Middle East

The strike leaves more than 70 percent of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region without power.

A drone attack on the Khor Mor gasfield in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq has caused a fire at the facility and cut power to the region, according to Iraqi and Kurdish officials.

The Sunday night attack left more than 70 percent of the Kurdish region without power.

It was not clear who was responsible for the attack or whether it was related to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad has verified footage of smoke and flames rising from the vicinity of the gasfield in the Sulaimaniyah governorate.

Omid Ahmed, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Electricity, said the attack suspended gas supply to power plants in the cities of Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, Bazian, Chamchamal and Duhok, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

The strike knocked between 2,500 and 2,800 megawatts of electricity generation off the grid, he said.

He added that the ministry would provide electricity to critical facilities, such as hospitals and water treatment plants, by operating hydroelectric power stations and other plants that run on alternative fuel.

Al Jazeera’s Peter Smith, reporting from Baghdad, cited security sources as saying the explosive-laden drone struck the Khor Mor gas storage facility, reducing the energy grid’s capacity by 70 to 80 percent.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said there were no casualties as a result of the attack, based on an initial assessment, the INA reported.

Al-Zaidi also directed that a joint investigative committee be formed with the relevant authorities in the Kurdish region to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack, INA reported.

The attack comes amid heightened regional tensions. A drone strike hit the same facility last year, with no group having claimed responsibility.

US President Donald Trump warns that United States forces are ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to strike if necessary.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has warned that Tehran will “rain down hell” if the United States resumes attacks, serving Washington with an ultimatum in an attempt to end the two countries’ eight-month war.

“Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

“Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened warriors rain down hell,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that renewed strikes on Iran are “highly unlikely” if negotiations progress over Tehran’s nuclear programme and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Locked and loaded’

“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” Trump said when asked about continued US strikes on Iran during a phone interview reported by CNN. “I would [continue], if necessary, but we hit them really hard,” he added.

Trump warned that US forces have three aircraft carriers stationed in the region “fully locked and loaded”, ready to continue strikes if need be. He also said that the US has 38 bridges in Iran’s crosshairs that US forces “can knock down in literally one hour”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also quoted Araghchi in an earlier statement on Sunday that said Iran would “not go easy on American targets” in the region.

Araghchi’s statements came after reports by state media that an oil tanker caught fire earlier that morning after hitting a naval mine east of the Strait of Hormuz, citing Iran’s navy.

The navy claimed the ship’s identification systems were turned off and it was travelling in the no-go zone of the strait.

‘Devastating and severe’ response

An adviser to Iran’s commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force made threats that echoed those of the Iranian foreign minister and said that weapons have been “secured for years to come”.

“The armed forces are at the ready, and if the enemy makes a mistake, Iran’s response will be devastating and severe,” warned IRGC Brigadier-General Ali Belali in a statement on Telegram.

“As senior commanders of the armed forces have pointed out, we have upgraded our capabilities in the post-Ramadan War period,” Belali said.

The back-and-fourth between Iranian and US leaders comes following US midterm elections in which the Democratic Party won control of both chambers of Congress, soundly defeating Trump’s Republican Party.

Araghchi alleged that negotiations have been delayed as a result of the elections, but he awaits the path forward, Iranian state media reported.

“It will take some time for things to settle down and for the atmosphere to become conducive to the mediators resuming their visits,” the foreign minister said. “We have to wait.”

Israel’s president officially tasks the opposition leader with forming a new government.

Israel’s opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, the man officially tasked by President Isaac Herzog with trying to form the country’s next government, has said that he was open to including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his coalition lineup.

In a speech at Sunday’s ceremony in Herzog’s office in Jerusalem, Eisenkot suggested Netanyahu’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was also welcome to join.

“If members of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, I cannot conceive of any reason why they would not support a government under my leadership and the principles I have presented,” Eisenkot said.

Eisenkot, who ran as Netanyahu’s main rival, has six weeks to form a new government. At the ceremony, Eisenkot said he will act in the interests of the public and represent all parts of Israeli society.

Herzog, meanwhile, warned that the country faced uncertainties after the November 3 midterm elections in the United States, which brought victories for several political figures critical of Israel and the US’s military support.

