Friday, August 28, 2026 – Israeli strikes kill eight Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday and Friday. Civil defense teams recover 233 bodies in Gaza. Israel bombs house in Jenin in first strike on occupied West Bank in 10 months. Israeli forces raid Nablus; settlers obstruct Friday prayers. Israel detains about 370 Palestinian children, report says. Israeli commander says he is “not sorry” for ordering strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. “Severe food insecurity” in Gaza, according to latest UN figures. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: “Putting diplomacy back on track isn’t impossible.” U.S. Central Command gives updates on blockade, Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Security Chief Mohsen Rezaei demands U.S. “fulfill Iran’s conditions” to reopen Hormuz, threatens U.S. economic interests if blockade continues. Iran war has depleted Patriot interceptors to “beyond critical” levels. U.S. President Donald Trump expected to meet with American oil refiners. Saudi-backed Yemeni government says soldier killed in Taiz. Israeli violations continue across southern Lebanon. Israel claims Hezbollah launched two explosive drones at troops. Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” amid Canada trade dispute. Judge again blocks Trump’s mail-in voting order days before ballots ship. Fired Stars and Stripes journalists sue Pentagon over dismissals. Gas industry group boasts of shaping NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pipeline reversal. U.S. negotiating for stake in Venezuela oil fields. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds reasonable cause that Cisco subjected pro-Palestine workers to hostile workplace. UN envoy registers concern with “open-ended Israeli military presence in Syria.” Syria’s president appoints former Kurdish SDF commander as advisor. Kuwait, Pakistan sign joint defense agreement. Nepal-Tibet flood death toll rises to 552. Sudan’s RSF-SPLM-N forces claim capture of two army bases in Blue Nile fighting. Two more U.S. deportees arrive in Eswatini under third-country agreement. Jakarta police detain over 300 after protests. Qatar pledges support for Libyan unity during Benghazi visit. Palestine Action activists charged with “terrorism” offenses over Trump golf course protest.

Palestine

• Israeli strikes kill eight Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday and Friday: At least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to WAFA. In southern Gaza, three Palestinians from the Abdeen family were killed when an Israeli drone targeted Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis. In Gaza City, an Israeli drone strike on a group of Palestinians in the Al-Sabra neighborhood killed one and wounded several others.

  • Israel killed four Palestinians and wounded several others, including children, in attacks across Gaza on Thursday. An Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians near Gaza City killed one and wounded others. Another Israeli airstrike hit a bicycle in central Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and injuring several.

  • Israeli forces shot and wounded a child in Qatar Camp, east of Hamad City.

• Civil defense teams recover 233 bodies in Gaza: Gaza’s Civil Defense said its crews recovered 233 bodies and human remains from beneath the rubble of 20 homes destroyed by Israeli forces in the Gaza governorate, out of 407 people believed to have been buried there. Among those recovered were 73 children and 106 women.

• Israel bombs house in Jenin in first strike on West Bank in 10 months: An Israeli military drone struck a house under construction in the Horsh Al-Saada on the western outskirts of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday, as large numbers of Israeli forces entered the area. It marked the first Israeli airstrike on the West Bank in around 10 months. Reporting from the area, Drop Site contributor Mujahed al-Saadi said that the house was struck with at least two missiles and that Israeli troops deployed to the area immediately after the attack, preventing ambulances from reaching the targeted house, and detained Palestinian medical workers who arrived on the scene.

  • Three Palestinians were killed in the strike, according to Reuters.

  • The Israeli military claimed it had carried out a “precise strike” targeting what it described as “several terrorists.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the strike on X: “I commend our forces for the successful elimination of the terrorists in Jenin. Shabbat shalom!”

• Israeli forces raid Nablus; settlers obstruct Friday prayers: Israeli settlers dressed in military uniforms prevented Palestinians from attending Friday prayers at the Al-Wali and Al-Haj Hussein mosques in Beit Furik, east of Nablus, WAFA reported. Separately, Israeli forces raided the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, searching homes and detaining one Palestinian and seizing his vehicle.

  • On Thursday, Israeli forces fired sound bombs, tear gassed Palestinians, and sparked fires near homes during a raid on the village of Al-Lubban Asharqiya.

• Israel detains about 370 Palestinian children, report says: Approximately 370 Palestinian children are imprisoned in Israeli detention centers as of early August, most at Megiddo and Ofer, according to a report published on Thursday by the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy.

  • In the report, children describe Israeli forces raiding their homes at night, taking them away blindfolded and handcuffed, beating and threatening them, and denying them food, water, and bathroom access.

