United News of Bangladesh

At least four people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed Saudi-backed forces carried out dozens of airstrikes in several areas. Two children were among at least four people killed in a fresh Israeli strike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike carried out early Thursday. In a statement, however, the military said its forces on Wednesday struck Hamas weapons storage facilities in three areas across Gaza. Israel has previously said its forces conduct strikes in response to perceived threats against its troops amid the fragile ceasefire that has been in place since October. Meanwhile, Al-Masirah TV, which is controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, reported that Saudi-backed forces carried out 40 airstrikes in recent hours in Taiz, Jawf, Hodeida and Marib provinces. The claim could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, while there was no immediate comment from the Saudi-backed forces. Fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces has intensified this week, raising concerns about a major escalation. The Houthis have also attacked oil facilities and utilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The death toll from an airstrike on a Houthi-run prison in Yemen’s Jawf province has risen to 23 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the rubble on Wednesday, as renewed fighting threatened the country’s fragile ceasefire. The prison in Hazm, the provincial capital, collapsed Monday after Saudi-led coalition strikes hit the area, injuring seven others. A child was among the dead, while seven people remained missing, according to Jawf civil defense chief Hassan Saboula. The Houthis retaliated Tuesday by attacking southern Saudi cities, prompting further coalition strikes Wednesday. Saudi-backed government forces also advanced in eastern Hazm, cutting Houthi supply routes. The rebels reported 48 airstrikes across six provinces within 12 hours. The escalation has also raised concerns over global oil shipments, with the Houthis targeting Saudi oil facilities and Red Sea shipping. The violence has shattered a four-year truce. The WHO said at least 194 people were killed and over 880 wounded in Yemen between Aug. 23 and Sept. 5, while more than 21,000 were displaced. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year. The conflict has killed at least 150,000 people, according to UN estimates.

Foreign ministers from eight Arab and Islamic countries have expressed hope that more nations will join the United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged the international community to "hold accountable settlement organizations and individuals engaged in illegal settlement activities". The diplomatic push follows the U.K.'s announcement banning imports of goods produced in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank. The British decision is part of a broader package of measures targeting expanding Israeli settlements and intensifying settler violence against Palestinian residents. France and Canada also announced that they would ban the import of products from Israeli settlements, while nine other countries, including Denmark and Portugal, endorsed the British measures. With inputs from Al Jazeera

The US military said Tuesday it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers after Iran targeted US Navy warships with ballistic missiles, while Tehran launched missiles at American targets in Jordan in the latest escalation in the more than six-month-old war. Iranian state media reported that missiles were fired toward US targets in Jordan following the US strikes. Jordan's military said its air defenses intercepted 18 ballistic missiles and that two others landed in uninhabited areas, with no casualties reported. The latest exchanges came as President Donald Trump pursued a combined military and economic strategy aimed at pressuring Iran to end the war. The US administration also announced sanctions against more than two dozen Iranian commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers as part of efforts to further isolate Tehran. The United States and Iran are also locked in a confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war. The conflict has pushed up energy prices, with Brent crude briefly reaching $99.46 a barrel on Tuesday. US forces destroyed three Iranian oil tankers Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guard attempted to strike a US aircraft carrier and destroyer with ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would continue responding to attacks on its naval forces. “For every time they do that or try to do that, they’re going to lose tankers,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia. US Central Command said Tuesday's strikes came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a US Navy warship twice over the previous two days. The warship evaded the attacks and continued patrolling regional waters, and no US personnel were injured, it said. The five tankers destroyed Tuesday were identified as the Kivik, Charminar, Horizon 1 and Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and the Derya near Iran's Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The crews were warned to abandon the vessels before the strikes, according to Central Command. Iranian state television also reported attacks on oil tankers near the southern port of Jask and Kharg Island, saying their crews had been evacuated. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy meanwhile warned crews of oil tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain to leave their vessels, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation. It accused the two Gulf countries of hosting US forces and supporting American attacks. The US blockade of Iranian ports has further squeezed Tehran's economy by restricting oil exports, while US forces have been assisting a limited number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz along a route near Oman. Iran has sought to impose its own designated route for ships passing through the strait, which had been regarded as international waters before the war. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, warned that continued military exchanges could trigger further retaliation and deepen the economic impact of the conflict. “There is no kinetic solution to the Strait of Hormuz problem,” he said, warning that attempts to resolve the dispute militarily could push Washington and Tehran toward an escalation that becomes increasingly difficult to control.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that the country will continue its resistance with strength until the "aggressors" are brought to complete regret. In a post on social media platform X, he also highlighted Iran's opposition to war. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been opposed to war and considered the preservation of the people's interests and ensuring the (West Asia) region's security to lie in refraining from warmongering," Pezeshkian said. He added, "However, just as it has courageously risen to defend against aggression up to this day, Iran will continue this resistance with strength until the aggressors are brought to complete regret, and will remain the guardian of the rights of the great Iranian people." On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets in the region, and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. On June 18, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war in the region. Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on Aug. 17, to reach a final agreement, but the talks' fate remains unclear following the recent escalations between the two countries.

