Here are Friday’s latest updates:
■ U.S. officials believed Israel may have considered targeting Iran’s top negotiators – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian parliament chair Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – during sensitive cease-fire talks with Tehran that began in April, a move Washington feared could have derailed efforts to secure an interim peace deal, according to current and former American officials, the New York Times reported.
■ Several European countries have accepted that ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz may have to pay service fees to Iran and Oman, with officials viewing such charges as effectively inevitable in the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter.
■ The U.S. Department of Justice said it had told the International Criminal Court in a letter that the United States would not cooperate with any ICC investigations and that it rejected the view that the court had any jurisdiction over Americans.
■ Hundreds of protesters marched toward Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square ahead of a rally marking 1,000 days since the October 7 attack, led by bereaved families calling for a state commission of inquiry, as supporters surrounding them chanted: “You are not alone, we are with you.” Israel Police later arrested eight demonstrators and dispersed the blockade, while confiscating drums and signs. Officers also broke the sticks used to hold up the signs.
■ The Israeli military arrested a suspect in southern Hebron after a reported attempted car ramming attack in the Beit Ummar area, the IDF and Defense Ministry said in a joint statement. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli troops launched a manhunt in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar after a reported attempted car ramming attack, the military said, adding that no wounded were reported and forces were searching the area for the suspects.
■ An Iranian military commander warned the United States and Israel against any attack on Iran as it prepares for the state funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on the first day of the war.
■ The Israeli military said that its forces killed a Hezbollah operative after identifying him emerging from an access shaft of an underground tunnel network at the Ali al-Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon’s security zone, where IDF soldiers are operating.