Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
– **Iran says second US plane downed**
Iran’s military says it has downed a second US military jet in the Gulf, according to state media. There was no immediate confirmation or denial from Washington.
– **Man killed in Syria**
State media in Syria said Israeli fire killed a man in Quneitra province in the country’s south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The SANA agency said the man had been killed in an attack by “an Israeli tank,” while state television said a car was targeted.
– **One killed at UAE gas site**
An Egyptian national was killed and four others wounded after a fire at a gas complex in Abu Dhabi, caused by falling debris from an intercepted attack, the government media office said. Two of the four people hurt were from Egypt, while the others were from Pakistan, it said.
– **Trump briefed on downed plane, Iran hunts for pilot**
US President Donald Trump has been briefed about the downing of a military jet in Iran that has triggered a major search and rescue operation for the crew, the White House said. US media has reported that one crew member was rescued. Iranian authorities urged people living in the rugged southwest of the country to search for the jet’s crew, as state TV broadcast images of what was said to be the mangled debris.
– **Lebanon university warning**
The US embassy in Lebanon, where the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group is at war with Israel, said that Iran and allied groups could seek to target universities in the country. Among other universities, Lebanon is home to the American University of Beirut, one of the most prominent US institutions in the region, whose campus and hospital are in the heart of the capital.
– **Trump seeks $1.5 tn defence budget**
Trump asked lawmakers to approve a massive $1.5 trillion defence budget for 2027, as the United States faces rising costs from its war with Iran and mounting global security commitments. The proposal would lift Pentagon spending by more than 40 percent in a single year — the sharpest increase since World War II.
– **UN peacekeepers wounded**
The United Nations force in Lebanon said a blast at one of its positions had wounded three peacekeepers, two of them seriously — the third such incident in a week. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is deployed in the country’s south near the border, where Israel and Hezbollah have been at war for a month and where Israeli troops are carrying out a ground invasion.
– **’Immediate ceasefire’ urged**
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East war during a phone call, the Kremlin said. “It was noted that intense military action is leading to serious negative consequences not only regionally but also globally, including in the areas of energy, trade, and logistics,” it added.
– **Fresh strikes on Beirut**
Fresh strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs as the Israeli army said it was targeting “terror infrastructure,” hours after having issued an evacuation warning for the area. An AFP correspondent heard explosions as the state-run National News Agency reported strikes on the area, a Hezbollah bastion that has largely emptied of residents since war erupted last month.
– **Tankers cross Hormuz**
Three tankers, including one co-owned by a Japanese company, crossed the Strait of Hormuz by hugging close to Oman’s shore, a rare transit route as Iran maintains a chokehold on the key war-torn passageway. Their passage was notable because they sailed close to the Omani Musandam Peninsula to the south of the waterway, maritime traffic data showed Friday.
– **Italian PM visits Gulf**
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni began a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia as part of a Gulf tour to boost “national energy security,” a government source said. The source said Meloni would meet with officials from Saudi Arabia, as well as from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on what had been a hitherto unannounced trip.
© 2024 AFP