“The State of Israel needs a stable government,” Herzog said, pointing to the “new political reality” in the US.

Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.

Despite this, Arab-led parties endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate to replace Netanyahu.

In Israel’s October 27 elections, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.

Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.

He could also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote.

“Netanyahu still has time to derail Gadi Eisenkot’s efforts to form a government and sabotage attempts to gain a vote of confidence,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

“In the meantime, he remains caretaker prime minister. If Eisenkot fails, Netanyahu would be the natural second in line to be tasked with forming a government. And if he fails, elections would then be called, and that would still allow Netanyahu to remain as caretaker.

“Many of Netanyahu’s critics say that is his aim. The big question in Israeli politics now is: does the opposition really want to get rid of Netanyahu? Or is the opposition to Palestinian Israelis in mainstream politics so strong that they’re willing to risk keeping Netanyahu in power by going back to the ballot box?”

Abed Abou Shhadeh says his detention was part of Israel’s political measures ‘to indimidate Arab society as a whole’.

Israeli authorities have released Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh after detaining him for five days without charge.

Speaking after his release, Abou Shhadeh said on Sunday that his detention was part of “political measures” intended not only for him “but to intimidate Arab society as a whole”.

“In my view, the most appropriate response is to reaffirm among ourselves that we are on the right side, that our path is the path of truth,” he said, adding that he would continue his work as a journalist.

Abou Shhadeh was held in a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, after being detained on Tuesday on suspicion of “contact with a foreign agent”.

He was suspected of receiving money from foreign sources in order to support Israel’s Arab voters, according to the legal rights group Adalah, which is part of his defence team.

The accusation came after Abou Shhadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, spoke on the al-Midan podcast for the Arab48 website and appeared as an analyst on Al Jazeera.

He addressed topics similar to those discussed in Israeli media outlets, according to Hadeel Abu Salih, his legal counsel and a human rights lawyer with Adalah.

“It was obvious from the first day, from Thursday, that the police doesn’t have, any evidence in this context,” Abu Salih said. All of the suspicion relied on a public conversation he had with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara when he was in Qatar.

“This is now being criminalised only because the speakers are Palestinians,” Abu Salih said. “Or when Palestinians are asking to analyse their political reality. The Israeli system turned that discussion and analysis into a criminal suspicion.”

“They were trying to say that he’s not a journalist, that he’s a political counsel.”

The lawyer said Abou Shhadeh was arrested in the middle of the night on Tuesday after 15 Israeli security officers raided his home in Jaffa and confiscated personal belongings, such as electronic devices and books, in front of his two children.

‘Campaign against the votes of… Palestinians’

His five-day detention was “part of the campaign against the votes of the Arabs and Palestinians in Israel”, Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen told Al Jazeera.

Jabareen said Israel sought to “delegitimise their votes” by the claims against Abou Shhadeh.

“He travelled to Doha as a journalist … he came back as a journalist. But he was arrested as an Arab political person,” Jabareen said. “They tried to use him in order to say that Arabs use illegal [means] in their political participation in the Israeli elections.”

As the threat of renewed war grows, Washington is expanding efforts to choke Tehran’s military supply networks, including through Task Force Iron Gate – a unit targeting land routes and the Caspian Sea.

With it, the US military ⁠⁠⁠⁠is trying to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday.

The same day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced ambitious plans for underground complexes capable of sustaining missile and drone production under bombardment. That announcement came amid reports of ongoing construction near Iranian missile bases, based on satellite imagery and previous claims by Tehran that US strikes failed to destroy its underground facilities.

Here’s what we know about the US task force:

What is the purpose of the task force?

Task Force Iron Gate will aim to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off” and how “Iran is transporting its energy”, Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera.

It expands on the US blockade of Iranian ports to cover Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea and will reportedly be run by 20 civilian and military personnel.

Iran shares borders with seven countries – Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan Turkiye and Turkmenistan.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the unit will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM said. Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.

If US President Donald Trump ramps up the war, there will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”, said Mulroy.

