Live updates: Trump orders U.S. military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian boats mining Strait of Hormuz

Italy's Navy chief of staff Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto told state broadcaster RAI this week that his country is ready to deploy up to four vessels to help clear the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

Berutti Bergotto said Wednesday the group could consist of "two minesweepers, an escort vessel and a logistics vessel."

"Obviously we are not acting alone. We are part of an international coalition, and other nations will also send minesweepers," he said.

More details are emerging about the ships seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday amid the maritime standoff with the U.S. in the key waterway.

Four sailors on one of the two vessels seized, MSC Francesca, including its captain are from Montenegro, Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, Filip Radulovic, told state broadcaster state RTCG. Two Croatians are also aboard, Croatia’s foreign ministry confirmed.

Full details on the crew of the Panama-flagged ship have not been made available, but large container vessels normally require a minimum of about 20.

The other seized vessel, Liberia-flagged Epaminondas, has a crew of 21 members made up of Ukrainians and Filipinos, according to the Greek coast guard. It had been bound for India.

Iranians have been under internet blackout for 55 consecutive days as connectivity flatlines at 2% of ordinary levels after 1,296 hours, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said.

"Restrictions on global network access continue to hinder online commerce, payment systems and digitally dependent sectors of the economy," NetBlocks said in a post on X earlier today.

Given the “dire economic impact” of the war in the Middle East and rising energy prices, Europe should speed up its energy transition towards “homegrown, clean, affordable energy sources,” European Commission president Antonio Costa said on X. 

“That is the only way to reduce dependencies and ensure our energy security,” he said. 

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Iran has acted "entirely" lawfully in its actions involving the Strait of Hormuz. 

“From a legal perspective, both under international law and domestic law, the measures taken regarding the Strait of Hormuz are entirely lawful,” he said, according to SNN, a state-affiliated Iranian news agency.

He said Iran has “the right to take the necessary measures to prevent misuse of this waterway” in circumstances where national security is threatened. 

Baghaei said Iran’s decisions to defend the strait were taken as Iran has “suffered serious damage as a result of misuse of this waterway.”

“The aim of these measures is to create mechanisms to ensure safe and sustainable passage through the Strait of Hormuz and to increase accountability in managing this strategic route, a matter that is currently being pursued across various state bodies," he said.

Trump said that he would like Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to meet at the White House during a ceasefire period in the next three weeks.

"I think we’ll do it over the next, during this period of time, during the three-week period, ideally. I mean, I’d like to suggest over the three-week ceasefire, right, if you can do that," he said. "We’re here. We’ll do it in the Oval Office."

Trump also said Hezbollah will have to be dealt with.

“They’ve agreed to an additional three weeks of, I guess, no firing, ceasefire, no more firing. Let’s see. We hope that happens, not going to happen between them, but they do have Hezbollah to think about,” Trump said.

Trump said Israel will have to defend itself if targeted by Hezbollah. He also warned Iran about putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They can drop their mines in there and do all those stupid things. It’s just going to take longer for them to make money, because the mines are going to affect them much more than they’re going to affect us,” he said. 

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a video statement Israel is “prepared to renew the war against Iran,” but the nation is waiting "for the green light from the U.S."

“The Israeli army is prepared for defense and attack, and the targets are marked,” he said.

He said Israel's goal is "to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty" and "the successors of the leadership of the Iranian terrorist regime."

He went on to say Israel wants to return "Iran to the dark and stone ages" by "blowing up" energy and electricity facilities, and crush the national economic infrastructure.

Israel waiting for U.S. green light to return Iran to ‘dark and stone ages’

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Trump insisted he’s “not under any pressure whatsoever” to make a deal with Iran, and doubled down on his claims that Iranian leadership is in “turmoil” in a gathering of reporters of today.

“I don’t want to rush it. I want to take my time. We have plenty of time and I want to get a great deal. I want to get a deal where our nation and the world are safe from lunatics with nuclear weapons,” Trump said while fielding questions from reporters in the Oval Office today. 

He claimed he has stuck to his 4-6 week timeline in Iran saying, “I also took a little break,” in reference to the ceasefire. 

Trump also insisted that Iran is under pressure with the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports, saying, “their whole oil infrastructure is going to explode."

