Israel says Gaza drone strike targeted a Hamas commander, and other developments in the Mideast
Published Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 | 2:52 a.m.
Updated 3 hours, 42 minutes ago
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas commander Wednesday in northern Gaza using a targeted drone strike despite pressure to halt such attacks from officials overseeing peace efforts.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here .
An Israeli drone strike hit a man in the city of Beit Lahiya who was described by Israel’s military as a Hamas commander. It was the first targeted strike Israel has announced since Aug. 3.
Targeted strikes have come under closer scrutiny since U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal aimed at advancing peace efforts in Gaza that would include halting such strikes.
Though Hamas accepted the plan to decommission its weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected it earlier this week, saying Hamas must fully disarm before Israel accepts the terms. Board of Peace officials have urged Israel to stop the strikes as a way of moving the deal forward.
The Israeli military did not provide details about the man targeted or say whether he was killed. Officials at Shifa and Nasser hospitals said four injured people were brought in Wednesday.
The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported 45 people killed since Aug. 1.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday condemned an attack by Houthi rebels on a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, saying three Pakistanis were killed and another wounded. The attack Tuesday killed six people total.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran and a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb strait at Yemen’s southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil.
The attack came as part of a growing number of Houthi strikes against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the kingdom’s shipping in the Red Sea.
Claiming the U.S. has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said Wednesday: “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”
Trump’s social media post referred to the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports. A vital route for one-fifth of the world's traded oil before the war, the strait has been largely closed to other traffic since the start of the war because of Iran’s attacks on shipping.
Those attacks have continued despite the blockade and U.S. strikes.
Iran has said the strait will only reopen if the U.S. meets a list of demands , including lifting the blockade.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam in Islamabad on Wednesday as Pakistan seeks to resume peace negotiations between Iran and the U.S.
Their meeting came a day after Pakistan sent Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Tehran for talks with Iran’s top leaders.
An interim deal to end the fighting reached in mid-June is set to expire Monday. The ceasefire collapsed last month as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes over more than two weeks before pausing.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters Wednesday the June deal remains valid and the deadline could be extended.
“We are not closing the chapter,” Andrabi said.
Turkey condemned the decision by Colombia's new government to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, calling it a move to “legitimize Israel’s occupation” of the territory.
Colombia, shortly after the swearing-in of conservative Abelardo de la Espriella as president on Friday, became just the second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981.
The United States was the first during Trump's first term, reversing a longstanding U.S. policy.
The United Nations recognizes the territory as part of Syria.
Kuwait's Interior Ministry said a “terrorist plot” against an unspecified facility was thwarted Wednesday when a Kuwaiti citizen affiliated with the Islamic State group was detained shortly before carrying out his plan.
The ministry said the man had received training on making explosives and activating drones to be used in the planned attack.
The ministry said a vital facility had been targeted but gave no further details.