After a month-long lull in violence, US president Trump pledges to hit Iran hard

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has announced a new international mission challenging Israel’s blockade of Gaza, with vessels travelling between European ports before a planned attempt to reach Gaza in October.

FFC vessel Handala II sailed around Scandinavia in June and July, stopping in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Earlier this month, the vessel Kate departed Bristol and has since made port calls in Ireland, Germany and France. It is due to continue to Spain, Portugal and Italy before sailing towards Gaza.

At each stop, the coalition said it will hold public events and campaign for governments to end what it describes as complicity in Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“The Freedom Flotilla sails again because our governments continue to fail to uphold their obligations,” said Zohar Chamberlain Regev, an FFC Steering Committee member. “At every port, we will carry the demand that Palestinians be free to live with dignity. In October, we intend to carry that demand and the solidarity of people around the world to Gaza’s shores.”

The announcement comes months after Israel intercepted a previous flotilla mission and detained more than 430 activists from around the world.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also faced widespread condemnation after posting footage appearing to mock and threaten detained activists.

A top Iranian official called on citizens to curb their petrol consumption on Tuesday, as the country faces difficulty importing enough fuel to meet demand due to a US naval blockade.

"Of course, part of the responsibility for this high consumption does not lie with our people; it lies with our industry," parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address. "But in any case, what is clear is that we need to save gasoline in our consumption."

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday vowed to match any US move to return to a June deal aimed at ending their war and thanked Russia's Vladimir Putin for Moscow's stance on the conflict during an international summit.

Russia and Iran -- two of the most sanctioned countries in the world -- have massively deepened their military and trade ties during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Putin and Pezeshkian held talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, bringing together more than a dozen leaders -- including Putin, China's Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They met a day after US President Donald Trump -- who has warned Moscow and Beijing against arming Tehran -- threatened to hit Iran "hard" after the foes traded fire for the first time in weeks.

Pezeshkian told the summit that if the United States returns to the deal aimed at ending months of hostilities, Iran "will immediately take reciprocal action", according to the Iranian presidency's website.

The deal, meant to set the stage for final peace talks, has collapsed as both sides accused each other of violating its terms.

Pezeshkian also warned Tuesday that a return by the United States to "a policy of pressure and threats" risked derailing diplomatic efforts to end the war.

He later met Putin, telling him: "We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage".

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the United States is likely to announce sanctions on a bank this week as part of its economic campaign against Iran.

"We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after. We are speaking to our allies here, who have all come forward, and we have had a great show of support," Bessent said.

The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency reportedly travelled to Washington on Saturday for discussions on “sensitive issues” with the FBI.

According to Israel’s Channel 13 on Monday, Shin Bet chief David Zini travelled to the US capital for meetings with his FBI counterparts.

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Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq arrived in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was received by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

According to a Saudi report, the two discussed relations between the two countries, regional developments and efforts to maintain stability.

The approaching rainy season risks worsening a dire public health crisis in Gaza, where most people live in overcrowded tent camps amid rubble and overflowing sewage, the WHO warned Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation warned that there had already been a clear deterioration in the quality of water reaching the population in recent months, while the number of diarrhoea cases had surged.

"Whilst we fail to provide people with the minimum quantities of water, water quality and water contamination remains a major issue," said Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories.

Gaza has been engulfed in a devastating health and humanitarian crisis since Israel launched its war in the territory on October 2023.

Despite a US-backed ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have not halted in the Gaza Strip, and it continues to impose significant restrictions on the entry of goods, including medical equipment and fuel.

In April, Doctors Without Borders said that Israel was using water access as a "weapon" in Gaza, pointing to data from the United Nations, European Union and World Bank indicating that Israel had destroyed or damaged nearly 90 percent of water and sanitation infrastructure in the territory.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian held talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian presidency said.

"During the meeting, the latest state of bilateral relations between Iran and Russia was reviewed and the two sides discussed ways to strengthen and expand cooperation in various fields," said the presidency in a statement accompanied by images of Putin and Pezeshkian shaking hands.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow's stance during the US-Israeli war on Iran, in their first meeting since the conflict broke out on 28 Februrary. 