The president said the tradeoff for Americans facing higher gas prices at the pump “for a little while” is having “Iran without a nuclear weapon.”

The airspace at Kuwait International Airport has been reopened today, Kuwait’s General Civil Aviation Authority announced in a statement on X. 

The move was made in coordination with international authorities. 

“This step is part of a well-considered phased plan to gradually resume air traffic in preparation for the full operation of the airport,” the statement said.

Kuwait had closed its airspace on Feb. 28 as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and drone strikes in the country. 

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by three weeks, Trump announced on Truth Social. 

The decision comes after a meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. and other officials.

“The Meeting went very well! The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah," he wrote.

"I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to be a participant at this very Historic Meeting!” he added.

Hezbollah said that it targeted the town of Shtula in northern Israel in response to Israeli ceasefire violations, and the Israeli military said it had intercepted missiles from Lebanon.

"In defense of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the town of Yatar in southern Lebanon, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted the 'Shtula' settlement with a rocket barrage," Hezbollah said in a post on Telegram.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement about the attack.

"Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Shtula a short while ago, several launches that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were identified. The Israeli Air Force intercepted the launches. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol," the IDF said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said today that the "battlefield and diplomacy" are part of the same war.

"The battlefield and diplomacy are fully coordinated fronts in the same war," he wrote in a post on X. "Iranians are all united, more than ever before."

The comments appeared to be a reaction to Trump's Truth Social post claiming that there’s “infighting” inside Iran.

“The failure of Israel’s terrorist killings is reflected in how Iran’s state institutions continue to act with unity, purpose, and discipline,” Araghchi added.

U.S. Central Command said that 33 vessels have been redirected since the blockade against Iran's ports began.

"U.S. forces have now redirected 33 vessels since the start of the blockade against Iran," CENTCOM said in a post on X.

Responding to a question about whether Americans should anticipate paying higher prices for gas for the foreseeable future, Trump said, “for a little while.”

The president added that in exchange for higher gas prices, Americans get, “Iran without a nuclear weapon that’s going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East.”

Later, Trump added, “there’s nothing worse” than a nuclear weapon that could destroy multiple American cities.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned the Iranian people to be wary of the enemy’s “media operations” in a new post on X.

“The enemy’s media operations, by targeting the minds and psychology of the people, aim to undermine unity and national security. We must not allow this malicious intent to be realized through our negligence,” he wrote.

Earlier today, Trump posted on Truth Social that there’s “infighting” between “hardliners” and “moderates” in Iran.

The next round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon will now take place at the White House, according to a U.S. official and a White House official, both of whom said Trump will greet both representatives upon their arrival.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to join the discussions, which were originally expected to be held at the State Department.

The discussions follow last Tuesday’s historic meeting between Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh, attended by Rubio, which were the first direct negotiations between the two countries in decades and resulted in the agreement for a fragile 10-day ceasefire.

Trump said in a Truth Social post this afternoon addressing people who think he's "anxious" to end the war in Iran that he is "possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position."

"I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t — The clock is ticking!" he wrote.

Trump added, "Time is not on their side! A Deal will only be made when it’s appropriate and good for the United States of America, our Allies and, in fact, the rest of the World."

A 21-year-old woman in Lebanon spoke to NBC News about Israel's war against Hezbollah from a refugee facility in Beirut.

The house, previously a school, is holding 400 people, including 120 children.

Marwa Yazbek is from Dihariya, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, which was ground zero for Israeli strikes when the war broke out.

Marwa Yazbek, a Lebanese medical student in Beirut. Angela Neil / NBC News

“The bomb started beside us, actually, and then we tried to go and get our stuff," she said.

United Nations Development Program Administrator Alexander De Croo said during an interview today that the Iran war is pushing more than 30 million people back into poverty.

"Energy prices going up, energy shortages, food insecurity because of the fertiliser supply, which has been impacted in a very, very dramatic way," he told Reuters.

He added that even if the war were to end tomorrow, it would still push back about 32 million into poverty.

"The difficulty is that in food systems, you cannot decide when, for example, you plant," he said. "The planting season is now. It’s in spring. If you do it now and you don’t have access to fertilizers, you know that the productivity will be much lower in September, October, and November. You can’t, like, solve this. And so we know that food insecurity will be at its peak level in a few months, and there is not that much that you can do about it."