“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily (focused) on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets, as part of this comprehensive plan to cut the regime off from its ability to fight and ability to fund itself,” Mulroy said. “It’s primarily a coordination body that’s looking for how the US can increase its economic strangulation strategy by going after the ground routes as they’ve already covered a majority of the maritime routes.”

The IRGC dismissed the US military plan as “just a play on words”.

“The Americans cannot achieve their goal through this, which is to apply severe economic pressure to collapse and disintegrate the Iranian economy,” said IRGC spokesman Sardar Mohebi, as reported by the Fars news agency.

Washington previously “claimed that Iran will suffer an economic collapse within two weeks, but we witnessed that this did not happen”, he added.

Is the task force a response to reports of Russia-Iran weapons ties?

While CENTCOM’s announcement did not explicitly identify Iran’s weapons trade with Russia, analysts say the unit could be seen as an attempt to disrupt supply networks that include Russian connections.

US media have reported that Russia has sent drone components and explosives to Iran via the Caspian Sea. There are also claims that Russian technology could be helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles.

Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of contemporary history and politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that reports of military equipment imported via Russia are a “real concern” for the United States.

The task force therefore could “cause a confrontation with Russia”, he said.

Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut and a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, said of the new unit: “The US really doesn’t quite know what to do about Iran as we’ve seen, and it’s doing things off the cuff” – a strategy that has led to little success.

Can the US really choke off Iran’s supply lines?

Khouri pointed to Iran’s history as a trading nation for thousands of years as evidence that the US mission is near impossible.

“There’s an enormous web of contacts that Iran has had for thousands of years with traders and partners and allies all over the region, especially in Asia –  it’s virtually impossible for the US to seal off every one,” he said.

While the US can impose a blockade or sanctions on Iran, it cannot control the behaviour of everyone from the Russians, to the Chinese, to the Emiratis and beyond, said the analyst.

“There are people all over the region who have links with Iran, some very close, some just commercial,” he said.

A lot of the materials that go into Iran’s weapons systems are bought from some other countries, – some even from the US or Europeans – and then they are channelled through companies in Asia, Khouri added.

Could this change the course of the war?

Former Trump aide and top counterterrorism official Joe Kent, who resigned in March due to the US’s war on Iran, said the new task force is an attempt by CENTCOM to subvert ongoing diplomatic efforts.

“This is CENTCOM inviting Iran to escalate while the vice president is attempting to negotiate with the Iranians,” Kent posted on X. “This is, as CENTCOM calls it, ‘policy by CONOP’, when the military finds a way to subvert the White House without blatantly disobeying the President, by taking actions that will ensure a war escalates or perpetuates.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, CENTCOM chief Cooper is among the many officials, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pressing Trump to renew attacks on Iran.

The task force may also just be symbolic because the US has no military presence on the Caspian Sea, said Zweiri.

“America has no access to the sea, unless some of the neighbouring countries like Azerbaijan or Armenia or others collaborate [with them] … And they’re not collaborating on this because they don’t want to upset Russia,” he said. “It will require … troops on the ground, and this is unlikely to happen.”

Zweiri also said that the Caspian Sea’s contribution to Iran’s economy is just 11 percent, so the task force’s actions won’t have much negative impact on Tehran.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify this figure but the Caspian Sea accounts for only a fraction of Iran’s overall maritime trade, according to the Soufan Center based in New York City.

Disagreements between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over the formation of a new government have led to the threat of two rival administrations emerging in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, analysts say.

The dispute between the two dominant political forces in the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, which traditionally has operated under a power-sharing agreement, escalated after a parliamentary session was held last week in Erbil without the PUK’s participation.

PUK leader Bafel Talabani responded by withdrawing his party from the government, and a threat is growing that a rival administration could be formed in the party’s Sulaimaniyah base.

Independent Kurdish politician Yasin Aziz said the latest developments have deepened the historical divisions between the KDP and PUK.

“I believe the spectre of two administrations in Kurdistan is now very close, and the outlines of such a scenario are becoming clear. … The events have been painful and rapid. The differences between the two parties were significant and have now led to a breakdown in relations,” Aziz told Al Jazeera.