"We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage, both during the period when the fighting and acts of aggression were taking place and under normal circumstances, when the United States was imposing sanctions on us, both at the United Nations and in international forums," Pezeshkian told Putin at a meeting.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation expressed "deep concern over developments in the Middle East and around Iran".

Member nations at the summits inauguration affirmed their "position condemning military strikes on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which have resulted in numerous civilian casualties and significant damage to the country's economy".

"Such actions violate the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter and create serious risks to international peace, security and stability," it said.

Mediator Qatar on Tuesday urged the United States and Iran to return to negotiations after they renewed tit-for-tat attacks.

On Sunday, the US carried out strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking US military targets in the Middle East.

After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran disrupting traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz with its blockade and the US persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

"We have said from day one that leaving the issue unresolved and trying to normalise the closure of the Strait would lead to escalation," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a regular press briefing.

"This is precisely what we have witnessed over the past two days," he said.

"We urge the parties to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating path, and we continue to intensify our efforts with our mediation partners to ensure a return to that path."

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.

"In Qatar, in the region, in the world today, we cannot afford to accept the status quo," Al Ansari said.

"Discussions with our mediation partners—whether in Pakistan or Oman—are ongoing," he added.

Last week, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani travelled to Tehran as part of the mediation efforts, after Iran and Oman, which border the key strait, said they were discussing a temporary shipping corridor and the clearance of mines.

For Netanyahu and Israel's opposition, the Gaza status quo offers territorial control and military freedom without the burden of reconstruction, writes Muhammad Shehada.

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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Tuesday that his country was working towards a "diplomatic solution" with Israel, with US mediation, despite ongoing Israeli attacks.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024.

"The attacks are still ongoing. We observed 65 incursions in July alone, and 52 in the first 18 days of August," Shaibani told a press conference with his visiting Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

He slammed a "campaign of raids on homes in Quneitra province and the Damascus countryside", and said Syria had registered 147 cases of Israeli troops detaining Syrians so far this year, with "49 of them still detained".

"Despite these challenges, we are still committed to the option of a diplomatic solution and we are working seriously to achieve this," Shaibani said, adding: "We are engaged in negotiations mediated by the United States of America."

A "senior figure" was abducted in Gaza, announced by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who claimed that the individual is "the head of Hamas' General Security, who managed the organization's counterintelligence and intelligence operations."

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that a return by the United States to a policy of pressure and threats risked derailing diplomatic efforts to end the war in the Middle East.

"The repeated violation by the United States of its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding showed that... the absence of effective enforcement guarantees and a return to a policy of pressure and threats could derail the path of diplomacy," Pezeshkian said in a speech at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.

The United Nations' food agency warned Tuesday that funding cuts were forcing it to slash the number of aid recipients in the occupied West Bank in half, warning of dire consequences.

The World Food Programme said that from this month it would be reducing the number of people it reaches with food aid in the Palestinian territory from 400,000 to 200,000.

"WFP is being forced to reduce the number of people we assist in the West Bank by half," Shaun Hughes, the agency's representative in the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva.

"This is happening as the food needs in the West Bank are more than double what they were two years ago," he warned, speaking from London.

He pointed out that food insecurity had not traditionally been a major problem in the West Bank.

But he argued that since the Gaza war began in October 2023, "intensified settler violence, prolonged and escalating Israeli military operations, severe movement restrictions, demolitions and widespread displacement in the West Bank have eroded Palestinian livelihoods and contributed to increased food insecurity."

The WFP said that its latest quarterly food security analysis found that 76 percent of households in the occupied West Bank had experienced a significant decline in income, with many families forced to sell assets and reduce the number and quality of their meals to survive.

The analysis found that a third of families could not afford a nutritious diet due to the rapidly deteriorating economy, the agency said, adding that those living in rural areas and in the southern West Bank governorates were the most affected.

"Families who were once thriving and earning a living from their land are now unable to afford enough food," Hughes said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Israeli gunfire and airstrikes killed at least four people, including three children, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said.

Witnesses said Israeli warplanes fired at least 12 missiles near the Katiba area in the west of Gaza City, an area crowded with displaced families.

At least three people—two children and a woman—were killed and several others wounded in the unusually heavy bombardment, medics said. Two vehicles were hit and reduced to twisted wreckage.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it struck several targets in the Gaza Strip in order to remove threats to Israeli security forces.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said an Israeli special force had attempted to carry out an operation in Gaza City but was discovered during the mission.