Defense ministers of the United Kingdom and France expressed confidence today that progress can be made with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

"Turning diplomatic momentum into action demands sharp planning, frank discussion and firm commitments from allied and partner nations, and we are grateful to those nations who have already indicated their willingness to contribute. We are confident that real progress can be made," U.K. Defense Minister John Healey and French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said in a statement at a planning conference in London regarding the strait.

They added, "By building on our common purpose, strengthening multinational coordination and setting the conditions for effective collective action, we can help reopen the Strait, stabilize the global economy and protect our people."

The Israeli military has vowed to maintain a presence in southern Lebanon ahead of upcoming truce talks between Israeli and Lebanese negotiators.

In a message addressed to residents of southern Lebanon, IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that Israeli troops continued to maintain their positions in southern Lebanon amid the current truce, which is set to expire Sunday.

It said troops would remain in the south, where Israel has sought to establish a "security zone," destroying homes and infrastructure in the process, in response to "ongoing" Hezbollah activities.

It comes as Lebanon seeks an extension of the current truce in rare talks held with Israel today in Washington.

Two Israeli soldiers have been arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses on behalf of Iranian intelligence operatives and carrying out security-related tasks under their direction.

Israeli police said in a post on X today that the two air force technicians claimed they severed contact with their handlers after refusing to carry out tasks involving weapons. But even after the contact was terminated at the initiative of the handlers, they continued attempting to renew contact for financial gain, police said.

One soldier is accused of aiding the enemy in wartime, transmitting information to the enemy, assisting contact with a foreign agent and additional offenses. The other soldier is accused of having contact with a foreign agent, transmitting information to the enemy and other offenses, according to the indictment.

The indictment says that in exchange for money, the soldiers maintained contact with Iranian intelligence operatives over a few months and carried out a range of tasks under their direction. One of the soldiers is also accused of transferring to an Iranian foreign agent materials from his military training related to fighter jet systems, as well as documentation of facilities and areas within a military base.

The White House claims that Trump helped save eight Iranian women from being executed, although these assertions are being challenged by Tehran.

The alleged decision not to execute the eight resulted from Trump asking Iranian leadership "directly not to kill these young, beautiful women," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday in an interview on Fox News.

Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday that he had been informed that "the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed." He said that four would be released immediately and the other four would be sentenced to a month in prison.

But Iranian media outlet Mizan, linked to Iran's judiciary, said that Trump's claim was "untrue," stating that none of the women involved were sentenced to be executed.

As Trump pushes for a peace deal with Iran, the standoff is continuing over the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian state media published a highly produced video that it claimed showed the interception and seizure of two cargo ships. 

01:56

The world is facing its biggest energy security threat in history, Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, warned today.

"As of today, we’ve lost 13 million barrels per day of oil ... and there are major disruptions in vital commodities," he told CNBC.

Birol has previously warned that the Iran war and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz would result in the "largest energy crisis we have ever faced."

The strait has remained effectively shut after Iran imposed a blockade on the waterway and then the U.S. imposed its own, barring ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports.

President Donald Trump said "Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is" and declared that the U.S. has "total control over the Strait of Hormuz."

"The infighting is between the 'Hardliners,' who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the 'Moderates,' who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!" he wrote on Truth Social.

He said ships cannot enter or leave the strait "without the approval of the United States Navy."

"It is 'Sealed up Tight,' until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!" he posted.

The global economy is facing ever more tangible strains from the energy shock triggered by the Iran war as factories grapple with soaring production costs and activity weakens even in services sectors, major surveys showed today.

While much of the world’s economy has shown resilience in the face of the worst disruption to energy supplies in modern times, the knock-on effects of the conflict are starting to push up inflation while raising alarm bells about food supplies and prompting downgrades to economic growth.

This week has already seen a string of downbeat business and consumer morale readings and cautious outlooks from top-listed companies. The closely watched set of S&P Global surveys of purchasing managers released today showed worse to come.

They pointed to the 21 countries of the euro zone as among the hardest hit.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah members launched an anti-tank missile toward IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon earlier today.

