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Hezbollah preparing for new campaign against Israel – report

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August 17, 2026 Hezbollah. (Shutterstock) Hezbollah gearing up for new confrontation with Israel in southern Lebanon aimed at torpedoing peace talks, while waiting for approval from Iran. By World Israel News Staff Hezbollah is deliberately stepping up military pressure in southern Lebanon while waiting for approval from Iran to widen the confrontation with Israel, according to a Lebanese political source, raising fears that renewed fighting could derail US-backed negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut. The assessment, first reported by Lebanon’s Nidaa al-Watan, said Hezbollah was seeking to undermine the direct negotiations and was awaiting instructions from Tehran before deciding whether to escalate …

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US pressure ramps up as Kushner, Mladenov to meet with Netanyahu to advance Trump’s Gaza plan

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According to a senior official, the talks expected in Jerusalem will focus on ways to accelerate the implementation of Trump’s 20-point plan, with the end goal being a demilitarized Hamas. US President Donald Trump listens, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner speaks, during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, US, February 19, 2026.(photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)Which committee is set to take control of Gaza?›What condition must be met before Israeli forces withdraw?›Why is Jared Kushner pressuring Netanyahu in Jerusalem?›Who is Nikolay Mladenov?› ByIDAN KWELLERAUGUST 17, 2026 08:15Updated: AUGUST 17, 2026 08:27 Jared Kushner, Nikolay …

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Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy denies financial deal with Hamas: ‘Not on the table’

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$400 million will pay ‘legitimate’ contractors, severance to Hamas civil servants not hired by new technocratic government, sources tell ToI; NCAG to audit Hamas books By Lazar Berman Follow and Jacob Magid Follow12 August 2026, 7:43 pm Palestinians in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip, August 12, 2026. (Abed Rahim Khatib/FLASH90) The Board of Peace on Wednesday denied that there is any “financial agreement” with Hamas, after the Kan public broadcaster reported that the body agreed to cover $400 million of Hamas’s debt to outside parties as part of its roadmap for the terror group’s disarmament. Instead, the sum earmarked in the disarmament plan will …

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Jared Kushner plans to visit Israel, Egypt next week for Gaza talks

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US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is planning to visit Israel next week for talks on the situation in Gaza, Axios reported on Thursday. US Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on as US President Donald Trump holds up a resolution document that he signed during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on February 19.(photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)What is the Board of Peace?›Who will Kushner meet regarding Gaza peace talks?›What role is Donald Trump playing in this visit?›Why …

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IDF kills second Hezbollah commander in round of weekend strikes in southern Lebanon

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Both attacks came in response to the incident in which three IDF soldiers were seriously wounded over the weekend. Explosion of infrastructure in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side. August 10, 2026.(photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAMAUGUST 16, 2026 08:34Updated: AUGUST 16, 2026 10:11 The IDF killed senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa during weekend strikes in the Deir ez-Zahrani area in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Sunday morning. Alaa served as a commander in Hezbollah’s Bader Unit and had carried out attacks on IDF soldiers operating in the region. The military noted that its strikes came alongside those from over the weekend …

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Israeli strikes reported in south Lebanon as Defense Minister Katz vows to ‘settle scores’

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Reported nighttime attacks come day after three soldiers were seriously injured by Hezbollah drone; IDF names second senior Hezbollah commander killed in Saturday strikes By Emanuel Fabian, Follow ToI Staff and Agencies Today, 11:12 am Heavy machinery, first aid responders and residents search the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese village of Deir al-Zahrani on August 15, 2026. (Abbas FAKIH/AFP) Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon Saturday overnight, a day after three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah. The reported strikes came hours after residents …

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Iranian Foreign Minister: No intention of returning to negotiations with US

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Aug 16, 2026 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “60 days have passed since the agreement signed with the US, we have no intention at the moment to return to negotiations with the United States.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/flashes/691809

Iran disputes Qatar, Kuwait accounts of captured Iranian personnel, demands to investigate