Iran early Tuesday introduced a higher price for its heaviest users of gasoline, state media reported, in the latest economic pinch caused by months of war. It's the second such hike since December. Such gas price increases can be sensitive and contribute to inflation. An increase in 2019 sparked nationwide protests and a crackdown that reportedly killed over 300 people. Without specifically mentioning the war with the United States, the government's announcement cited the "current situation," adding that the extra money from the price increase will be given to households. Under the new system, people buying more than their quota of 110 liters (29 gallons) of gasoline a month now must pay 100,000 rials (about 7 cents) per liter, or twice as much as they have been paying since December.

At least 117 people have been killed in four days of fierce clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group in the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, medical officials said Sunday. A senior medical official accompanying government forces on the western coast frontlines, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 54 government soldiers were killed and many others wounded since the fighting erupted Thursday.  Additionally, two medical sources at Houthi-run hospitals in western Hodeidah province confirmed that 63 Houthi members were killed during the same period, bringing the total death toll from both sides to 117.  Meanwhile, government forces retook several key positions in western Taiz in a swift overnight counterattack, hours after Houthi members had seized them, according to a government military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.  The latest escalation represents some of the heaviest ground fighting in western Yemen in recent years, raising concerns of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm across many of the country's frontlines.  Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. 

US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian forces allegedly targeted American Navy vessels with ballistic missiles, marking a fresh escalation in the months-long conflict, the US military said Saturday. The US military said an aircraft carrier and a destroyer came under multiple “unprovoked Iranian attacks” while operating in the region, but no American personnel were injured. According to the US statement, two Iranian oil tankers were permanently disabled and a third, which was carrying no cargo, was destroyed. The military said the vessels were part of a shadow shipping network that helps finance Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its regional allies. US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper warned that Washington would defend its forces and, if necessary, destroy Iran's “limited and exposed oil fleet.” Iran's state broadcaster later reported that Iranian forces had targeted three oil tankers and three US vessels in retaliation for the American strikes. The report could not immediately be independently verified. An Iranian military command spokesperson warned that attacks on US warships would become more severe if Washington continued interfering with Iranian shipping. The US said one tanker was hit near Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil-export terminal, another near Jask east of the Strait of Hormuz, and the third in the Gulf of Oman. The crew of the empty tanker was ordered to abandon the vessel. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks as a war crime and warned that Washington and its allies would bear responsibility for the consequences of continued US aggression, including what Tehran described as economic warfare. The latest strikes came nearly a week after the United States and Iran resumed hostilities following a month-long lull. Fighting has again centered on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil and gas shipments. The conflict began on Feb. 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Months of intermittent fighting have inflicted military and economic damage on both sides, while diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have collapsed. The latest escalation also follows renewed attacks in southern Iran, where a US strike earlier this week killed at least five people. One attack hit a wedding gathering, according to local accounts. The Trump administration has pursued a combination of military action and economic pressure against Tehran. US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that there was no prospect of renewed negotiations while Iran continued attacking ships, although he noted that major military operations had ended in July. Iran, meanwhile, has continued exporting oil despite US sanctions and a blockade, relying partly on a shadow fleet of vessels to transport crude to international buyers. The country's nuclear programme remains a major source of tension. Negotiations intended to address the issue collapsed after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in June. The United States, Britain, France and Germany are now seeking to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over alleged failures to meet its nuclear nonproliferation obligations. With diplomacy stalled, Tehran has increasingly used control over the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. US forces have been helping commercial vessels navigate the waterway, although shipping traffic remains significantly below normal levels.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has announced that a new international mission is underway, with vessels stopping at European ports ahead of an attempt to reach Gaza’s shores in October. The coalition said in a statement that the mission to "challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly blockade of Gaza" will proceed despite the violence Israeli forces previously inflicted on volunteers and activists, including documented cases of severe beatings, repeated tasering and sexual assault.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday announced overnight airstrikes targeting Hezbollah militants and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon. According to the IDF, the military action was launched after Hezbollah directed a drone toward Israeli troops positioned in an IDF-held security zone in southern Lebanon on Friday evening. No Israeli soldiers were injured in the drone incident. The military statement noted that the targets included weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah to plan and direct attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. "The strikes were carried out to remove an immediate threat," the statement added. The IDF reiterated that it will not allow Hezbollah to threaten its soldiers or civilians and will continue to eliminate security threats while remaining committed to the ceasefire agreement.