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US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voiced his demand for "completely incompetent" Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be removed from his position over his handling of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
"When Pete Hegseth was nominated, everyone knew he was completely incompetent," he wrote on X. "Now our brave sailors are paying the price in a horrific and unfathomable way."
"Pete Hegseth must be fired immediately."
The US Central Command (Centcom) has rejected reports surrounding the death of soldiers onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its deployment to the Middle East.
"One report alleged seven Sailors died in a brawl aboard the aircraft carrier and others have recently suggested a spike in suicidal ideations. These reports are FALSE," a post by Centcom on X read.
"No service members aboard the aircraft carrier have died, and the one Sailor who fell overboard Aug. 3 was quickly and safely recovered," it added.
🚫 CLAIM: Over the past 48 hours, multiple media outlets have reported several false claims related to USS Abraham Lincoln's (CVN 72) deployment to the Middle East. One report alleged seven Sailors died in a brawl aboard the aircraft carrier and others have recently suggested a… pic.twitter.com/U1Hg6l1pjN
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 13, 2026
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned on Thursday that Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt may be compelled to take "radical steps" if the United States does not pressure Israel to comply with the Gaza peace deal.
Fidan emphasised that while the Palestinian side has fulfilled its commitments, Israel has shown no progress in advancing to the second phase of the agreement.
“We naturally expect the United States to exert the necessary pressure on Israel.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 14, 2026
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt may take "radical steps" if the United States does not pressure Israel to comply with the Gaza peace deal pic.twitter.com/nbm15FGO2t
The director of the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has affirmed Baghdad's rejection of any infringement of its sovereignty during high-level security talks with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Abdul Amir al-Shammari also stressed Iraq’s firm commitment not to pose a threat to neighbouring countries or to allow its territory to be used for attacks in the region, state media reported.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel of aiming to expel all Palestinians from Gaza, adding that there must be immediate action to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with international demands.
During a joint press briefing in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein, Fidan said that Netanyahu "develops policies that trample human dignity".
The foreign minister also indicated that that Ankara and Cairo joined the Trump-backed Board of Peace to "stop the genocide in Gaza", adding that "thankfully, together we succeeded in this. We have stopped the genocide to a certain extent".
Israel has continued to launch attacks across the Gaza Strip, despite recent truce efforts.
The army has so far killed over 73,389 people in the besieged enclave, with thousands more missing and presumed to be beneath the rubble.
Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy, is expected to visit Israel next week for discussions surrounding Gaza's future, Axios reported.
The visit is likely to focus on advancing the next steps of the Board of Peace’s plan for the besieged enclave.
US Vice President JD Vance said that Washington is using "diplomatic, military and economic" means to pressure Iran.
"The Iranians sometimes make commitments that they don't honour," Vance told Fox News. "They make a deal, they don't honour the deal."
He also expressed that he was confident the confrontation would end with Washington "in a stronger position", with Tehran left without a nuclear weapon and the vital Strait of Hormuz reopened.
"What I think is really happening is that you're seeing a president of the United States at the height of his authority with a lot of tools - diplomatic, military, and economic," he said, adding that these means are being used "very selectively, very strategically".
Israeli forces opened fire on civilians in Syria's Daraa province, Syrian state television Al-Ikhbariya reported.
The gunfire reportedly forced some residents to leave their homes in the village of Maariya. There have yet to be any reports of deaths or injuries from the incident.
Air defence systems intercepted drones over the northern Kurdish province of Erbil early on Thursday, Iraqi security sources told Al Jazeera.
Footage circulating online showed the remnants of drones falling over a residential area near Erbil international airport. There have been no reported injuries or casualties so far.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israeli forces would not withdraw from what Israel calls its "security zones" in southern Lebanon or Gaza, in a video statement filmed from the Israeli-occupied Beaufort Ridge in Lebanon.
Katz's remarks came days after Israeli and Lebanese officials held talks in Rome on implementing a 26 June agreement linking Israel's phased withdrawal from southern Lebanon to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which is not a party to the agreement, has rejected calls to disarm. The US has since criticised Katz's remarks, saying they are inconsistent with Israel's commitments under the agreement.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would not withdraw from "security zones" in southern Lebanon or Gaza. His remarks came after talks linking Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon to Hezbollah's verified disarmament. pic.twitter.com/nFXNuXWuZI
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 13, 2026
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington is going to apply measures that have "never been seen" on Iran.
"Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country," Bessent said during an interview on Newsmax's Rob Schmitt Tonight programme.
"It will be a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports," he added.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said settler attacks and the scenes in Qusra in the occupied West Bank are “costing Israel” and “its friends", Al Jazeera reported.
The Israeli attacks, as well as the building of new illegal settlements and outposts across Palestinian territories, have continued, the report said.
The minister of defence inaugurated a new settlement in the Jenin area on Thursday, shortly after Israeli soldiers demolished Palestinian shops and properties on the same day.
The United Arab Emirates on Friday condemned an Iranian attack it said targeted two vessels linked to state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge users for passage, which the US fiercely opposes. Iran is in talks with Oman over arrangements for the strait's future management.
The UAE foreign ministry in a statement denounced what it called "the hostile Iranian attack that targeted two vessels affiliated with Adnoc as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported".
Adnoc confirmed "two of its vessels were attacked while transiting" the waterway on Thursday evening, adding the situation was "brought under control", the official WAM news agency reported.
الإمارات تُدين بأشد العبارات استهداف ناقلتين تابعتين لأدنوك أثناء عبورهما مضيق هرمز
— MoFA وزارة الخارجية (@mofauae) August 13, 2026
UAE Strongly Condemns Targeting of Two ADNOC Vessels While Transiting Strait of Hormuz pic.twitter.com/dGL9pt8RaW
This summer, a senior UAE diplomat, Lanna Nusseibeh, held consultations with a US ally in Europe. The meeting was unremarkable but informative because of the impression the European country's officials walked away with.
“The UAE is totally aligned with Israel. It’s crystal clear that the partnership has no limits,” a European official who was in the meeting told Middle East Eye.
That clarity contrasts with the questions swirling in corridors of power - from the US to Asia - about the Mecca Agreement, which unites Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan under a mutual defence pact that many see as rivalling the UAE-Israel partnership.
Western and Arab officials are still trying to decipher just how aligned Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey are, let alone whether they can back each other up in a hot conflict.
Read more: 'Agility vs depth': How the Mecca pact stacks up against the UAE-Israel alliance
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said two of its vessels were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, the United Arab Emirates' state news agency WAM reported.
Adnoc said there were no injuries and the situation had been brought under control.
