Update On the Wars In the Middle East

[S. E. Anderson]

Update On the Wars In the Middle East

Yemen

• Four workers killed in Saudi airstrikes on telecom towers in Yemen: Four workers were killed and three wounded in Saudi airstrikes on telecommunications towers in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province on Sunday, according to Ansarallah-affiliated Al Masirah.

  • Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said Saudi F-15 and Typhoon jets carried out 28 airstrikes in Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Marib over 24 hours, bringing the group’s claimed total since the latest escalation to 760.

  • Meanwhile, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it struck Ansarallah forces in Al-Bayda, while an army officer claimed more than 80 Ansarallah fighters were killed in fighting around oil and gas rich Marib.

• Ansarallah targeted Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu: Ansarallah targeted “sensitive sites” in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu on Saturday using a large number of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones. Saudi Civil Defense alerts were triggered multiple times for 10 different cities and provinces during the attacks.

  • NASA FIRMS data confirmed that fuel storage at the Aramco Central Region Distribution facility was struck causing a fire. Photos and videos circulating online showed a large smoke column rising from the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport, where the Aramco distribution facility is located.

• Saudi-backed forces claim to recapture positions near Taiz: Saudi-backed Yemeni forces recaptured several front-line positions near Taiz city from Ansarallah, the chief of staff of the Taiz military force told state-run Saba news agency. Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, has been divided along front lines between Ansarallah and the internationally recognized government since 2015. Taiz governorate remains the epicenter of displacement in Yemen, with more than 63,000 people displaced, as the nationwide total surpassed 104,796 people, according to the International Organization for Migration.

• Ansarallah reiterates Saudi ships are the sole target in Red Sea: Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the Ansarallah-run Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, said Saudi Arabia will be forced to pay compensation for its “unjust blockade” of Yemen, reaffirming an “equation of blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation.”

  • Al-Mashat said Yemen would press ahead until airports and ports are reopened, national resources restored, compensation paid, and Saudi forces withdrawn from “occupied” territory.

  • He added that international shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab “will face no danger from Yemen.”

• Saudi crude exports surge as kingdom shifts more oil to Gulf terminals: Saudi Arabia’s September crude exports are averaging 4.60 million barrels per day (bpd), up 2.16 million bpd from August but still 1.89 million below a year earlier, according to Kpler.

  • The sharp increase suggests the kingdom is shifting substantial volumes from Yanbu and the disrupted Red Sea route to eastern Gulf terminals, sending them through Hormuz instead.

  • Bloomberg energy columnist Javier Blas said satellite imagery showed seven supertankers, capable of carrying roughly 14 million barrels combined, loading simultaneously on September 20.

  • TankerTrackers said Saudi east-coast crude exports have “picked up massively” over the past two weeks.

• Casualty toll continues to rise in Yemen: Over 160 people were killed and more than 500 injured across Yemen between September 12 and 18, according to the World Health Organization, bringing the total number of casualties since the fighting resumed on August 6 to 674 killed and nearly 3,000 injured. An estimated 125,000 people have been displaced over the same period.

• U.S. urges Americans to “seriously reconsider” Middle East travel, warns of rapid escalation: The U.S. State Department urgedAmericans outside the Middle East to “seriously reconsider” travel to and through the region, warning that the military conflict “has the potential to escalate rapidly.” It cited ongoing hostilities, including Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia, and warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions.

Iran

• Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, two crew injured: A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile on Monday, leaving two crew members with minor injuries, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said.

  • The vessel was entering the Strait and continued toward its next port under its own power. No environmental impact was reported.

• Iran says it shot down U.S. MQ-1 drone over Hormuz: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday it intercepted and destroyed another U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported. The IRGC claimed the U.S. had returned the older MQ-1 to service after losing a large number of MQ-9 drones. There was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the reported shootdown.

• trump threatens to “blow up all of Iran,” says he is open to meeting Pezeshkian: President donald trump escalated his threats against Iran in a Fox News interview on Sunday, saying Washington’s options are “to obliterate Iran, letting it rot economically, or reach a deal.”

  • “My question is when—and if—I will blow up all of Iran, and they had better behave themselves,” trump added.

  • trump also said he is open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week. He claimed some Iranian officials are hiding and it’s impossible to find the contacts to strike a deal.

  • The U.S. remains in “constant contact” with Yemen’s Ansarallah, trump said, adding that they have agreed not to fight U.S. forces.

• Iran says it sent mediators conditions for starting negotiations to end war: Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s National Security Council Secretary, told Al Jazeera Tehran shared seven conditions for negotiating an end to the war with mediators, Rezaei said, including an end to attacks on all fronts, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending the U.S.’s naval blockade.

