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Jordan and Syria have agreed to form a joint committee to investigate Jordanian airstrikes that killed several civilians in Syria, raising tensions between the neighbouring countries. Jordan said on Tuesday that its airstrikes in Syria killed around 20 militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group, while acknowledging that civilians were also killed. Syrian authorities reported seven deaths, most of them women and children. In a joint statement issued after a telephone conversation between the two countries' foreign ministers, the sides said they would “develop mechanisms for field and intelligence coordination to deal with terrorist threats in a manner that ensures the preservation of Syrian sovereignty and the protection of the lives of innocent civilians.” Jordan's air force launched the strikes on Monday evening in retaliation for last week's attack on a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the southern Jordanian city of Karak, which killed nine people. Earlier on Monday, Jordan announced the arrest of three gunmen in connection with the attack but did not disclose their affiliation. The death toll provided by Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani differed from figures reported by Syrian emergency responders. Syria's civil defence authorities said they had recovered the bodies of seven civilians killed in the strikes in the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida. Five of the victims belonged to the same family, including three children and a woman, while two other victims were elderly men. The Syrian government said the strikes were carried out without prior coordination or notification. Both Damascus and Amman said they were in contact and following up on the incident. In a statement, Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks as an “unacceptable violation and encroachment” of Syrian airspace. However, it also said the leaderships of both countries would strengthen security coordination to “obstruct any efforts to destabilize the two countries' security and spill the blood of its people.” Al-Momani said the strikes were based on intelligence indicating “confirmed threats and planned terrorist acts against Jordan”. He also expressed regret over the civilian casualties. Jordan and Syria have maintained strong bilateral relations since the fall of the Assad dynasty in December 2024 and the emergence of an Islamist-led government under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Masoud al-Salim lost his wife, son and three grandchildren when one of the strikes hit his home in the Syrian border village of Al-Tuff in Daraa province. “I came running and found there was no house anymore, no tent, nothing. I couldn't find anyone,” al-Salim said as he searched through children's schoolbooks and toys scattered in the rubble. “I started looking under the rubble. I thought they might be buried there,” he said. At the funeral of the family killed in Monday's strikes, mourners struggled to come to terms with their loss. “When the church in Karak was targeted, we felt sorry for them and were upset for them,” said Majed al-Hayjan, a resident of Daraa. “But what did the children who were sleeping have to do with this? We had to pull them out from under the rubble. What did they do to deserve this?” he said.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Tuesday there was no indication that Iran had attempted to repair or rebuild its nuclear facilities damaged in US and Israeli military strikes in 2025 and 2026. US President Donald Trump has said one of the main reasons Washington went to war with Iran on February 28 was to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. At the same time, he has maintained that US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 had “obliterated” the country's nuclear programme. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi urged Iran to allow inspectors access to all its nuclear facilities, including those damaged in the military attacks. The IAEA has been unable to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium since the United States bombed its nuclear sites last year. However, Grossi said, “Since June 2025, we have not identified any activity to repair or reconstruct any of the facilities damaged in the military attacks of 2025 and 2026.” Trump has repeatedly played down the economic impact of the war with Iran, which has become a political liability for Republicans ahead of next week's midterm elections. He has argued that higher fuel prices are a price worth paying to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Grossi's remarks on Tuesday evening. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful. However, the IAEA says the country has a stockpile of 440.9 kilogrammes (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short technical step away from the 90% enrichment level generally associated with weapons-grade uranium. The Security Council meeting was requested by Bahrain, Denmark, Latvia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States after the IAEA referred Iran to the council over its failure to comply with nuclear non-proliferation obligations. Russia and China, both allies of Iran, unsuccessfully attempted to block the meeting. Under its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally required to declare all nuclear materials and activities and allow IAEA inspectors to verify that none of them is diverted from peaceful purposes. Iran's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Gholamhossein Darzi, criticised the Security Council for remaining silent following the US-Israeli attacks, condemning what he described as their “wars of aggression against Iran” and accusing Washington of committing war crimes against the Iranian people. Darzi did not address the IAEA's unanswered questions or its demand for the return of inspectors. Instead, he argued that “Israel possesses nuclear weapons, yet your concern is the absence of inspectors in Iran.” Israel has never confirmed that it possesses nuclear weapons. