Washington Post

Israel's National Security Council warned of a heightened risk of terror attacks against Israelis and Jews abroad on the third anniversary of the October 7 onslaught, as security chiefs met to secure the October 27 Knesset election. Britain made a last-ditch effort to prevent Israel from closing its East Jerusalem consulate, threatening to expel 27 Israeli diplomats, while Yemeni government forces pressed a Saudi-backed offensive against the Houthis near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The United States is moving a third aircraft carrier toward Iran and has deployed additional Patriot batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while the Flydubai hijacking investigation widens with the arrest of a British-Iranian suspect in the UK. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Nabatieh pledging reconstruction and Israeli withdrawal, as Israeli strikes continued in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft with 180 passengers aboard. Israeli officials say a second crew of off-duty pilots and passengers subdued the attacker, averting what one senior official called a 'major disaster.' Iran received the US response to its seven-day Hormuz trust-building proposal via Qatari mediators, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi set to discuss it in Tehran.

The US House voted 220-204 to end military action in Iran, while the IRGC claimed it shot down its 52nd US MQ-9 drone over Qeshm Island. In Gaza, a war-damaged building collapsed in Gaza City, killing at least 16 Palestinians and leaving around 100 missing. The Houthis claimed they downed a Saudi F-15 over Marib, and the Trump administration is preparing a $2.8 billion bomb sale to Israel.

An Iranian commercial vessel was struck near the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member and wounding three, as Tehran ruled out reopening the waterway despite plans for a Muscat meeting on new maritime arrangements. Houthi forces massed around Marib after seizing Yemen's Red Sea coast, while Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors are set to meet in Washington next week to discuss the trilateral framework.

Houthi forces captured the Red Sea port city of Mocha, tightening their grip on the Bab al-Mandab Strait as oil prices surged to $105 per barrel. Iran's IRGC claimed destruction of a US unmanned vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, while the IAEA reported construction activity at Iran's fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site. Israeli strikes killed a family of four in Beit Lahia, Gaza, and the IDF prepared to demolish a major Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon.

The US military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after attempted missile attacks on a Navy warship, prompting IRGC claims of retaliatory strikes on the Al-Azraq airbase in Jordan and multiple vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Jordan intercepted 18 of 20 ballistic missiles. Netanyahu announced he will sue Haaretz over its report that the UAE warned him before Oct. 7. Israeli artillery and controlled explosions continued in southern Lebanon.

An IDF soldier was killed and four wounded by a Hezbollah explosive drone in southern Lebanon, while Israeli forces captured the strategic Beaufort Castle and advanced within 5 km of Nabatieh. Hezbollah launched rocket barrages at Kiryat Shmona and other northern Israeli communities, prompting school closures. The US struck a ship breaching the blockade near Iran, and the US-Iran deal remains unresolved with new US demands.

President Trump postponed a planned military strike on Iran for the second time in 36 hours, citing Gulf mediation and 'serious negotiations,' while Brent crude held above $110. Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich announced the ICC prosecutor had secretly requested his arrest warrant and retaliated by ordering the demolition of a West Bank Bedouin village. Hezbollah explosive drones struck Israeli territory near the Lebanon border, lightly wounding two, as the IDF struck over 25 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Iran warned it would open 'new fronts' if attacked again, and air defenses activated over multiple Iranian cities.

Iran submitted a new 14-point proposal via Pakistan, which a senior US official dismissed as containing only 'cosmetic improvements.' The IDF killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander in Baalbek, Lebanon, and intercepted a Gaza-bound flotilla off Cyprus. Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, triggering sirens in northern Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed a secret wartime visit to the UAE, which Abu Dhabi denied, as President Trump met with Xi Jinping in Beijing amid tensions over Iran. Hezbollah launched multiple attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, and IDF officers warned that Jewish terror accounts for up to 80% of incidents in the West Bank. Saudi Arabia reportedly struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq during the war.

Israeli airstrikes on vehicles in southern Lebanon killed at least 12 people, including a woman and her two children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The IDF said it struck Hezbollah weapons depots, rocket launchers, and infrastructure. Hezbollah claimed an ambush and a loitering-glider hit on an Israeli tank. UNIFIL accused Hezbollah of drone attacks that damaged its headquarters. President Trump arrived in Beijing for a two-day summit with Xi Jinping, with Iran, trade, and Taiwan on the agenda. Iran warned it will block US weapons transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Reports revealed that Mossad and Shin Bet chiefs secretly visited the UAE during the Iran war to coordinate.

US President Donald Trump is seriously considering resuming major combat operations against Iran, frustrated by stalled negotiations and Tehran’s continued uranium enrichment. In Lebanon, the IDF completed a weeklong raid north of the Litani River, while Hezbollah launched multiple drone and glider attacks on Israeli forces. Kuwait announced it had stopped an armed IRGC team from infiltrating Bubiyan Island. The Knesset passed a law establishing a special tribunal with death penalty powers for October 7 detainees. Israel confirmed it sent Iron Dome batteries to the UAE.

US President Donald Trump is seriously considering resuming combat operations against Iran after rejecting Tehran’s latest ceasefire proposal as “unacceptable,” while reports reveal the UAE secretly struck an Iranian oil refinery during the war. In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed six civilians in Kafr Dounine, and Hezbollah claimed a guided-missile hit on an IDF Merkava tank. The Knesset passed a law establishing a special tribunal and allowing the death penalty for October 7 perpetrators, and EU foreign ministers approved sanctions on violent Israeli settlers and Hamas leaders after Hungary lifted its veto.

The IDF confirmed it killed Hezbollah Radwan Force commander Ahmed Ali Balout in a precise strike on Beirut’s Dahieh suburb, while Hezbollah launched rockets and explosive drones at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Iran is reviewing a US proposal to end the war, and President Trump paused the Hormuz escort operation after Saudi Arabia denied airspace access. In Gaza, the son of Hamas’s chief negotiator was killed in an IDF strike.

President Trump suspended Project Freedom naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, citing “great progress” toward a US-Iran agreement, while Hezbollah explosive drones wounded three Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and the IDF struck 25 Hezbollah targets. A Washington Post satellite analysis revealed Iranian strikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 US military assets across 15 Middle East bases, far exceeding official US acknowledgments. A joint World Bank-UN-EU report priced Gaza reconstruction at $71 billion.

Iran launched cruise missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates on Monday, striking a petroleum facility in Fujairah and triggering air defense alerts in Dubai, in a major ceasefire violation. The US said two American-flagged merchant vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz under Navy escort as part of 'Project Freedom,' while Iran claimed it fired warning shots at US destroyers and hit a warship with missiles, a claim CENTCOM denied. Israel elevated its military alertness to the maximum level and convened its expanded security cabinet for Wednesday.

The UAE announced it will leave OPEC effective May 1, fracturing the oil cartel amid the Hormuz crisis, while the IDF demolished two vast Hezbollah attack tunnels in southern Lebanon built with direct Iranian guidance. Hezbollah launched coordinated drone strikes on IDF positions, and Lebanese Army soldiers were injured in an Israeli airstrike during a rescue operation.

An IDF soldier was severely wounded and another lightly injured in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in southern Lebanon, amid a US rejection of Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program.