WASHINGTON: Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
Hezbollah claims attacks
Lebanese group Hezbollah said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday, targeting troops and a village.
The Israeli military’s Home Front Command said air raid sirens were activated across the border. There were no reports of any casualties or damage.
Israel under Iran missile fire
Israel’s military said air defences responded to waves of Iranian missile fire early Thursday, including at least two attacks after US President Donald Trump delivered an address to the American public about the war.
After the first attack, police said officers were called to “several” impact sites in central Israel, and media reports citing medics said four people were lightly wounded.
Oil prices jump
Oil prices spiked after Trump reiterated that US forces would hammer Iran for another two to three weeks but offered no solution to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has crippled global markets.
Brent crude, which had fallen back below $100 a barrel Wednesday, surged almost seven percent to hit $108.15, while West Texas Intermediate jumped more than five percent to $105.65.
Australia doesn’t see ‘end point’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the original aims of the war in Iran had been met.
“Now those objectives have been realised it is not clear what more needs to be achieved or what the end point looks like,” he said during a speech in the capital Canberra.
“What is clear is that the longer the war goes on the more significant the impact on the global economy will be.”
Trump vows big strikes
In a speech from the White House, Trump insisted that the United States was nearing victory in Iran, and vowed two to three more weeks of “extremely hard” strikes.
“We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close,” he said in remarks that largely rehashed his daily streams of social-media postings and rapid media interviews.
Trump again threatened that if Iran does not reach a negotiated settlement with him, the United States would “hit each and every one of their electric generating plants.”
UAE responds to ’threats
Emirati air defences were responding to missile and drone “threats” on Thursday, the United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said.
Since the war erupted, the UAE and other Gulf countries have been regularly targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign.
Iran calls US demands ‘irrational’
Iran said Thursday that Washington’s demands were “maximalist and irrational” and denied any negotiations were under way on a ceasefire to end the war in the Middle East.
“Messages have been received through intermediaries, including Pakistan, but there is no direct negotiation with the US,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, quoted by the ISNA news agency.
World Bank raises alarm
The World Bank is “extremely concerned” about the impact the conflict will have on inflation, jobs and food security, and is in talks with member states on how to address immediate needs in the crisis, a top official told AFP on Wednesday.
Managing Director Paschal Donohoe’s comments came as his organization announced a new partnership with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Energy Agency (IEA) to coordinate aid responses to the war.
Israel medics say 14 wounded
Israel’s emergency services said 14 people, including an 11-year-old girl, were wounded near Tel Aviv during a missile attack that the military blamed on Iran.
Later in the day, medics said they were treating a 61-year-old man in mild condition with blast injuries in the north following fire from Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
‘America First’?
Iran’s president asked Americans if the Middle East conflict was truly putting “America First” and accused the US of war crimes and being influenced by Israel.
The US-Israeli attacks sow “instability, increase human and economic costs” and plant “seeds of resentment that will endure for years,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?”
Iran Guards say Hormuz closed to ‘enemies’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards insisted that the strategic Strait of Hormuz will remain closed to the country’s “enemies,” as Trump said re-opening the strait was one of his conditions for a ceasefire.
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