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz described Iran as a “brutal dictatorship” and asked whether the Iranian ambassador wanted to apologise to Bahrain's envoy, whose country is a member of the Security Council, for attacking his country. “We've heard tireless allegations against the United States,” Waltz said. “What we have not heard today is an explanation for Iran's continued failure to satisfy its safeguard obligations.” Waltz said the IAEA had sought answers from Iran and urged the Iranian representative to begin providing them. “Your lies are no good here,” he said.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday accused government forces of killing at least two people in a late Monday strike on a gas station near the besieged city of Taiz, where fighting has intensified. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said several others were wounded. Yemen’s military said it had launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in Taiz. Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV also reported government strikes on Mokha and Dhubab, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the AP could not independently verify the claims. Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Brig Gen Turki al-Malki said coalition forces intercepted four Houthi drones targeting southern Saudi Arabia and three ballistic missiles aimed at its eastern region. The AP could not verify the claim. Human Rights Watch said a Houthi attack on October 18 severely damaged the Hayjat al-Abd road, a vital route for food, fuel and medicine into Taiz, worsening the humanitarian crisis and potentially violating international law. Meanwhile, Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti warned that Egypt’s support for Saudi Arabia could be considered a “hostile action” against Yemen. Egyptian lawmakers approved a measure supporting Saudi Arabia on Monday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Tuesday called for collective efforts to ease regional tensions during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart. He said Cairo was in contact with Washington and Tehran to pursue peace, stressing that “a military solution is not a solution.”

Israelis will vote in a crucial election on Tuesday as the country remains embroiled in unresolved wars, grapples with the aftermath of Hamas' 2023 attack and faces deep divisions over its national identity and leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a challenge from a coalition of parties seeking to end his long rule, with opinion polls suggesting a close contest against his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Israel's fragmented parliamentary system has never produced a single party with an outright majority, forcing political leaders to form coalitions to govern. With nonaligned Arab parties pushing for higher voter turnout, neither Netanyahu's religious and ultranationalist bloc nor the parties seeking to remove him may secure enough seats to command a parliamentary majority. Such an outcome could lead to weeks of negotiations before a new government is formed. Arab-led parties could emerge as kingmakers if they agree to support one of the two main contenders. Tensions with Iran also loom over the election, with Netanyahu intensifying his warnings against Tehran ahead of the vote. In a video released this week, he stood beside a missile-defence battery and warned that Iran would face “a devastating blow” if it attacked Israel. The election is Israel's first national vote since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza and related conflicts across the region. The contest is seen not only as a referendum on Netanyahu's lengthy leadership but also as a choice over the country's future direction — whether Israel will remain strongly influenced by religious and nationalist forces or move towards more liberal and secular values. The outcome could shape the future of a country whose leadership and policies have faced growing criticism from traditional allies. Since the 2023 Hamas attack, Israel has become increasingly isolated internationally over its military campaign in Gaza and its policies in the occupied West Bank, where violence by Jewish settlers has intensified. Public support for Israel in the United States has declined sharply, while several longstanding partners in Europe and elsewhere have imposed sanctions on the country in recent months. For Israeli voters, the election offers an opportunity to determine the country's course after Netanyahu's turbulent four-year term. His supporters regard him as an experienced statesman who has steered Israel through multiple wars. They believe he is safeguarding the country's Jewish identity while restraining what they consider an overly interventionist judiciary. His critics, however, portray him as a divisive leader who has prolonged the Gaza war and the crisis over hostages taken during the October 7 attack for political reasons while facing an ongoing corruption trial. They also accuse him of undermining judicial independence and weakening democratic institutions. In addition, they blame his government for allowing ultra-Orthodox religious Jews to avoid compulsory military service. Eisenkot's supporters view him as a capable leader with strong security credentials who, alongside his prospective coalition partners, could counter what they see as a growing threat to Israel's liberal values. His personal experience of the conflict has also shaped his public image. His son and two nephews were killed in Gaza, and supporters believe he understands the deep pain that has gripped Israeli society since the October 2023 attack. Parties expected to support Eisenkot have pledged to improve Israel's international standing, introduce compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox men and strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