  • During interrogation, children reported experiencing prolonged questioning, isolation, sleep deprivation, and threats against their families.

  • Inside Israeli prisons, they face overcrowding, insufficient food and hygiene supplies, restricted family visits, and delayed or denied medical treatment.

• Israeli commander says he is “not sorry” for ordering strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers: Nochi Mendel, who ordered three Israeli drone strikes on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy in Gaza in April 2024, defended his decision to Australia’s ABC on Thursday, after he was removed from his post over serious failures and breaches of procedure.

  • Mendel claimed WCK had “ties to Hamas” and was “not really… innocent,” although he acknowledged he did not know of those alleged links when he ordered the attack.

  • Israel declined to pursue a criminal investigation against the commander.

• “Severe food insecurity” in Gaza, according to latest UN figures: In Gaza, 50% of families say they completely ran out of food at least once in the past month and about one in five families say they are eating only one meal a day, according to the latest survey from the World Food Program (WFP). “Indicators of severe food insecurity remain deeply concerning across the Gaza Strip,” the WFP said.

  • Three-quarters of surveyed households reported difficulties accessing food markets. Among them, 96% cited financial constraints related to cash liquidity shortages. Of those able to access money, 40% reported being unable to afford basic food items due to high prices.

  • Nearly half (46%) of surveyed households reported going to bed hungry at least once during the 30 days preceding the survey, with 7% experiencing this more than ten times. Similarly, 50% of households reported completely running out of food at least once during the same period, including 18% who faced this situation more than ten times. Nearly 3% of households reported going an entire day without eating at least once in the past 30 days.

  • The daily average number of trucks crossing into Gaza since last year’s ceasefire is 217—far below the 600 trucks per day in the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on October 10, 2025.

Iran

• Iran’s Araghchi: “Putting diplomacy back on track isn’t impossible”: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday he held “creative discussions” with Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, saying putting diplomacy back on track “isn’t impossible.”

  • In a post on X, Araghchi said progress hinges on the U.S. understanding that “pressure doesn’t work,” adding that Washington should “build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments.”

  • White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday that, regarding Iran, Trump “continues to retain all options on the table.”

  • “We’ve had Operation Epic Fury to destroy their military. Now we have Operation Economic Outcast to destroy their economy,” Leavitt said, maintaining that there would be no negotiations until Trump feels that the Iranians might “come to the table in a meaningful way.”

• CENTCOM gives updates on blockade, Hormuz: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that U.S. forces had “redirected 75 commercial vessels, disabled 3, and boarded 2 to ensure compliance” in the Strait of Hormuz.

  • CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper also claimed that U.S. forces had cleared Iranian sea mines from the Strait’s internationally recognized shipping lanes, calling it a “major milestone.”

  • Cooper added that U.S. forces have overseen the safe passage of nearly 1,500 commercial vessels carrying roughly 750 million barrels of crude through the Strait.

• Rezaei demands U.S. “fulfill Iran’s conditions” to reopen Hormuz, threatens U.S. economic interests if blockade continues: Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei said on Thursday that the “U.S. must first take practical steps to fulfill Iran’s conditions and then Iran will proceed to open the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

  • In a separate interview on Lebanon’s Manar TV, Rezaei said Tehran is preparing a list of conditions for reopening Hormuz at the request of mediators. Rezaei said the conditions would include ending the war in the region.

  • Iran has agreed to a transit corridor with Oman, he added, whereby ships would transit through a designated central channel in the strait if the U.S. meets Tehran’s conditions.

  • Iran had “fully and transparently” conveyed its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to Pakistan, which is carrying Tehran’s message to Washington, a source told Tasnim on Thursday.

  • Separately, Rezaei said on Thursday that Iran would “target U.S. economic interests fully with intensity and force” if the blockade continues, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

  • Rezaei also said that Iran is “closely monitoring the developments related to Beirut and its southern suburbs,” adding that those areas are Iran’s “red lines.”

• Iran war has depleted Patriot interceptors to “beyond critical” levels: Trump’s war with Iran has depleted Patriot interceptor stocks in Europe to “beyond critical” levels, a U.S. defense official and a NATO official told the Associated Press, as European forces use the same air-defense system to protect Gulf oil infrastructure.

  • The Iran war has consumed roughly 1,500 of America’s 2,330 Patriot interceptors, or 65% of the stockpile, according to a CSIS estimate. U.S. missiles assigned to Europe have been diverted to the Middle East.

