Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Gaza and three in the West Bank on Friday, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the Iran war, while Iran is touting an energy deal with Russia and the U.S. has imposed restrictions on a major Egyptian bank for its ties with Iran. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war<\/a> and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 5<\/p>\n Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed five people, local hospital officials said Friday.<\/p>\n Two brothers and another relative died in a strike on the family\u2019s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Israel\u2019s military said it was not aware of a strike in Khan Younis.<\/p>\n Two separate Israeli strikes killed one person each in Gaza City on Friday, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. Israel\u2019s military confirmed it struck two separate areas in the city, without elaborating.<\/p>\n The five deaths are the latest in Gaza since an October ceasefire deal<\/a>. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,303 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.<\/p>\n Attack kills 3 in Jenin<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military said it killed three Palestinians in an airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, describing one of the dead as a Hamas operative and the two others as accomplices.<\/p>\n The military identified one of the targets as Qais Bitawi who was alleged to be \u201cinvolved in advancing significant terrorist activity.\u201d The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Bitawi had been killed, along with two others. Hamas condemned the strike as a \u201cheinous crime.\u201d<\/p>\n Violence has escalated in the West Bank, where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials. Three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2026.<\/p>\n Iranian leader bans actions undermining national unity<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Friday declared that actions undermining national unity in the political, security, cultural, social or economic spheres are prohibited.<\/p>\n In a message marking Iran\u2019s Government Week, Khamenei said every major government decision should take into account its potential impact on \u201csocial cohesion.\u201d He warned that even measures supported by some could ultimately be harmful if their broader social consequences are ignored.<\/p>\n \u201cAny statement that creates despair or weakens national and public motivation,\u201d as well as what he called false divisions such as \u201cwar or negotiations,\u201d \u201cconsensus or radicalism\u201d and \u201ccompromise or warmongering,\u201d could damage the country, Khamenei said.<\/p>\n Thousands of sailors stranded by Iran war<\/p>\n The U.N.’s maritime agency said Friday that 19 seafarers have been killed and at least 6,000 remain stranded<\/a> on hundreds of ships unable to leave the region since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n There have been at least 70 attacks on international shipping in the Persian Gulf, according to the International Maritime Organization.<\/p>\n About 20% of the world\u2019s traded oil and natural gas passed through the vital commercial waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before the war.<\/p>\n Iran and Russia look to revive energy deal<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador to Russia on Friday said the two countries are seeking to deepen links between their energy grids by reviving a plan that dates to 2022, according to Iranian state media.<\/p>\n Umud Shokri, a fellow at George Mason University, said the plan calls for piping 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually into Iran, via Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n He said that would help Iran weather U.S. economic pressure by alleviating seasonal shortages of gas, though there are significant hurdles, as building out the infrastructure would be expensive and time-consuming. <\/p>\n