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In May, Iran said the four were affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and had been on a maritime patrol before entering Kuwaiti territorial waters because of a navigation disruption. A fighter jet fly during a military exercise called Fidayeen of Hareem Velayat in Isfahan, Iran, in this picture obtained on July 24, 2023.(photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)Why were four Iranians detained in Kuwait?›Why is Iran demanding emergency access to Qatar?›What is the Revolutionary Guards?›What did Qatari search teams find in March?› ByREUTERS AUGUST 16, 2026 10:54Updated: AUGUST 16, 2026 11:43 An Iranian military official said on Sunday …

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Iran’s military reshuffle reflects the regime’s narrowing pool of trusted officials

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 August 16, 2026 Shiite women take pictures of a giant billboard that shows the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, with Arabic writing that reads: “Thank you Iran”, in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) What is taking shape is an architecture built around institutional memory, loyalty, and coercive power. By Erfan Fard, Middle East Forum Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, or whomever is acting in his name, is not merely rebuilding Iran’s military command but, rather, is constructing a new security architecture for his rule. The appointments …

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IDF tank hit by Hamas explosive device in ‘Yellow Line area’

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 August 16, 2026 IDF tank in the Gaza Strip. (IDF) On Thursday, the IDF targeted and killed Hudhaifa Khaled Suleiman Qawari, a company commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade of Hamas’s “military” wing. By JNS An Israel Defense Forces tank on Saturday drove over an explosive charge planted by Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said. There were no injuries in the incident, which took place during Givati Infantry Brigade operations in the “Yellow Line area,” the IDF said. No further details were provided. In a separate incident, Israeli troops killed a pair of terrorists in Gaza who …

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Iran sets sweeping US demands for reopening Strait of Hormuz as Oman deal nears

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 August 9, 2026 An IRGC vessel shadows an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz Friday, May 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell) Tehran says Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened unless the US lifts all sanctions, pays reparations to Iran, and withdraws its forces from neighboring countries. By World Israel News Staff Iran said Saturday it will not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the United States lifts sanctions, withdraws military forces from around the country, ends attacks on Tehran and its regional allies and compensates Iran for damage from the war, raising new obstacles to US efforts …

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Report: Lebanon and Israel select nations to monitor Hezbollah disarmament

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US official confirms progress in Oman-Iran talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, noting Washington will lift its blockade once a deal is finalized. Israel National News Published: Aug 7, 2026, 10:50 PM (GMT+3) Oil tanker in Strait of HormuziStock Diplomatic negotiations involving Oman and Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz have made measurable headway, with an agreement expected shortly, a US official informed Reuters on Friday. Following a public announcement confirming the unhindered restoration of commercial maritime transit, the United States intends to remove its naval blockade against Iranian harbor facilities, said the official. However, the official emphasized that American policy changes …

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US official reports progress in Strait of Hormuz accord

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US official confirms progress in Oman-Iran talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, noting Washington will lift its blockade once a deal is finalized. Israel National News Published: Aug 7, 2026, 10:50 PM (GMT+3) Oil tanker in Strait of HormuziStock Diplomatic negotiations involving Oman and Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz have made measurable headway, with an agreement expected shortly, a US official informed Reuters on Friday. Following a public announcement confirming the unhindered restoration of commercial maritime transit, the United States intends to remove its naval blockade against Iranian harbor facilities, said the official. However, the official emphasized that American policy changes …

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Trump says renewed US-Iran talks are Tehran’s last chance to sign deal ‘before decapitation’

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He added that “nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a deal, or total surrender, is accomplished.” US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on August 3, 2026.(photo credit: Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)What is Truth Social?›What two conditions did Trump demand from Iran?›What claims did Iranian leaders proudly make publicly?›Why is Donald Trump calling Iranian leaders duplicitous?› ByGOLDIE KATZ, SHOSHANA BAKER AUGUST 3, 2026 18:36 Updated: AUGUST 3, 2026 22:26 US President Donald Trump claimed that talks with Iran …

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