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Middle East War Live: Israel, Iran, Gaza and Lebanon
Live updates on the war in the Middle East: Israel and Iran, Gaza and Hamas, Hezbollah and Lebanon, and the diplomacy around them. Every entry links to our full report.
Tuesday 20 October 2026
Middle East & North Africa
Iran: Revolutionary Guards captain killed in the Qandil mountains as operations against PJAK escalate
An IRGC captain, Sina Ahmadi, was killed on October 17 in the Qandil range on the Iran–Iraq border, as Iranian forces step up drone and artillery operations against the Kurdish group PJAK in western Iran.
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Netanyahu: “Turkey wants a clash with us” – he accuses Erdogan of seeking to rule Jerusalem and return to the Ottoman Empire, and points to Israel’s F-35s and F-16s
In an interview with Channel 14’s English-language service, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Turkish President Erdogan of wanting to rule Jerusalem and revive the Ottoman Empire, said Turkey wants a clash, and warned Ankara to avoid one.
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Lebanon–Israel: military talks today at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa – Beirut says “no” to direct coordination with the Israeli army
Lebanese and Israeli military delegations meet at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa on October 20 with US participation; Beirut says it will reject direct military coordination with Israel and wants a third party for verification.
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Hegseth makes a surprise visit to Israel and meets Netanyahu eight days before the election
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, October 19 and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eight days before Israel’s October 27 election, as the Iran file stays at the centre.
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Revolutionary Guards claim they shot down a US MQ-9 over the Strait of Hormuz – threats against the seven undersea internet cables
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim to have shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, an unconfirmed claim, and an IRGC spokesman said new targets would be revealed, pointing to the seven internet cables under the strait.
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US envoy Barrack: Israel is “way too smart” to start a real fight with Turkey – “What scares us all is the unintended accident”
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in Doha that Israel is “way too smart” to start a real fight with Turkey, but warned of an “unintended accident” and questioned what the Mecca defence pact means for Turkey in Yemen.
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Smotrich: “Strengthening the Greek alliance is necessary” against Turkey and Pakistan – “Turkey has a very large navy”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described Turkey as a threat that goes beyond Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Turkey “has a very large navy”, and called strengthening the Greek alliance “necessary” against the alliance of Pakistan, Turkey and countries opposed to Israel.
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Israel: 10 arrests over settler attacks on European diplomats and an American photojournalist in the West Bank
Israeli police have arrested ten suspects over the weekend’s settler violence in the West Bank, including attacks on Palestinian olive pickers, a Washington Post photojournalist and a convoy of European diplomats.
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Monday 19 October 2026
Middle East & North Africa
Israel: Benny Gantz withdraws from the election eight days before the vote – “I will keep fighting for unity”
Former defence minister Benny Gantz has pulled out of Israel’s October 27 election, as polls kept his Blue and White party below the threshold for entering the Knesset; opposition leaders welcomed the decision.
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Netanyahu to Trump: “We have a job to finish” – “You’re a warrior, Bibi,” the US president replies in a video released eight days before the election
Benjamin Netanyahu has published a video of his phone call with Donald Trump, hours after the US president publicly backed him ahead of Israel’s October 27 election; the “job” both men refer to is the war against Iran.
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OCHA: 57 killed in Gaza and 244 settler attacks in the West Bank in two weeks, as the olive harvest begins and winter nears
UN humanitarian office OCHA cites Gaza health authorities for 57 deaths between 29 September and 12 October and records 244 settler attacks in the West Bank, as 950,000 displaced Gazans face flood risk.
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Wang Yi meets Israel’s President Herzog in Baku: China readout cites Gaza access and West Bank settlements
China’s foreign ministry says Wang Yi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Baku that opening channels into Gaza is the most pressing task and that Israel should revoke West Bank settlements.
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WFP cuts Gaza food aid by a third, leaving about 500,000 people without assistance as winter nears
The World Food Programme says funding shortfalls force it to reduce Gaza assistance from 1.6 million to 1.1 million people a month, with parcels, cash and hot meals cut.
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Lebanon: Hezbollah demands its truck with 780 kg of explosives back – the army deploys in Beirut, Salam insists on the state’s arms monopoly
Tension is running high in Beirut between the Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah after the seizure of a truck carrying about 780 kg of explosives; the group admits the truck and cargo are its own and wants them returned.
