Israel maintains that they’re exclusively attacking Hezbollah in their invasion of Lebanon, and that they take extraordinary measures to avoid hitting civilians. The sheer number of times they’ve attacked hospitals, however, especially in the city of Tyre, challenges those claims. Once again Thursday, Israeli forces struck the area near the Hiram Hospital in Tyre, killing […]

Iranian leadership has not confirmed claim, after the US president announced that planned strikes on Iran had been cancelled

Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that Washington and Tehran were on the verge of signing a peace agreement, and announced that he was cancelling fresh missile strikes, after two days of escalating attacks on Iran that threatened to collapse the fragile ceasefire.

His comments followed a new bout of public diplomacy by social media, but were dismissed by Iran’s foreign ministry, which said a final decision on an agreement had not been reached.

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© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Pool/Aaron Schwartz - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Pool/Aaron Schwartz - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Pool/Aaron Schwartz - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock

This blog is now closed – see our latest full report on the Middle East crisis

Three Indian seafarers were killed in a US attack on an oil tanker earlier this week, India’s shipping minister, ‌Sarbananda Sonowal, said.

“It is deeply unfortunate to learn of the tragic incident aboard the Palau-flagged MT Settebello. Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after bodies have been located and identified,” he wrote in a post on X.

The Middle East is being pulled deeper into crisis & the consequences reach far beyond the region.”

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA