RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The meeting comes amid a stalled post-war Gaza plan and after an Israeli minister called for more Palestinians to be killed in the enclave. Meanwhile, Iran says it is finalizing a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz.
https://p.dw.com/p/5IwWJ Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Israeli PM Netanyahu and US envoy Kushner meet in Jerusalem Israeli minister calls for more "targeted killings" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Iran says it "finalizing" a deal with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz Welcome to DW's coverage of developments in the Middle East on Monday, 17 August, 2026.
08/17/2026 August 17, 2026 Iran blames US for Gulf pollution after oil spills Iran 's Foreign Ministry has blamed United States military operations for pollution in Gulf waters after several oil spills were reported.
"This environmental damage stems from the US military presence and the wars it has waged in the region over the past five decades," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters in Tehran .
He estimated environmental damage at "trillions of dollars" and called for the United States to be held accountable, but also admitted: "The damage caused to the environment of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is not solely linked to this war."
Last week, Iran called for compensation after an oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz reached the island of Qeshm, affecting beaches and an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest.
At the time, Baqaei identified "a foreign bulk carrier" as the source of the spill, which Iranian officials later said had been "completely cleaned up."
Before that, Omani state media reported that oil from a tanker that ran aground off Oman had reached the coastline.
08/17/2026 August 17, 2026 Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it hampers Iran deal US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack Oman if its talks with Iran hamper US attempts to secure a deal on the Strait of Hormuz .
"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s*** out of them," Trump told Fox News, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the waterway, while Washington is also unsuccessfully pursuing its own talks.
Iranian and Omani officials have been talking for weeks about future maritime navigation arrangements through the key shipping route, and Iran's Foreign Ministry said earlier on Monday that the two sides were working on a joint declaration (see below).
However, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait – which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war on February 28 – is under US control despite traffic remaining restricted. On Friday, he went as far as claiming he would declare it part of US territory.
Trump also reportedly told Fox that his administration was in communication with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) via a direct back-channel.
"They're good poker players, but they're dying," he was quoted as saying, while calling on Iran to "put up the white flag and surrender."
08/17/2026 August 17, 2026 Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Saudi vessels Yemen 's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed to have attacked a Saudi military ship and four accompanying vessels in the Red Sea on Monday.
Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for the group, said they had "succeeded in targeting a military landing ship belonging to the Saudi enemy, accompanied by four military patrol boats, in the Red Sea off the coast of Mocha, using several ballistic missiles."
Mocha is a Red Sea port near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and an important international shipping route – especially given the closure of the Strait of Hormuz .
The Houthis said the attack formed part of a blockade imposed on Saudi ports since July in response to what they describe as a Saudi siege on Yemen.
Riyadh denies such allegations and has not commented on Monday's attack.
The Houthis also attacked a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last Tuesday, the Houthi-run news agency Saba reported. Yemen's transport ministry said four crew members were killed.
08/17/2026 August 17, 2026 Iran working to finalize Hormuz agreement with Oman Iran 's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it was working to finalize a joint statement with Oman on a plan to manage the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz .
"An understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route," said foreign affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei, conceding that talks with Oman had progressed slowly.
"We had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement," he told reporters in Tehran .
Although Baghaei did not elaborate on the plan, previous details have suggested that ships could be expected to enter the key waterway through a route closer to Iran before exiting on a route closer to Oman. It is not expected that ships would have to pay fees or tolls.
The announcement came as a 60-day negotiating period to agree a permanent peace deal between the United States and Iran expired, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were two months ago.
The US has sought an acceptable deal on reopening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports and it was not immediately clear whether the new Iran-Oman deal would meet Washington's expectations.
08/17/2026 August 17, 2026 Israeli minister calls for more 'targeted killings' in Gaza Monday's meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner comes after Israel 's national security minister called for dozens more Palestinians to be killed "every night" in "targeted killings" in the Gaza Strip .
Far-right hardliner Itamar Ben-Gvir made the remarks in a podcast with a former Gaza hostage which went live on Saturday evening.
"I think that targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, removing 30, 40 people every night," he said, specifying t...
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