  • “The U.S. President’s assessments and calculations regarding Iran were flawed, and the war was instigated by Netanyahu,” Rezaei said. “trump’s threats will yield no results. We are prepared for a decisive war.”

• Iran says U.S. planning renewed attacks, warns of retaliation “without limitations”: Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters—Iran’s conventional joint military command—said it had received information indicating the U.S. was planning to resume attacks on Iran and warned it would retaliate “without limitations.” The military command also warned regional countries against supporting any U.S. attacks.

  • Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Monday the war had not ended and the IRGC was prepared for a prolonged conflict, warning that any renewed confrontation would involve new targets, a changed “geography of war,” and weapons and capabilities not previously used that would “surprise the world.”

• “All Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary says: “On September 23rd, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday, announcing new sanctions targeting Iran’s civil aviation network.

  • Bessent said foreign airports and companies that refuel Iranian aircraft, provide landing services or sell tickets could risk losing access to the U.S. banking system. Iran has not publicly responded.

• U.S. refuses visas for Iranian president’s communications team:The trump administration has refused to issue visas for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s communications team for the UN General Assembly opening in New York this week, according to Iranian state media. While entry visas were granted to President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other key Iranian officials, the U.S. imposed restrictions on the delegation’s movement in New York, limiting officials to areas in and around the UN headquarters.

• Bloomberg: Pentagon probe found “cascade of preventable failures” behind U.S. strike on Iranian school: “Within hours of a February 28 missile attack that hit an Iranian school, some Pentagon personnel knew the U.S. was responsible, according to officials involved in an internal investigation of the incident,” Bloomberg reported.

  • The report added that Pentagon investigators found a “cascade of preventable failures” behind the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 150 people, including at least 123 children, though Washington still has not publicly accepted responsibility.

  • The probe found outdated intelligence, missed evidence the site had operated openly as a school for years, and overreliance inside CENTCOM on Palantir’s AI-enabled “Maven” system.

  • The investigation that began in March has been nearly complete for months but remains unreleased.

• CENTCOM claims Hormuz shipping at six-month high; Iran rejects account: CENTCOM claimed the volume of oil, cargo, and liquefied natural gas moving through the Strait of Hormuz during the past two weeks was higher than at any point in the previous six months.

  • Admiral Brad Cooper said on Saturday that U.S. forces had supported the passage of more than 2,000 transits and one billion barrels of Gulf crude through Hormuz over the “last couple of months.”

  • That figure, if Cooper begins the count on July 13, when the U.S. announced it was resuming its naval blockade, would equal about 14.7 million bpd. Reuters recently cited Vortexa data estimating that crude and fuel flows through Hormuz were closer to 8 million bpd, while Goldman Sachs placed exports through all Gulf routes combined at 15–16 million bpd.

  • Iranian military spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi rejected CENTCOM’s account as a “failed psychological operation” intended to boost U.S. troop morale and justify the war’s enormous human and financial costs.

  • Oil flows out of the Gulf increased substantially since late July, with the seven-day average reaching over 15 million barrels per day in the latest September readings, according to Kpler’s chart.

  • These are combined regional exports, including passage through Hormuz, Gulf of Oman net exports, and loadings at Fujairah and Omani ports. Kpler marks the latest 14 days as provisional or preliminary and says the figures represent confirmed minimums that rise as additional shipments are verified.

• WaPo: More U.S. troops have died in Iran war than publicly disclosed: More American troops have died during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed, according to the Washington Post, citing six U.S. officials. The Pentagon’s database lists 18 U.S. military fatalities since the start of the war in February, but five of the officials told the Post there have been at least 22, while a sixth official put the number at 23.

Palestine

Israeli army intensified attacks on Gaza Strip.

• Israeli attacks kill three Palestinians, including child, wound several across Gaza:

  • A Palestinian child died from wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in Al-Mawasi, Rafah, on Monday, while a man was shot in the head by an Israeli quadcopter in northern Gaza and died, WAFA reported. Israeli fire killed a woman and injured a girl near tents between Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps.

  • On Sunday, Israeli forces shot and wounded a woman in Jabalia. A girl was separately shot in the thigh west of Halawa camp. In Bureij refugee camp, an Israeli drone shot and wounded a child east of the camp.

  • An Israeli strike killed three Palestinians in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood on Saturday.

  • Israeli forces also targeted and killed Basir Al-Boursh, the son of the director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Dr. Muneer Al-Boursh in a strike on Jabalia, northern Gaza. His voice breaking as he spoke, Dr. Al-Boursh told Drop Site: “The occupation targeted him in his tent. He was only meters away from me. It killed my son before my eyes. This oppressive occupation tore him in half with modern missiles. This is the occupation.”

