RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info By Marium Ali and Hanna Duggal Published On 28 Aug 2026 28 Aug 2026 Six months ago today , the United States and Israel launched their first strikes of on Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran and hitting nuclear and military sites around the country.
Those attacks prompted Iran to begin strikes on US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries – and for the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, to fire rockets into northern Israel, prompting near-daily Israeli responses since then and, at one point, control over one-fifth of Lebanon.
Neither side has gained the upper hand since. Iran has used its control of the Strait of Hormuz to squeeze Washington and global energy markets, and the conflict has settled into a stalemate, which months of negotiation have not broken.
Al Jazeera tracks the first six months of the war, from the numbers killed and displaced to the shock suffered by the global economy.
According to the latest official figures, at least 4,350 people are confirmed killed in Lebanon, 3,527 in Iran and 28 in Gulf states since the war began on February 28.
A further 60 Israelis and 18 US service members have been killed in Iranian attacks. The Pentagon says 757 US personnel have been wounded.
Figures are compiled from national health ministries and official bodies, and may change as the situation evolves and more information becomes available.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), a US-based conflict monitoring group, the US and Israel have carried out at least 3,580 attacks on Iran since February 28. Over the same period, Iran carried out at least 2,053 attacks across the Gulf and the wider Middle East.
Before the war, at least 100 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day, more than half of them tankers, carrying tens of millions of barrels of oil, as well as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other petrochemicals.
That collapsed within days of the war beginning. After the IRGC announced the strait’s closure on March 2, traffic fell to an average of five vessels a day and stayed there through the April ceasefire and the US blockade of Iranian ports.
The June 17 interim agreement increased the daily average to 20, but still only one-fifth of normal traffic, before the US resumed its blockade on July 14 and traffic sank back to five per day.
In the six months since fighting began, an average of seven vessels a day have passed through the strait.
Attacks on dozens of vessels have also been responsible for the decrease in shipping.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), there have been 70 confirmed incidents involving ships in the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in 19 seafarer fatalities as of August 26.
Last month, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing that the war had cost $37.5bn so far, up from about $25bn in late April and roughly $30bn in July. He said the total included payroll, operations, maintenance and anticipated costs through to the end of the budget year on September 30.
The true figure is likely higher. US media have reported the Pentagon’s internal estimate at $80bn to $100bn, including repairs to damaged US bases, replacing destroyed aircraft and replenishing weapons stocks.
The administration has not published an itemised breakdown.
Since the start of the war, Brent crude has risen roughly 22 percent, from $72.48 a barrel to $88.58 on August 28. It peaked at $120.88 on April 30, 67 percent higher than its pre-war level, after six months of volatile trading.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the government’s emergency stockpile of crude oil, has fallen to 290 million barrels, about 41 percent of its 714-million-barrel capacity and its lowest level since November 1982.
Other countries have released stocks too. The US pledge was the largest national share of a coordinated release of 400 million barrels agreed on March 11 by the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency – the largest emergency stock release in its history.
Despite a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel that took effect on April 17 and was renewed on June 26, Israeli forces continue to occupy parts of Lebanon and carry out attacks.
Before the ceasefire, Israeli forces occupied nearly one-fifth of Lebanon – about 2,000sq km (770sq miles). A buffer zone covering roughly six percent of the country remains in place.
Fighting resumed on March 2, after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of Tehran, three days into the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israel responded with a major offensive in Lebanon, killing at least 4,350 people over the months since and leaving 12,510 injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
Trump’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest of his presidency.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll, which closed on August 24, found that 33 percent of Americans approved of his performance in the White House and 65 percent disapproved, matching the December 2017 low of his first term.
The poll found that 80 percent of Americans, including 87 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Republicans, think US involvement in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time”. Just 16 percent expect it to end within weeks.
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