Israelis entered the final 24 hours of an intense election season on Monday, as reports circulated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have clashed with the Israeli military over initiating a possible escalation with Iran immediately before elections. Tensions flared over reports that Netanyahu and his military chief of staff clashed over an instruction by the prime minister to carry out an "action" the army worried could reignite the conflict with Iran. Netanyahu's office denied the report, first published by Israel's Channel 12, as "fake news." Defense Minister Israel Katz also quickly denied the report. "I state unequivocally that there has been no intention by Israel of initiating an attack on Iran before the elections in Israel," Katz wrote on X on Monday, calling reports of rifts between political and military leaders "completely baseless and false." However, he stressed that Israel would respond forcefully if Iran attacks first. Israel's opposition candidates slammed the reports, accusing Netanyahu of endangering regional stability for his political preservation. Netanyahu's main rival, former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, warned Netanyahu not to "dare to place your own political interests above the security of the state." He posted on X, "Netanyahu, my eyes are on you." Avigdor Lieberman, head of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu party, part of the opposition bloc, sent a letter to Israel's attorney general demanding a criminal investigation into possible treason by Netanyahu's "attempts to drag Israel into a war on the eve of elections, including a willingness to sacrifice (Israeli) soldiers out of fear of losing the election." Although Israelis are breathlessly approaching the election as one of the most crucial in years, people across the Middle East not expecting dramatic changes regardless of the victor. Both Netanyahu and his main rivals have similar approaches to Israel's regional security in both Gaza and Iran. In southern Gaza, Jamal Abu Deeb, who was displaced from Khan Younis, said that no matter who is elected, it won't be good news for the Palestinians. "It is all war and destruction," he said, adding that there are still strikes every day that kill people and children across Gaza. "Do you think whoever gets elected will give us a better life? Quite the opposite." "They all have the same playbook, they have no mercy — death and destruction for everyone," said Ibrahim Qeshta, who was displaced from Rafah. "Eisenkot is like Netanyahu, he will be the same. Our people die everyday, for nothing." Iran also watched the last-minute electioneering warily. "It makes no difference to us who ultimately takes the helm of a regime whose track record shows that it has brought nothing to our region but violence and bloodshed," Esmail Baghaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, said in his weekly media briefing on Monday.

At least five people, including a child, were killed in fresh Israeli air strikes targeting camps and tents of displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday. Civil Defence agency spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said Israeli fire and air strikes have killed at least 13 people and wounded about 60 others across Gaza over the past 24 hours. Emergency responders transported three bodies, including that of a child, following an Israeli air strike targeting a camp for displaced people in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, Bassal told media. A fourth person was killed in a separate attack on a tent housing displaced Palestinians near Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, media said. Meanwhile, a third air strike in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighbourhood killed one person and injured three others, according to officials at al-Shifa Hospital. With inputs from Al Jazeera

Tehran is dotted with bombed-out buildings from U.S. and Israeli strikes during the height of the war in March and April. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed. Hashem Vajdani, 45, a gym trainer, said he plans to leave the city as anxiety grows. “I have already packed my belongings to go to a safer town in the north of the country,” he said. “Today I bought more canned food, crackers and extra blankets.” There are concerns that new fighting could bring a higher toll for Iranian civilians. Thousands have been killed in the war. Trump has repeated threats to take out power plants and other infrastructure. Anger at the U.S. president has found expression in a billboard set up days ago at a major Tehran square. Passersby have gawked at a Trump impersonator languishing behind bars as footage airing behind him shows a deadly strike on a wedding party in southern Iran that was blamed on the U.S. Staring up at the cage, Farzaneh Arabzadeh, 30, said she hoped the scene would happen in reality. Trump said he launched the war to help Iranians, she said, but he “put our people in a worse situation.” The elections in Israel and the U.S. are expected to reflect voters' anger over the war and other issues. Trump’s political support could be weakened, while Netanyahu is in a tight race at a time of anger over Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and a series of inconclusive wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Israel's elections are especially important, Tehran-based analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour said. If Netanyahu stays, there is a higher chance of all-out war resuming because of his willingness to take major risks, he added. Tehran residents said neither election is likely to improve relations. “It makes no difference. Their hostility toward us remains unchanged,” said Rasool Ghanbari, 50.  

Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Friday after accusing them of attempting an attack near Hebron, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order security forces to seal off the city and prepare for a territory-wide closure. At least five other people were injured in the incident, some of them critically, according to reports. The Israeli military said it had thwarted what it described as a “terror attack against Israeli civilians”. The two Palestinians, both from Hebron, were carrying an M16 rifle and a handgun, the military said, without specifying the intended target. Netanyahu’s office later announced that security forces had been instructed to immediately cordon off Hebron and prepare for a complete closure of the West Bank beginning Friday. The incident comes ahead of Israel’s parliamentary election scheduled for Tuesday, which will determine whether Netanyahu secures another term as prime minister. The vote is taking place three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. Israeli authorities have warned of possible attacks by the country’s “enemies” ahead of the election. Following the shooting, Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet and senior military and security officials. He alleged that Hamas was planning a major attack aimed at killing civilians but provided no details of the alleged plot. “Our brave soldiers thwarted this attack with courage and determination,” Netanyahu said, praising the forces involved and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery. He did not clarify whether those injured were soldiers or civilians. Earlier on Friday, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank following the incident. “The lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria, of the settlers, the lives of the soldiers, the lives of the police officers, the lives of our fighters are a million times more important than freedom of movement,” he said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank. Ahead of the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, Netanyahu had also accused the Palestinian militant group of potentially seeking to carry out an attack to influence the Israeli election outcome, without presenting evidence to support the claim.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced early Friday that it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by Yemen's Houthi group toward the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to a statement posted on X by the coalition's spokesperson. Loud explosions were heard in Riyadh early Friday, while residents received alerts on their mobile phones. The coalition also announced the interception and destruction of two drones launched by the group toward the kingdom's southern region, without providing further details.    

Britain will deploy Royal Air Force jets to protect Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks, as violence across the Middle East continues to claim lives, including in Yemen and Gaza. British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said RAF Typhoon jets would conduct defensive air patrols over Saudi Arabia to protect cities, civilians and critical infrastructure. The UK will also send a military transport aircraft and an unspecified number of military advisers, while extending its aerial refuelling support for Saudi aircraft by 90 days. British jets will intercept incoming missiles and drones but will not attack Houthi positions on the ground. In southern Yemen, the death toll from a Houthi missile strike on a government military training camp in Shabwa province has risen to 73, according to Governor Awad Ibn al-Wazir. The recruits, aged 18 to 20, were targeted at the al-Alam camp, with some still missing a day after Monday’s attack. In the besieged city of Taiz, a Houthi missile struck a residential area on Tuesday, killing two teenage girls and injuring six others, local authorities said. The UN warned that the siege has left civilians at grave risk, with soaring prices and shortages of food and other necessities. UN human rights chief Volker Türk called for humanitarian aid to enter the city and for civilians wishing to leave to be allowed to do so safely. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza before dawn killed a husband and wife and wounded others, according to Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas militant. Gaza’s health ministry said more than 1,500 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire agreed last year. Separately, a senior Qatari official said Israel’s political leaders were not committed to a negotiated end to the Gaza war. Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, told The Associated Press that there was currently no Israeli partner for peace. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also suggested possible further joint action against Iran in a video call with US President Donald Trump, saying the two leaders had a job to finish together. Meanwhile, Turkey has submitted to parliament a mutual defence agreement signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for ratification. The pact stipulates that an armed attack against one signatory would be treated as an attack against all three and provides for closer military cooperation and intelligence sharing.