Blauhelme wurden verletzt.
Auch der Papst hat dazu aufgerufen, die «Friedenstruppen zu respektieren».
(Issued on: 13/10/2024 – 22:57)
„In a deeply worrying incident that occurred today, the entrance door of a UN position was deliberately breached by IDF armored vehicles,“ he added in a statement.
At least five peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israel targets Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
According to the Mission, at about 04:30 (local time), while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate and entered the position.
“They requested multiple times that the base turn out its lights,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
The tanks left about 45 minutes later after the Mission protested through its liaison mechanism, saying that IDF presence was putting peacekeepers in danger.
At around 06:40, peacekeepers at the same position reported the firing of several rounds 100 metres (about 110 yards) north, which emitted smoke.
“Despite putting on protective masks, fifteen peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after the smoke entered the camp,” UNIFIL reported.
The affected peacekeepers are receiving treatment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the United Nations to immediately pull its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon from areas where Israel is battling Hezbollah, saying that the terror group is using the international troops as “human shields.”
Netanyahu’s comments came as the UN peacekeeping force said two Israel Defense Forces tanks had entered a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon position Sunday.
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland before the United Nations promoted a proposal, signed by 40 countries who provide funds and troops to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to condemn the recent attacks of of Israel against its base in Naqoura (in the south of the country) and five peacekeepers were injured in just three days. “We call for respecting the UN mission and guaranteeing the safety of people,” dictates his message published on the social network X.
The 40 contributing countries „reaffirm our full support for UNIFIL‘s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilization and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East,“ the statement read.
„We urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL‘s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times,“ it added.
UNIFIL, which involves about 9,500 troops of some 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.
(October 11, 20248:29 PM GMT+2Updated a day ago)
The leaders of France, Italy and Spain on Friday condemned the recent targeting of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, by the Israel Defence Forces and said such attacks were „unjustifiable“ and should „immediately come to an end.“
Netanyahu has issued statements essentially calling for regime change in both Lebanon and Iran, while Israel’s boosters in the United States see in its expanding wars an opportunity to “remake” the political map of the Middle East.
The two countries, which supply large amounts of troops to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon known as UNIFIL, summoned Israel‘s ambassadors to their respective capitals in response to incidents in which four peacekeepers were injured, one of whom required hospitalization. No French or Italian troops were wounded.
France‘s Ministry for Foreign Affairs condemned the „deliberate“ attack on Friday, which it said constitutes a „serious violation of international law.“
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz said during a press conference in Sderot on Wednesday that Hamas was militarily defeated following the IDF‘s operation in Gaza.
„From a military point of view – Hamas is defeated. Its fighters are eliminated or in hiding. Its abilities are cut off, and we will continue to strike what remains.
However, “from a military point of view – Hamas is defeated. Its fighters are eliminated or in hiding” and its capabilities “crippled,” he continues, stating that “victory will come step by step” and that Israel “will not stop. We will enter Rafah. We will return to Khan Younis. And we will operate in Gaza. Wherever there are terrorist targets – the IDF will be there.”
(today)
And therefore, as was the case when he insisted on continuing to run the country while in the midst of a corruption trial, and as was the case when he pressed on with his assault on Israeli democracy and briefly fired that defense minister, so too, now, it falls to a potential few good men and women within his own coalition base to tell him that his presence is harming Israel, that his policies empowered and emboldened Hamas, and that far from being uniquely capable of ensuring Israel has the practical and diplomatic room to destroy Hamas, he is almost uniquely incapable of doing so.
(09.04.2024)
Israel must destroy Hamas as a military and political force in the territory while minimizing harm to civilians. It must do what it can to rescue its hostages without jeopardizing the overriding goal of destroying Hamas. It must, by diplomacy or force, push Hezbollah back from Lebanon’s southern border, so that 60,000 Israelis can return safely to their homes in the north. It must take the battle directly, as it did last week in Damascus, to Hamas’s and Hezbollah’s patrons, whether in Syria, Qatar or Iran.
And for all of that to happen effectively, Benjamin Netanyahu must go.
„It‘s very, very important,“ Ziv said of U.S. military aid to Israel. Placing conditions on it, he said, „creates a dangerous precedent for Israel because it just wasn‘t in the cards up until now.“ (…)
The U.S. could continue to abstain or even support United Nations resolutions that Israel finds unfavorable, as it did this week.
(27.03.2024)
It‘s a sharp reversal by Netanyahu who on Monday canceled the same trip by the same people in protest over the U.S. not vetoing a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
The fallout over the canceled trip and a deadlock in hostage talks added to already spiraling relations between Netanyahu and the Biden administration.
Asked by the Barents Observer, the Joint Headquarters near Bodø, however, confirms that the planes were inside Norwegian airspace before flying out over international airspace in the Barents Sea.
“The activity included both Norwegian and international airspace,” says spokesperson Reidar Flasnes.
“We cannot detail the activity,” Flasnes says and points to the United States as in charge of Sunday’s flights. He adds that the flights are “approved by Norway’s Ministry of Defense.”