Ajuede.com

  The navigation bridge of a sunken vessel is all that is seen at the surface of the water in the Port of Mokha the day after an attack by the Houthis on the city Mokha, held by Yemen's internationally recognised, Aden-based government on August 10, 2026; Illustrative. (photo credit: Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images) Yemen has been engulfed by conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. Yemen 's internationally recognized government said the Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha on Friday, killing four civilians, amid an escalation in hostilities between the Iran-aligned group and its Saudi-backed opponents. The escalation comes at a time of heightened regional tensions over the US-Israeli war on Iran, where the Houthis have emerged as a key front, raising the prospect of a return to large-scale conflict in Yemen.

  US President Donald Trump reacts as he speaks to the media with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent behind him, on the day of a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. (photo credit: REUTERS/UMIT BEKTAS) Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded to Trump's comments later on Friday, saying that "Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power." US President Donald Trump said Friday that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory, following a Truth Social post on Wednesday in which he said of the waterway, "I think we will keep it." "Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States," Trump told a crowd at a Garden City, New York, event honoring police.

  Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview published on Saturday. Araghchi told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway.

  According to Katz, the proposed plan would shift responsibility for civilian law enforcement and public order involving the Israeli population in the West Bank from the IDF to the police. By SHIR PERET Defense Minister Israel Katz. (photo credit: Nick Paleologos/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images) Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday that he had instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to transfer all civilian enforcement authority for Israeli communities and residents in the West Bank to the Israel Police, as part of a broader effort to redefine the military's role in the territory. According to Katz, the proposed plan would shift responsibility for civilian law enforcement and public order involving the Israeli population in the West Bank from the IDF to the police. "The IDF's role is to fight Palestinian terrorism and focus on defending the borders and the communities against threats," Katz said in a statement.

  Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. (photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER/FILE PHOTO) Shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz fell below the month average towards the end of the week due to volatile sentiment between the United States and Iran, with both countries making competing claims over its control. The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management," the recently appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the United States on Thursday said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have floundered.

  A ship off the port of Aden, where traffic remained steady after the Iran-aligned Houthis said their forces had carried out missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil tankers, in Aden, Yemen, July 23, 2026. (photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER) Yemen faces its greatest risk of renewed war since 2022 as fighting intensifies between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-supported army and attacks on Red Sea shipping threaten further regional escalation, UN envoy Hans Grundberg warned the Security Council. Grundberg said Houthi attacks in Marib, Hadramaut, Mokha and other areas have resulted in military and civilian casualties. He also warned that renewed Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden could pull Yemen deeper into regional conflict. The envoy urged the parties to immediately deescalate and pursue a lasting ceasefire. He said attacks and threats against shipping and cross-border attacks must end.

Settlers near Kusra blocking a road with rocks. (photo credit: VIA WALLA) The IDF will conduct a probe into the events that occurred in the West Bank village of Kusra over the past week, and the findings will be presented to Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, a representative of the military spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Friday. "This was a serious incident, and it will be investigated," the representative said. According to a report published by N12, the investigation will cover, among other things, why it took soldiers 48 hours to initially evacuate the illegal outpost set up by extremist settlers, and why it took an additional day to remove the outpost a second time after the extremists returned.