It said the anti-tank missile landed adjacent to IDF soldiers, but no one was injured in the incident, which it said was a violation of the current ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon.

The IDF said yesterday that it had killed a Hezbollah member who it said was operating at a launch site in the Sejoud area in southern Lebanon.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have traded accusations of ceasefire violations, with a Lebanese journalist, Amal Khalil, killed in an Israeli airstrike just yesterday. Israel's military acknowledged the strike, but maintained it does not deliberately target journalists.

Trump says he has ordered the U.S. Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and ordered stepped-up efforts to clear existing mines.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation," the president said in a post on Truth Social.

"Additionally, our mine 'sweepers' are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!" Trump said.

The comments come amid growing concerns that the threat of mines in the key waterway, as well as the standoff between the two navies, will leave the crucial trade route effectively blocked for some time.

Two boys paddle-board in the sea yesterday as ships are anchored near the shoreline along the Strait of Hormuz in Bandar Abbas, Iran.  Getty Images / Getty Images

Gas prices in the U.S. have climbed for the first time in weeks, to $4.03 a gallon.

After reaching $4.17 a gallon earlier this month, prices had steadily dropped for two weeks. But they rose slightly today, according to data from motor club AAA.

The price of gas has risen more than 30% since the start of the war.

In some states, including California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, prices are over or near $5 per gallon, the highest nationally.

Gas prices in Brentwood, Tenn., on Sunday. Camden Hall / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Follow NBC News' tracker here.

The U.S. military says it has boarded another sanctioned tanker involved in smuggling Iranian oil, as the maritime standoff between the two countries intensifies.

U.S. forces carried out “a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” of a sanctioned vessel transporting oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, the Defense Department said this morning in a post on X.

Images released by the Defense Department appear to show U.S. troops boarding the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X. via Department of Defense

It said the operation took place overnight and involved stateless vessel M/T Majestic X. It released footage showing the boarding.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” it said. 

It comes after the Defense Department said Tuesday it boarded another stateless vessel in the Indo-Pacific, alleging that it was providing material support to Iran. U.S. forces also seized an Iranian ship over the weekend.

The crew of one of the ships attacked and seized in the Strait of Hormuz by Iran yesterday are all "safe and accounted for," the ship's management company has said.

The Epaminondas was boarded by Iranian forces, Technomar Shipping Inc. confirmed to NBC News in a statement this morning.

"The vessel was transiting the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached and fired upon by a manned gunboat approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Oman" yesterday, it said.

"All crew are safe and accounted for, and there were no reports of injuries or pollution."

The statement added that "Technomar remains in close communication with the relevant authorities in the region."

Iran’s former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid this morning as he left a building in Berlin.

Pahlavi had just departed a news briefing, during which he criticized the ceasefire between the Unites States and Iran, when the incident occurred outside Germany’s federal press conference building.

He then waved to his supporters and got into a car that drove away. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

Reza Pahlavi after being pelted from behind with a red liquid in Berlin this morning. Halil Sagirkaya / Anadolu via Getty Images

A man is taken away by police following the incident. Michael Kappeler / DPA via Getty Images

Pahlavi, who was not invited to meet with any government representatives during his visit to Berlin, argued that the ceasefire agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

“I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”

Pahlavi, 65, is jockeying for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said it is the "aggressors" in the war that are responsible for its consequences.

Araghchi made the comments during a meeting with South Korea's special envoy Chung Byung-ha in Tehran, the semiofficial Iranian ISNA news agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Shadati / Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images file

Araghchi further said that Iran, as a coastal state of the Strait of Hormuz, had adopted measures in accordance with international law to safeguard the country's security and national interests against aggression and threats from the U.S. and Israel.

He called for relations between Iran and South Korea to be strengthened.

In the wake of the Iranian attack on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, MarineTraffic tracking data shows an almost total standstill of vessels transiting through the waterway.

Just one ship, the Greek-owned bulk carrier LB Energy, has made the journey in the last 12 hours.

The LB Energy left Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port on April 19 and had been in the Persian Gulf until yesterday, when it traveled through the Iranian-approved route between Hormuz and Larak islands at around midnight this morning, with a final destination for Brazil.

Tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. Asghar Besharati / AP

Ocean Jewel, a tanker that had been in the Persian Gulf since April 19, appeared to attempt a crossing yesterday morning, approaching the strait before turning around at 3 a.m. ET and traveling east, away from the strait.

Epaminondas, one of the cargo ships seized by the Revolutionary Guard yesterday in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, was moved north between the Iranian islands of Hormuz and Larak yesterday evening, before it stopped transmitting at 2:46 p.m. ET. The other ship taken by Iran, the Francesca, stopped transmitting in the same area where it was seized.

Tehran has received the first revenue from tolls it imposed on the Strait of Hormuz during its war with the U.S. and Israel, a senior Iranian parliament official has said.

Hamidreza Hajibabaei, Iran's deputy speaker of parliament, said the "first revenue from tolls of the Strait of Hormuz has been deposited into the central bank account," according to semiofficial news agency Tasnim.

The outlet did not expand further on the statement.

It comes after Iran began charging some ships millions of dollars to transit the strait, through which some 20% of the world's oil and gas passes.

Relatives of Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist who officials and her employer say was killed by an Israeli airstrike yesterday, gathered in Baysariyeh in southern Lebanon this morning to mourn her loss ahead of funeral processions.

Khalil was killed by a strike on a house in southern Lebanon where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Her body was only retrieved from the rubble hours later, rescue workers said.

Israel’s military acknowledged the strike and said it was aware of reports that two journalists had been injured but said that it does not deliberately target journalists.

Mourners hang a giant poster of Amal Khalil at her home in the village of Baysariyeh, southern Lebanon, today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP

Zainab, the sister of Amal Khalil, hugs her helmet as she mourns over her coffin today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP

Mourners gather around the coffin of Amal Khalil ahead of her funeral procession today. Mohammed Zaatari / AP

Israeli troops have been burning homes in southern Lebanon, while also continuing to destroy neighborhoods and infrastructure in the area amid Lebanon's truce with Israel, Lebanese media reported.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported that Israeli troops had been burning houses in Mais Al-Jabal in Marjayoun in Lebanon's south since the early hours of this morning.

It separately reported a day before that Israeli bulldozers had been destroying neighborhoods, roads and infrastructure in the town of Khiam, which has been a battleground in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, according to The Associated Press.

Bombing operations were also reported in Bint Jbeil, a key Hezbollah stronghold that Israeli forces have sought to take over, as well as in other areas in the south.

The Israeli military said in a statement to The Associated Press that the target of the demolition work is Hezbollah, not Lebanon or its civilians, and that it “operates in accordance with international law and does not destroy civilian property unless required by imperative military necessity.”

A warning of higher condom prices by the world’s top maker has gone viral in China with the hashtag “condom prices rising” garnering more than 60 million views by this morning on Chinese social media and stoking talk of stockpiling.

The Iran crisis has impacted facets of everyday life for people around the world and many Chinese took to social media platform Weibo — China’s equivalent of X — to bemoan the fact it was now even invading the bedroom.

The wave of online comments was sparked by the boss of condom maker Karex, Goh Miah Kiat, who said the Malaysian company planned to raise prices by 20%-30% and possibly more if supply chain disruptions due to the Iran war drag on.

Many online comments said higher prices would not deter them from buying condoms to protect against pregnancy. Others urged buyers to stockpile.

“A few dozen yuan for a condom is a hundred times more cost-effective than raising a child at a million yuan,” said one user.

“From now on, not only will we have to be frugal, but we’ll also have to stock up on condoms in advance,” said another.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement this morning he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.

The meeting in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.

Naqvi said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.

Naqvi praised Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.

Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.

U.S. Central Command said last night that the number of ships it has turned around in its naval blockade of Iranian ports has risen to 31.

Most of those vessels have been oil tankers, CENTCOM said on X.

The U.S. has vowed that no ships would be allowed into or out of Iran’s ports as part of the naval blockade, intended to put pressure on Tehran.

Iranian officials have said that they consider the blockade to be a violation of the ceasefire with the U.S. and yesterday attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

03:26

Nearly two months after the start of the war, civilians in southern Lebanon are grappling with their new reality.

NBC News explores a town that’s considered a Hezbollah stronghold after a series of deadly Israeli strikes.