He said Israel then launched heavy airstrikes involving more than 10 warplanes, killing and wounding several people.

In a separate incident, medics said a girl, Israa Al-Hissi, was killed and two other people were wounded when Israeli forces operating east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza opened fire on the area.

At dawn this morning, Israeli settlers set fire a mosque in the village of Bazaria, northwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, reported Palestinian media.

The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the attack, and considered it a dangerous escalation targeting mosques and places of worship. The ministry noted that these attacks have been ongoing with no accountability.

Mosques in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem are subjected to repeated attacks by the Israeli army and settlers. So far, 11 mosques have faced arson attacks since the beginning of 2026, in addition to vandalising their contents, destroying the Qur’an, preventing the call to prayer and performing prayers and other abuses.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said diplomatic efforts over opening the Hormuz are continuing but have not produce a breakthrough.

"The freedom of navigation needs to be respected. The diplomatic efforts are still ongoing, but no results at the moment. For us, it is important that there are no tolls, no fees for these routes that have been open before," Kallas said in Ireland ahead of a ministers meeting.

Kallas said the meeting will also examine a possible European mission to support the Lebanese military in south Lebanon.

At least one dead and several wounded in a series of Israeli strikes on Gaza City, Palestinian media reports. 

Three "unknown projectiles" struck a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, a British maritime agency said Tuesday following a fresh flare-up in the US-Israeli war on Iran thats pasted six months.

Tehran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait since the United States and Israel launched their war in late February.

It says it wants to charge fees for passage and has attacked ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route through the waterway.

In response, the United States has imposed a rival blockade of Iranian ports.

"A tanker has reported being struck by 3 unknown projectiles whilst completing an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on X early Tuesday.

The incident occurred 17 nautical miles (31 kilometres) east of the Oman city of Khasab, it added.

No casualties or environmental impact were reported, the agency said.

Maritime security company Vanguard Tech later identified the ship as the Liberia-flagged Senegal Prosperity.

"The rockets impacted the vessel's port side, engine room and ballast tank, resulting in a loss of communications," Vanguard said, adding that the crew were safe.

Attacks on commercial ships in the strait, which was free to transit before the war, previously led to the collapse of an April ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

For Samar Doghmosh, a Palestinian woman from war-torn Gaza, every day begins with the same question: Is her 11-year-old son Mu'taz alive or dead?

In December 2024, Mu'taz left his family's tent in eastern Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, to fetch water. He never returned. Nearly two years later, his mother is still searching for an answer.

"Some people tell us he was killed and that stray dogs devoured his body. Others say he was injured. The last person who saw him said he was arrested by the Israeli army," Doghmosh told The New Arab.

The family contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after Mu'taz disappeared, hoping the organisation could determine whether he had been detained or locate information about his whereabouts.

So far, they received no answer.

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Oil prices climbed further and Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as recurring violence in the Iran war after more than a month with no significant fighting heightened uncertainty over the future of the conflict.

Shares in online fast-fashion retailer Shein fell as much as 10% after they began trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday. By midday they were 5% lower.

Brent crude gained 0.8% to $91.23 per barrel. It gained 2.7% on Monday after the US attacked rocket launchers on an Iranian island on Sunday, saying they were preparing to launch mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles at US sites in Jordan, all of which were intercepted.

The war has curtailed traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which once accounted for about 20% of the world’s oil shipments. Oil prices remain high after an initial surge earlier in the war, and that has made everything from gasoline to shipped goods more expensive.

US benchmark crude was up 1% at $86.62 per barrel.

Turkey's top diplomat stressed Monday the regional defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was not aimed at any particular country and open to others, including Egypt.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's remarks came after the first ministerial meeting of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement which commits Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to mutual defence in the event of any of them being attacked.

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Preliminary data tracking maritime traffic, issued today, Tuesday, showed that the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, Monday, were at only five ships, with no significant change compared to Saturday and Sunday.

This number is much lower than the average recorded over ten days, which amounts to about 14 ships.

According to data from the “Kepler” platform, four of those ships entered the strait while one ship left it.
 

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Tehran would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.

"I state explicitly that if the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take reciprocal action," Pezeshkian said at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, according to the website of the Iranian presidency.