Live: US renews strikes on Iran after death of two service members

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), a leading pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, has stopped accepting campaign contributions for 15 House Democrats it had previously endorsed, after they voted this week for an amendment to cut off all US military aid to Israel, media reports said.

The amendment, introduced by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie as part of a State Department spending bill, was defeated 314 to 104, but drew support from 103 House Democrats, nearly half the caucus. Massie was the only Republican backer.

By Friday, donations to the campaigns of the 15 affected lawmakers were no longer available on Aipac's website, the New York Times reported.

 Among them was House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, who said ahead of the vote that Washington "should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with US law, interests, and values."

An Aipac spokesperson told the Times that its members are "deeply appreciative of their representatives who stand on principle and are disappointed by those who don't."

Massie's amendment would have blocked $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel.

A family of five -- three children and their parents -- was among the 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday, according to the territory’s civil defence and hospitals.

A ceasefire remains in place between Israel and Hamas, but it has not halted the violence in Gaza, and efforts to secure a lasting agreement to end the war have stalled.

The family was killed when an Israeli strike hit a residential apartment in the northwest of Gaza City, according to the territory's civil defence agency.

"The family's only surviving member is one child, who was not inside the house at the time of the strike," Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, told AFP.

Three more people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a group of civilians in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, the agency reported.

Hours later, Bassal announced the death of a woman after "Israeli artillery shelling" struck "a tent sheltering displaced people" east of the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Health officials said two other people were killed elsewhere in Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Watch | A Palestinian child breaks down over the bodies of his father, mother, and three siblings after his family was wiped out in a deadly Israeli airstrike targeting a residential apartment in Gaza City’s Al-Nasr neighborhood earlier today. pic.twitter.com/eDtBfe5380

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 18, 2026

Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Tuwani in the West Bank, setting a mosque and a vehicle on fire and spray-painting a Star of David on the mosque's wall, according to Palestinian Christian human rights advocate Ihab Hassan.

BREAKING: Israeli settler terrorists attacked the Palestinian village of Tuwani in the West Bank, setting a mosque and a vehicle on fire and spray-painting a Star of David on the mosque's wall. pic.twitter.com/m1nCyx1aRk

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 18, 2026

Palestinian news agency WAFA, meanwhile, reported that Israeli forces set fire to dozens of olive trees in the village of Deir Qaddis, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday.

A Wafa correspondent reported that Israeli forces chased Palestinian farmers while they were working on their land south of the village, firing live ammunition and tear gas canisters at them, which sparked fires that spread across large areas planted with dozens of olive trees. 

The correspondent added that Israeli forces prevented civil defence crews from reaching the site to extinguish the fire, allowing the blaze to spread across wider areas of Palestinian-owned land south of the village.

Deir Qaddis and nearby villages and towns west of Ramallah have been subjected to repeated Israeli military incursions, alongside ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers targeting Palestinian residents and their property, Wafa reported.

Dozens of olive trees caught fire after Israeli forces heavily fired stun grenades in the village of Deir Qiddis, west of Ramallah. pic.twitter.com/7TnpPwMPuv

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) July 18, 2026

The office of the governor of Iran's Hormozgan province said that an American strike hit a location in Qeshm at around 3.40 am local time on Sunday, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Residents had reported hearing multiple blasts in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, but no impact or strike in Bandar Abbas has been confirmed yet, IRNA reported.

Local authorities were assessing the reported blasts, IRNA said.

The reports of a missile hit on the Sarmich Bridge, meanwhile, have been dismissed by Salim Kadkhoda, deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, who spoke with IRNA.
 

The US State Department has warned Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution, saying that due to “heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation”.

In a statement, the department cautioned Americans that “groups supportive of Iran might target US interests overseas or locations associated with the country or Americans throughout the world”.

It reminded Americans of the “continued need for caution” and encouraged them to “monitor the news for breaking developments”.  

“US diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures may cause travel disruptions. 
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“Americans abroad should follow the guidance in security alerts issued by the nearest US embassy or consulate,” the department said.

Worldwide Caution: Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation. We remind Americans in the region of the continued need for caution and encourage them to monitor the news for breaking… pic.twitter.com/A3LKEQSRiO

— TravelGov (@TravelGov) July 18, 2026

Emergency delivery of drinking water was underway in about 20 Iranian villages, with a population of around 10,000 people, after a US strike on a desalination plant in the port city of Jask in Hormozgan province cut off the supply on Friday night.

Citing the governor of Jask, Mohmmad Jamaleddini, IRNA reported that water was being supplied from alternative sources and mobile tankers were being deployed.

The governor said that a stable water supply will be restored within a week.

Emergency water supply to affected villages in Jask begins: Governorhttps://t.co/eAM9QD9b3S pic.twitter.com/ybD92sRLwP

— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) July 18, 2026

Explosion sounds were heard in the strategically important southern Iranian port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Tasnim reported a US strike near Haji Abad in Bandar Abbas, which caused no civilian casualties or damage to residential and commercial infrastructure.

Bandar Abbas has come under repeated US air strikes in recent days, causing damage to city infrastructure.

Bandar Lengeh is a port city in southern Iran, located in Hormozgan province along the coast of the Gulf.

Iran has launched heavy attacks on bases belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

Earlier, Kurdish-language broadcaster Aryen TV reported that Iran had closed the Marivan and Hawraman border crossings with Iraq and urged residents to stay away from the surrounding frontier areas in Kurdistan province.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes in the Wadi al-Rakhim area south of Yatta, near Hebron, on Saturday evening, stealing three sheep, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Local anti-settlement activist Osama Makhamreh said the armed settlers were accompanied by Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition during the raid.

No injuries were reported, but a child, Yaseen Mohammad Shnaran, was hospitalised after suffering severe shock and convulsions.

In a separate incident, armed settlers, also reportedly under Israeli military protection, tried to steal sheep in the Wadi Ajheish area near As-Samu', but residents confronted them and forced them to leave.

Iran has closed the Marivan and Hawraman border crossings with Iraq and urged residents to stay away from the surrounding frontier areas in Kurdistan province, Kurdish-language broadcaster Aryen TV reported. 

Border guards warned citizens not to approach the border strip in Dehreh-ki, Dezli and other frontier areas, advising against any movement or activity there, according to the report.

The Marivan and Hawraman crossings connect Iran's Kurdistan province with Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The reported closures came after an eighth consecutive night of US strikes on Iran, including overnight attacks that followed the killing of two US soldiers in Jordan.

US forces have begun launching new air strikes against Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, according to US Central Command.

In a post on X, Centcom said the attacks were intended to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and to “swiftly punish” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces.

Today at 6 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began launching new airstrikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction. The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard…

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 18, 2026

US President Donald Trump said deaths of two US service members in Iranian attacks is “a very sad thing,” as he reacted to the announcement.

“We hate to see it happen. It’s in service to our country,” Trump told NewsNation.

He  also said that the US would “never” allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has reacted to deaths of two US service members in Jordan.

“Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve,” said Hegseth in a post on X.

Israeli artillery killed a Palestinian woman and wounded several other people after shelling a group in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reported, citing a source in the ambulance and emergency service.

The incident was separate from an earlier attack in Zeitoun, in which four Palestinians were killed and another was critically wounded.

Sources at Gaza hospitals said Israeli raids across several areas of the Gaza Strip had killed 24 Palestinians since yesterday.

Since dawn, Israeli raids on Gaza City have killed 10 Palestinians, including three children.

The European Union and Gulf states called on Iran to permanently open the Strait of Hormuz without conditions or fees, Saudi state television reported.