July 20, 2026Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeJuly 20, 2026UpdatesRECAP: Trump says Iran will 'pay' for killing U.S. troops; Israel kills three in GazaHere are Monday's latest updates from the U.S.-Iran war and Israel's strikes in Lebanon, Gaza and the Middle East:■ U.S. President Donald Trump said Tehran will "pay ... many times over" for killing U.S. soldiers, adding he has instructed the Pentagon to strike Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a high-level security meeting amid the escalation.■ An Israeli strike on a vehicle killed three in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian media reported.■ The Pentagon did not disclose three Iranian attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan last week that wounded dozens of American service members and damaged several helicopters before Friday's strike that killed two U.S. soldiers, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials.■ Hamas said Monday that Khalil al-Hayya has been elected as the group's overall leader, replacing slain leader Yahya Sinwar.■ The pro-Iranian Houthi movement, which controls part of Yemen, declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and threatened a full blockade, saying it is ready for any escalation.■ The U.S. State Department said Israel has handed over parts of the IDF-occupied buffer zone in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese government in accordance with its U.S.-mediated agreement with Beirut. Two sources told Haaretz that Israel only controlled one of the three villages.■ The Biden administration suspected Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza as early as a month into the war, agreeing to conduct lengthy investigations to allow continued weapons shipments, The New Yorker reported.■ U.S. President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will not be arrested in any way shape or form" during his visit to the United States, two days after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was exploring options to arrest Netanyahu.Trump says Netanyahu won't be arrested in U.S. as Mamdani eyes NYPD arrestU.S. President Donald Trump with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office of the White House, in November. Credit: Evan Vucci/AP U.S. President Donald Trump with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office of the White House, in November. Credit: Evan Vucci/AP U.S. President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will not be arrested in any way shape or form" during his visit to the United States, two days after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was exploring options to arrest Netanyahu."Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America. He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others," Trump wrote on Truth Social.In an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, Mamdani said Netanyahu "belongs in the Hague," adding that he is "a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court." The mayor told The Times he is holding "an active conversation" with the city's legal department on the matter.Read the full articleTrump says Iran will 'pay many times over' for killing U.S. soldiersU.S. President Donald Trump said Washington will kill people in Iran if Tehran kills U.S. soldiers, adding he has instructed the Pentagon to strike the country."Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.Report: Biden administration suspected Israeli war crimes in Gaza month into war, dragged probesIsraeli tanks in the Gaza Strip, in November 2023. Credit: Olivier FitoussiIsraeli tanks in the Gaza Strip, in November 2023. Credit: Olivier FitoussiThe Biden administration suspected that Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza as early as a month into the war, agreeing to conduct lengthy investigations to allow continued weapons shipments, The New Yorker reported.Former U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reportedly raised the issue in internal discussions in November 2023, saying Israel's strikes went diagonally across the Gaza Strip, leveling neighborhoods. "We were all shocked at how aggressive and deadly it was, and asking, 'What the fuck are they doing?'" Blinken told The New Yorker.According to the report, Israel and Washington negotiated a special procedure to investigate suspected Israeli violations of the Leahy Laws, which prohibit military assistance to foreign forces when there is credible information that they have committed gross violations of human rights.The agreement reportedly stipulated that the investigations be conducted over months behind closed doors, not affecting Israeli actions in Gaza. According to The New Yorker, Washington supplied about 70 percent of Israel's weapons, including aircraft, missiles and bombs.France warns of consequences after Iranian security services detain embassy staff⁠French ‌Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot ‌said on Monday there ⁠would be consequences ⁠after two of its embassy officials in Tehran were detained for several hours by ‌Iranian security services.Barrot ‌said the French officials were detained without reason for several hours, interrogated and physically intimidated before finally being able to return to ⁠the embassy."I let Iran's foreign minister know ‌that these ⁠extremely serious and ‌unacceptable violations of the integrity of our agents could ⁠not go without consequences," he wrote in a post ‌on X.IDF to pull out of one Lebanese village, wasn't in other two, source saysThe Israeli military is withdrawing from one of the three Lebanese villages the U.S. State Department mentioned in its announcement, an Israeli source and another source familiar with the matter told Haaretz, adding that there were no troops in the two other villages.Earlier on Monday, Washington said Israel will withdraw from Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiyah as part of the so-called pilot zones the IDF is set to hand over back to Lebanon as part of its U.S.-brokered agreement with Beirut.The sources did not specify which of the three was the village from which Israel is pulling out its troops. Instead of boots on the ground, Israel had "intelligence control" over the other two villages using overhead drones, the sources said.Read the full articleIsrael kills three in strike on south Gaza StripAn Israeli strike on a vehicle killed three in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian media reported.The three were killed southwest of al-Muwasi, formerly known as the humanitarian zone near Khan Yunis, and were brought to the city's Nasser Hospital, according to the Shehab Agency.📷 صور| وصول 3 شهداء وإصابات إلى مجمع ناصر الطبي؛ جراء قصف الاحتلال مركبة قرب المستشفى البريطاني جنوب غربي مواصي خان يونس جنوبي قطاع غزة In the NewsTrump Says Netanyahu Won't Be Arrested in U.S. After Mamdani's ThreatsArchaeologists Reveal More Massive Beams From Babylonian Attack on Ancient J'lemIn Iran's Orbit After All: What Hamas' Choice of a New Leader MeansIsrael Police Officers Summoned for Hearing in Assault Probe of Arab ProsecutorThe Democrats Primary Results: Candidates Elected to Run Behind Yair GolanRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIThe Most Optimistic Israeli in Jerusalem Is Leaving the CountryAs Ground Invasion Looms, U.S. and Iran Want Wild-card Israel Out of the FightNetanyahu's Biggest Challenger: Who Is Gadi Eisenkot and What Does He Stand For?Democrats Rejected U.S. Aid to Israel, and AIPAC Couldn't Stop ThemBetween Messi and Milei: How Argentina Became Israel's Team at the World Cup103 House Democrats Vote to Cut U.S. Aid to Israel in Landmark Symbolic Vote