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Netanyahu: new 10-point security doctrine “from defence to offence” – “If we have to act alone, we will act alone”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a new ten-point national security doctrine on October 18, describing a shift from defence to offence; opposition parties dismissed it as “empty slogans” days before the October 27 election.
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UK warns firms against bidding for E1 settlement tender on closing day, citing new sanctions powers
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband says the UK can now sanction individuals and companies building illegal settlements, and urges firms not to bid for E1 on the day the tender closes.
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Trump gives Netanyahu “Complete and Total” support nine days before Israel’s election – “There has never been a greater friend of Israel in the White House”
Donald Trump publicly backed Benjamin Netanyahu nine days before Israel’s October 27 election, calling him “strong, brave and brilliant”; Netanyahu thanked him in a video posted on X.
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Araghchi: the Strait of Hormuz opens on day six of Iran’s plan if the US accepts the terms – “The proposal is still on the table”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains “still on the table”, with the Strait opening on the sixth day and negotiations resuming on the seventh if the United States meets Iran’s terms.
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Sunday 18 October 2026
Middle East & North Africa
BREAKING: Netanyahu on Turkey: “I hope we do not reach a direct clash” – the “Muslim Brotherhood axis” led by Ankara
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli reporters in Jerusalem that he hopes there will be no direct clash with Turkey, naming a “Muslim Brotherhood axis” led by Ankara alongside the Shiite axis led by Iran.
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Hegseth to Iran: a “choice very quickly” between the table and the “destruction America can bring” – “The military should win the Nobel Peace Prize every year”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Iran at the University of Tennessee that it must give up its nuclear ambitions at the negotiating table or face destruction, as he swore in 95 recruits on the “Send Me” tour.
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Vance on the Iran war: “the enemy gets a vote too” – seeks a “final, durable commitment” that Tehran will not rebuild its nuclear programme
At a CBS News town hall in Michigan, Vice President JD Vance defended the administration’s Iran strategy, blamed Iranian tanker attacks for high fuel prices and acknowledged a “huge mistake” in the positioning of troops, after a widow challenged him.
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Strait of Hormuz explained: why the narrow passage matters
The Strait of Hormuz carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and a large share of its LNG. Here are the numbers, the geography, the bypass routes and the law of passage.
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EU condemns settler attacks in the West Bank, including on European diplomats, and urges Israel to halt settlement expansion
The EU’s diplomatic service says the latest settler attacks in the West Bank included attacks on European diplomats, and asks Israel for accountability and an end to settlement expansion.
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US sanctions Iraqi bank for “sending dollars” to Iran – Bessent: “The noose is tightening around Iran’s economy”
The US Treasury sanctioned Iraq’s International Development Bank for Investment and Finance, accusing it of giving Iran access to US dollars, as part of a package targeting 10 entities and 16 individuals.
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Saturday 17 October 2026
Middle East & North Africa
Araghchi in Baghdad: new talks with the US only with “credible guarantees” – “The choice on Hormuz belongs to Washington”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting in Baghdad that Tehran stays open to negotiations with the US, but only with “credible guarantees” that no new attacks will follow.
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UN regional commission tells General Assembly committee that Gaza’s losses reverse decades of development; Israel rejects the report
ESCWA told the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee on 16 October that Gaza’s economic losses have undone decades of development. Israel’s representative rejected the report and criticised the commission.
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Rubio to Aoun: no return of the explosives to Hezbollah – the Lebanese president asks for pressure on Israel
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that the seized Hezbollah explosives must not be returned and criticised Lebanon’s 1955 boycott law. Aoun asked Washington to press Israel to stop its attacks in the south.
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Saudi Arabia: “Iran is encouraging” the Houthi attacks on Riyadh – the airport deaths are “war crimes”
Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Rayed Krimly openly accused Iran of encouraging the escalation of Houthi attacks on Riyadh, after more than a week of strikes on the King Khalid airport, Aramco and other targets that have killed at least 19 people.
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Hormuz: Revolutionary Guards say a supertanker exploded on a mine on an “unapproved” route – UKMTO: traffic 70% down
The IRGC Navy claims a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude hit a sea mine in the Strait of Hormuz on a route Iran has not approved. The claim is unverified, and UKMTO says traffic is still about 70% below pre-war levels.
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Lebanon: Beirut wants the UN as a “third party” between the IDF and the Lebanese army after UNIFIL leaves – Lacroix warns
At the end of a three-day visit to Lebanon, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the Lebanese authorities want the UN to remain a “third party” between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Armed Forces once UNIFIL withdraws.
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