  • Watch the full report from Drop Site’s Mohamed Ahmed here.

• Israeli forces kill one Palestinian, carry out mass detentions and closures across the occupied West Bank: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, carried out mass detentions, and imposed widespread closures across the occupied West Bank on Sunday and Monday. More than 100 Palestinians were subjected to field interrogations over the past two days, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.

  • Jenin: Israeli forces shot and killed a 32-year-old Palestinian and wounded another after opening fire on a vehicle near Haddad village east of Jenin on Sunday, WAFA reported. Israeli forces withheld the slain man’s body and prevented Palestinian Red Crescent crews from reaching the scene. Israeli media later alleged the vehicle attempted a ramming attack, but did not share any evidence to back the claim. Forces also raided villages west of Jenin, closed roads and entrances, forced businesses to shut, and detained residents.

  • Tubas and northern Jordan Valley: Israeli forces prevented 104 teachers from reaching their schools on Sunday by closing the Tayasir and Ein Shibli checkpoints, disrupting schools serving around 1,100 students.

  • Ramallah and Al-Bireh: Israeli forces detained at least 35 Palestinians during an ongoing raid on Al-Mughayyir, closed the village’s only entrance, searched homes, and seized money and gold, according to local sources.

  • East Jerusalem: Israeli forces continued a large-scale operation in Biddu, raiding homes and holding dozens of Palestinians for field interrogation in a house converted into a detention center. In Sur Baher, several shops caught fire during confrontations in which Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas.

  • Nablus: Israeli forces will close all military checkpoints surrounding Nablus at 6 p.m. Monday, coinciding with planned settler movements and marches, the Palestinian military liaison said.

• Israeli settler killed in shooting near West Bank settlement: An Israeli settler was killed and others wounded in a shooting near the illegal Halamish settlement, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday.

  • The gunman reportedly fired at settlers at a spring close to Deir Nidham village, before escaping. Israeli forces deployed drones and a helicopter, surrounded nearby Palestinian communities and established military checkpoints during the manhunt.

  • Hours later, Israeli soldiers stormed H-Clinic Hospital in Ramallah and seized 37-year-old Qadri Samara from his treatment bed while he was wounded and receiving oxygen, The New Arab reported. Israel claims Samara, a former Palestinian prisoner from Biddu, carried out the shooting. Soldiers reportedly assaulted healthcare workers during the raid.

• Gaza hospital suspends nearly all medical services as fuel deliveries halt: Gaza’s Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital in Khan Younis suspended nearly all medical services as the World Health Organization told the hospital that fuel deliveries would stop, Palestine Online reported on Sunday.

  • With Gaza’s electrical grid down since Israel began its genocide, the hospital depends entirely on generators. The fuel shortage has halted surgeries, C-sections, outpatient care, scans, laboratory work, ambulances and other essential services.

  • The outlet said that the hospital treats more than 3,000 patients daily and serves roughly 700,000 displaced Palestinians. It needs at least 1,000 liters of fuel per day.

  • Medical director Dr. Jamal Al-Hams called the deprivation of essential healthcare “deliberate killing,” and urged international pressure on Israel to open the crossings.

• Israel shuts down crossings for religious holiday: Israel shut down border crossings for 24 hours on Sunday afternoon in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, including the Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing where aid deliveries enter Gaza, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt for Palestinian medical evacuations, and the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

• Female Palestinian prisoner reports beatings, denial of medical care at Damon prison: A female Palestinian prisoner held at Israel’s Damon prison said conditions are worsening, with prisoners facing overcrowding, inadequate food and deprivation of basic rights, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

  • Detained since February 9, she developed scabies and a urinary tract infection but said she has received no treatment. She also reported being strip-searched and severely beaten following her arrest, including blows to her head and face. At Damon, she said several female prisoners sleep on the floor and time outside cells is severely restricted.

Lebanon

A man watches as heavy machinery, first responders and residents search the site of an Israeli air strike in Deir

al-Zahrani, southern Lebanon, on 15 August 2026.

• Israeli airstrikes, shelling and explosions hit southern Lebanon despite “ceasefire”: In the Bint Jbeil district, Israeli warplanes struckthe outskirts of Baraachit, on Monday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported, while artillery shelling targeted Kounine and Israeli forces carried out a large explosion in Ainata.

  • An Israeli airstrike also targeted Deir Siryan in the Marjayoun district.

                                                 

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s. e. anderson
author of The Black Holocaust for Beginners
"If WORK was good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor." (Haiti)
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