  • A U.S. official said Europe lacks enough Patriots to stop a sustained ballistic-missile attack and has “very limited” capacity against even one strike, warning NATO could be forced to “take punch after punch in the mouth.”

• Trump expected to meet with U.S. oil refiners: Trump is expected to meet major U.S. refiners and fuel retailers next week as his administration faces mounting pressure over gasoline prices ahead of November’s midterms, Reuters reported. Valero, Marathon Petroleum and PBF Energy are among those expected to attend.

  • Trump has previously attacked oil companies benefiting from the price surge. After Exxon and Chevron reported strong second-quarter earnings, he said: “Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much. Too much money,” and called on them to “give some of that back to the public.”

Yemen

• Saudi-backed Yemeni government says soldier killed in Taiz: Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Thursday that a soldier in one of its factions had been killed on the Al-Ahtoub front lines in the western countryside of Taiz governorate, as clashes with Ansarallah continue.

Lebanon

• Israeli violations continue across southern Lebanon: Israeli forces advanced Friday toward Aita Al-Jabal in the Bint Jbeil district in southern Lebanon from the occupied town of Hadatha, setting fires on the outskirts, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

  • On Thursday, Israel carried out three airstrikes on Qantara in the Marjayoun district, while Israeli drones dropped several canisters containing explosives on homes in Mansouri in the Tyre (Sour) district.

  • Israeli forces also fired white phosphorus near Kfar Roumanne, overnight into Thursday, according to L’Orient.

• Israel claims Hezbollah launched two explosive drones at troops: The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched two “booby-trapped drones” toward Israeli troops operating around the Ali Al-Taher hills overnight Wednesday into Thursday. No casualties were reported.

U.S. News

• Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” amid Canada trade dispute: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the renaming of Lake Ontario, which borders New York and Canada, to “Lake America,” escalating his trade dispute with Canada, according to NPR.

  • “We have a gulf, and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office signing, a reference to his earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, before blaming Canada directly, calling it “the worst to trade” among U.S. partners.

  • The move follows the collapse of trade talks and Trump’s imposition of a 50% tariff on some Canadian goods, which prompted Canadian counter-tariffs.

• Judge again blocks Trump’s mail-in voting order days before ballots ship: U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting for two weeks Thursday, halting the directive for a second time about a week before the first midterm mail ballots are due to be sent, according to the Associated Press.

  • The ruling came after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their lawsuits following a Supreme Court decision that let the administration proceed on procedural grounds without ruling on the order’s legality.

  • Talwani wrote that plaintiff states “have neither time nor funds” to redesign ballots and update election systems to comply with new Postal Service requirements before the midterms.

• Fired Stars and Stripes journalists sue Pentagon over dismissals: Three journalists at the federally funded Stars and Stripes news organization sued the Pentagon on Thursday, alleging their firings came in retaliation for reporting on worsening conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended nine-month deployment.

  • The lawsuit says the Defense Department moved to fire the reporters a day after Stars and Stripes published an article detailing sailors’ food and water shortages, disrupted mail, and poor mental health during the extended deployment.

  • One reporter said his termination notice cited a CBS interview in which he called censorship of news for service members “a red line.”

• Gas industry group boasts of shaping NY Gov. Hochul’s pipeline reversal: Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, a public relations group backed by pipeline companies including Williams Companies, told a fossil fuel industry conference in April that it had had “high-level engagement” with Governor Kathy Hochul‘s office shortly before she reversed her opposition to new gas pipelines in November 2025, according to industry materials reviewed by The Lever.

• U.S. negotiating for stake in Venezuela oil fields: The Trump administration is negotiating with Venezuela’s interim government for a stake in more than a dozen oil fields holding an estimated 90 billion barrels, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two U.S. officials.

  • Officials say the deal could more than double U.S. proven oil reserves. In return, private companies, including American firms, would redevelop Venezuela’s aging infrastructure and direct more oil revenue to Caracas.

  • Trump was reportedly considering U.S. ownership of Venezuelan fields before authorizing the January 3 capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez are leading the talks, with Stephen Miller also involved.

• EEOC finds reasonable cause Cisco subjected pro-Palestine workers to hostile workplace: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found reasonable cause to believe Cisco violated Title VII by subjecting a class of workers to a hostile environment based on Middle Eastern origin, Muslim faith or association with Muslim and Middle Eastern people.

  • An open letter signed by 1,700+ employees urged Cisco to stop supplying technology to Israel’s government. The complaint says harassment on Cisco’s Inclusive Communities platforms began October 7, 2023, and continued after repeated complaints.

