LiveLive Updates July 30, 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 30, 2026UpdatesKuwait's chief of staff meets in Saudi Arabia with defense coalition for Bab el-Mandeb StraitA satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key shipping waterway and the gateway to the Red Sea, in July. Credit: Nasa Worldview via Reuters A satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key shipping waterway and the gateway to the Red Sea, in July. Credit: Nasa Worldview via Reuters Kuwait's ‌chief of staff, ⁠General ⁠Khaled Al-Shuraian, met in Saudi Arabia with ‌a "maritime ‌defense coalition" for preserving freedom of navigation in Bab ⁠el-Mandeb Strait, Kuwait's state ‌news ⁠agency ‌reported Thursday. The Bab al-Mandab Strait, which lies between Yemen and Somalia, connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Iran's Araghchi presses European counterparts over use of bases in U.S. operationsIran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ⁠urged Bulgaria to ‌reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of ‌U.S. military aircraft at the Bezmer air base, Iranian state media ⁠reported on Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Baghdad, Iraq, in June. Credit: Hadi Mizban/AP Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Baghdad, Iraq, in June.Credit: Hadi Mizban/AP During a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Velislava ⁠Petrova-Chamova, Araghchi said Sofia's approval of a U.S. request to station military aircraft at the base to support military operations amounted to facilitating aggression against Iran, adding the move was unacceptable and contrary ‌to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries.Iran has repeatedly warned ‌countries allowing their territory to be used for U.S. military operations against it that they could "face consequences".Araghchi held a separate phone call with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, during which he stressed the importance of preventing foreign military bases in Cyprus from being used against Iran.Bulgaria's parliament last week approved the temporary deployment of up to eight U.S. KC-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 personnel at Bezmer ⁠air base despite Iranian objections. Sofia has said no offensive weapons would be deployed and that the move did not ‌make Bulgaria a party to ⁠military operations.Cyprus hosts two British sovereign military ‌bases, including RAF Akrotiri, which was struck by an Iranian drone in early March, a few days after Israel and the U.S. initiated ⁠strikes on Iran.Britain agreed early on in the war to a U.S. request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.This arrangement was maintained by ‌the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in July, prompting Iran's Revolutionary Guards to warn Britain against facilitating U.S. military operations ⁠against Iran.Gaza death toll rises to six as medical sources report Israeli drone strike The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to six Thursday after one Palestinian was killed in a drone strike and a woman died from wounds sustained earlier.According to medical sources, one Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli drone strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza.Separately, a woman died after succumbing to wounds sustained in a drone strike in Gaza City earlier Thursday. Zaid Muhammad Nawfal, who was killed in Al-Bureij camp.Zaid Muhammad Nawfal, who was killed in Al-Bureij camp.Medics and Palestinian media had previously reported four Palestinian deaths in strikes across Gaza, including an 8-year-old child and an 18-month-old child.Read the full articleReport: IRGC claims responsibility for attack on air base in KuwaitIran's Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility Thursday for an attack on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.The air base, located about 37 kilometers (23 miles) from the Iraqi border, hosts U.S. Air Force units. The base has been targeted in multiple attacks claimed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including a drone attack in April that wounded 15 Americans, according to CBS News.Cairo mediators propose Palestinian technocratic committee to oversee all weapons in Gaza, source says Mediators and representatives of the Board of Peace are advancing a proposal that would place all weapons in the Gaza Strip under the "full control" of a Palestinian technocratic committee, a diplomatic source involved in talks with Hamas in Cairo told Haaretz on Thursday.The source said discussions among Hamas, the mediators and Board of Peace representatives are progressing, but that Hamas has not yet accepted the proposal.Under the plan being discussed, all weapons in Gaza, including heavy and light arms, would eventually come under the committee's authority. The proposal also calls for dismantling tunnels, weapons storage sites and facilities used for weapons production.The source said Hamas would have no role "either on the front lines or behind the scenes" under the proposed arrangement."No one is talking about registration," the source said, adding that weapons would be collected and consolidated by the technocratic committee. "One authority, one law, one weapon."The source said Israel has supported the Board of Peace's work, conducted briefings and coordinated with its representatives."The Israeli cabinet's decisions last weekend reflect the Israeli government's support," the source said, referring to a security cabinet decision Sunday to allow Board of Peace representatives to enter Gaza."We have shared understandings on the path forward," the source added. "All steps must be fully implemented and verified."Iran says U.S. strike on Qeshm Island killed family of threeIranian state media reported Thursday that a U.S. strike on a residential building on Qeshm Island killed a couple and their child.Two other children were wounded in the strike and taken to a hospital, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.Videos from the Chah-Tango neighborhood of Qeshm City in Hormozgan province showed rescue workers searching through rubble for survivors.The U.S. military did not immediately comment on the report. Earlier Thursday, U.S. Central Command said it had "successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes" against Iranian targets.Qeshm Island is located in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route that has become a focal point of the conflict.Iraq says no evidence its territory was used to launch attacks on Saudi ArabiaIraq said Thursday it has found no evidence that its territory was used to launch drone attacks on Saudi Arabia earlier this week, after Riyadh accused drones launched from Iraq of targeting critical infrastructure and the capital, Riyadh."No party has provided any evidence to substantiate these claims so far," Iraqi Prime Minister spokesperson Sabah Al-Numan said, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency."The government will not tolerate any unilateral actions originating from within Iraq, while at the same time it will not accept any violation coming from outside its borders," he added.The comments came a day after joint U.S.-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, which the Popular Mobilization Forces said killed at least 20 people and wounded 32.Iran says three Revolutionary Guards members killed in U.S. strikeThree members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in U.S. strikes on Iran's northern Zanjan Province, Iranian state media reported Thursday.The Revolutionary Guards also claimed they attacked Jordan's Azraq Air Base, saying several U.S. officers and technical staff were killed and that three U.S. F-35 fighter jets were hit, with heavy damage caused to three additional aircraft. The U.S. has not commented.Jordan's armed forces said earlier Thursday that they intercepted five Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom. The Guards said the attack on Azraq was carried out in response to U.S. strikes on Qeshm Island. The base hosts the U.S. Air Force Central Command's 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing and has previously been targeted by Iran.Separately, Iran's ILNA news agency reported that talks with Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz are continuing despite the ongoing conflict.15-year-old indicted over alleged threats to attack Israeli soldiersState prosecutors indicted a 15-year-old from Kafr Qasem, an Arab city in central Israel, on Thursday, accusing him of making ideologically motivated terrorist threats after allegedly saying in a WhatsApp group that he planned to carry out an attack against Israeli soldiers.According to the indictment, the teen sent voice messages threatening to plant explosives targeting soldiers and claimed he knew where they were stationed. Prosecutors said he repeated the threats even after another group member warned him the messages could be reported to police. One participant later alerted authorities.Prosecutors asked the court to keep the minor under restrictive conditions until the end of proceedings, including banning him from possessing a mobile phone or using social media.Gaza border leaders urge Katz to halt cutbacks to local emergency response teamsHeads of communities near the Gaza border on Thursday called on Defense Minister Israel Katz to halt planned reductions to local emergency response teams.In a letter to Katz, the leaders wrote that "the first line of defense in Gaza border communities must not be weakened," arguing that cuts to reserve duty days for the teams would harm residents' security and contradict a commitment not to reduce local defense forces until the end of the year.The move, they said, ignored the lessons of the October 7 attack and demanded that the government suspend the reductions, consult with local authorities before making changes to civilian security arrangements, and provide long-term funding for the emergency response teams.IDF says two Israelis crossed into Syria from Mount Hermon area, returned to IsraelThe IDF said Thursday that two Israeli civilians crossed the border into Syria from the Mount Hermon area and were returned to Israel after soldiers were dispatched to locate them.Israeli soldiers patrol on snow along Mount Hermon in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights bordering Lebanon and Syria, January. Credit: AFP/JALAA MAREYIsraeli soldiers patrol on snow along Mount Hermon in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights bordering Lebanon and Syria, January. Credit: AFP/JALAA MAREYThe civilians were transferred to the Israel Police for further handling, the military said."The IDF strongly condemns such incidents, which constitute an additional incident that disturbs the soldiers' operational activity in the area and puts them in danger," the army said.The IDF added that "law enforcement authorities are required to bring those involved to justice and to prevent those individuals from repeatedly engaging in this incident, which constitutes a criminal offense."In the NewsBoard of Peace 'Close to Finalizing' Deal With Hamas and Mediators, Source SaysDozens of IDF Soldiers Desert Base in Protest of Commander Taking Down BannersPoll: Netanyahu and Eisenkot's Parties Tied, Bennett-Lapid Merger Lose SeatsTop Chef Eyal Shani: How to Prepare Raw Fish Like a ProIsraeli Medic Charged With Spying for Iran, Filmed Herzog Hospital VisitRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIIsrael's Far Right Is Repeating the Sin That Brought Down the TempleAl Jazeera Reportedly Ends Contracts of Over 20 Gazan JournalistsNetanyahu Says Israel Has 'Special Forces' Ready if He's Arrested on NY VisitWith the West Bank Primed to Explode, Israel's Government Sees an OpportunityTwo Israelis, Four Palestinians Killed in Clash After Settlers Enter TownThese Young Israelis Are Calling for the Zionist Left to Confront the Occupation