  • It also alleges Cisco fired an employee over pro-Palestine efforts, though the EEOC did not make a separate finding on that claim. Drop Site reported on the firing last year.

Other International News

• UN envoy registers concern with “open-ended Israeli military presence in Syria”: Claudio Cordone, the UN deputy special envoy for Syria, told the UN Security Council that he is “concerned by statements from senior Israeli officials advocating an open-ended Israeli military presence on Syrian territory.”

  • He noted that the Israeli presence violates Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is inconsistent with the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, adding that Israeli forces have continued military activity in southern Syria, particularly in Quneitra and Yarmouk Basin.

• Syria’s president appoints former Kurdish SDF commander as advisor: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, leader of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as an advisor to the presidency, state news agency SANA reported.

  • The move comes three days after Abdi announced the SDF’s dissolution, following its integration into the Syrian military under a deal struck with Damascus in January.

  • The U.S.-backed SDF had spearheaded the fight against ISIS and was the largest force still outside the Syrian army.

• Kuwait, Pakistan sign joint defense agreement: Kuwait and Pakistan formalized a joint defense agreement during the visit of the Kuwaiti defense minister to Pakistan on Thursday.

  • The agreement intends to “strengthen operational coordination, exchange military experiences, and enhance the level of readiness and integration” among the armed forces of both countries, according to representatives from the countries.

  • Pakistan’s armed forces will assist Kuwait in training and capacity building, according to state-run Pakistan TV, and assist Kuwait with “border management” and “other mutually agreed areas of defense cooperation.”

  • Pakistan signed a ⁠joint defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey earlier this month.

• Nepal-Tibet flood death toll rises to 552: On Friday, Nepal’s police announced a new death toll of at least 547 people from Wednesday’s floods, while Chinese state media confirmed at least five deaths on the Tibet side, bringing the overall total to 552. 1,924 people remain missing across both sides of the border, including hundreds of foreign nationals, according to a report from Nepal’s disaster authority on Friday morning.

• RSF-SPLM-N forces claim capture of two army bases in Blue Nile fighting: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces said Friday its joint force with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North captured the Bakori and Surkum army bases in the southeastern Blue Nile region bordering Ethiopia, taking weapons, equipment, and prisoners, according to Sudan Tribune.

  • Separately in South Kordofan state, army forces repelled a dawn RSF assault Friday on the town of Tibsa near Abbasiya Tagali, forcing paramilitary fighters to retreat toward Moreib after several hours of clashes.

• Two more U.S. deportees arrive in Eswatini under third-country agreement: Two migrants from Latin America deported from the United States arrived in Eswatini on Thursday, the fifth such group sent to the southern African kingdom since July 2025.

  • The Eswatini government did not identify the deportees, disclose their nationalities, or say how long they would remain.

  • The Trump administration has struck third-country deportation agreements with roughly two dozen countries, including about 11 in Africa.

  • Eswatini’s King Mswati III has long faced accusations of violently suppressing pro-democracy movements in the country.

• Jakarta police detain over 300 after protests: Indonesian police detained more than 300 people, including 160 minors, and named 45 suspects following late-night rioting that erupted after Thursday’s anti-government demonstrations near parliament, Reuters reported.

  • Jakarta police accused a group of rioters of setting fire to a police post and two motorcycles and of throwing rocks and sticks at officers.

  • The police used a water cannon and tear gas against the protesters. A man was found unconscious at the scene and later died at a hospital.

  • President Prabowo Subianto’s approval rating fell to 38% in a recent Tempo poll over his economic policies.

• Qatar pledges support for Libyan unity during Benghazi visit: Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi met with Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern-aligned Libyan National Army, in Benghazi, expressing Qatar’s support for Libyan sovereignty and “a political process that reflects Libyans’ aspirations,” according to a Qatari Foreign Ministry.

  • Libya, split since 2014 between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and the Haftar-backed eastern administration, reached a new pact last week rewriting election laws and setting a 24-month deadline for elections.

• Palestine Action activists charged with “terrorism” offenses over Trump golf course protest: Seven Palestine Action activists who spray-painted messages and damaged Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland during a March 2025 protest have been charged with malicious damage “having a terrorist connection,” according to reporting by The Guardian and The New York Times.

  • The activists sprayed red paint on the clubhouse, damaged turf and sprinklers, applied weedkiller to greens, and painted “Gaza is not 4 sale” on the property in protest of Trump’s stance on Gaza.

  • The case comes days after the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Palestine Action and the pro-Palestine group Masar Badil, along with financial penalties on the Italian digital services group Autistici Inventati.

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