“There had been hopes that the two sides would reach an agreement, but activating parliament without the PUK deepened the divisions between the KDP and PUK.”

The KDP, which is led by Massoud Barzani, is the biggest party in the region, and its strongholds are in Erbil and Dohuk.

Two powers

Since the first Gulf War in 1990 and 1991 and the establishment of a US-led “no-fly zone” in northern Iraq, Iraq’s Kurds have largely governed themselves, separate from the national government in Baghdad.

The Iraqi Constitution enacted after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq recognised the northern Kurdish region as a federal entity with its own legislative, executive and judicial powers.

There is a historical precedent for the possible separation of powers in this region between two rival authorities. When a conflict erupted between elements of the KDP and PUK in the 1990s, the two parties formed separate local governments in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, respectively.

While there have been no recent violent flare-ups between the two parties, political distrust remains deep.

During the sixth parliamentary elections in the region on October 20, 2024, the KDP won 39 seats and the PUK 23. This left a 16-seat gap between the two parties.

But the KDP’s ability to form a new government was still dependent on reaching an agreement with the PUK and other parties, such as the New Generation Movement, which secured 15 seats in the last election.

The PUK has so far refused to collaborate, so after a two-year wait, the KDP reactivated the regional parliament on Wednesday without its rivals.

Divisions but no conflict

Although the rivalry between the two parties is longstanding, Aziz argued that the current crisis is more serious and deeply rooted than previous political disputes.

“Given the political stubbornness of both parties, I do not expect an agreement or understanding to be reached soon,” he said. “Both sides must make concessions to each other. The party willing to make greater concessions will demonstrate greater concern for the Kurdistan region.”

Aziz was clear in laying blame for the deepening divide.

“The responsibility for deepening this conflict lies with the leaderships of Kurdistan’s two main parties,” he said. “Their failure to recognise the risks posed by continuing these disputes is one of the reasons we have reached this point.”

Subhi Mandalawi, a member of the KDP, blamed the current impasse on the refusal of the PUK to form a new government with the KDP.

“Following the Kurdistan parliamentary elections, the PUK delayed the formation of the new government. They were counting on the KDP being unable to secure the legal quorum needed to convene a parliamentary session,” Mandalawi told Al Jazeera. “But we held a parliamentary session without the PUK in 2018 as well, and they subsequently joined the government and parliament.”

Mandalawi insisted that the door remains open for the PUK and other political parties but warned that prolonged divisions would lead to deeper problems for the Kurdish region.

“Continuing to obstruct legislative institutions two years after the elections is unacceptable and harms the Kurdistan region domestically, regionally and internationally,” he said.

“Threatening to divide the Kurdistan region is a hasty, ill-considered and unrealistic decision. No party leader can take such a step, and the PUK would be the biggest loser if it went ahead with it.”

Despite the differences, there is little risk of a return to conflict between the two parties. “We are brothers, and there can be no fighting among us,” Mandalawi said.

Separation threats

Mahmood Khoshnaw, a senior PUK official, said the KDP’s decision to convene parliament without his party has worsened political tensions in the region.

“Activating parliament without the PUK represents a departure from the principle of partnership and from political realities, and there will be consequences. If a prime minister is appointed in Erbil, we will take the same step in Sulaimaniyah. Whatever the KDP does, we will do the same in Sulaimaniyah,” Khoshnaw warned.

“The situation in the Kurdistan region is heading towards chaos unless the crisis is addressed rationally and realistically. Activating parliament without reaching an understanding with the PUK has had a negative impact on relations between the two parties.”

Despite this, there are questions about whether Sulaimaniyah could legally separate from the Kurdish regional government.

Ramadan Albadran, an independent political analyst and constitutional affairs expert, said the dispute is not a constitutional issue about the KDP’s convening of parliament but a deep political crisis with the potential to create security repercussions for the region.

The Iraqi constitution also provides no mechanism for dividing the region into zones of influence between the KDP and PUK.

“If the PUK moves to separate Sulaimaniyah from the Kurdistan region, that would not be a legal or constitutional act,” Albadran said.

“If it takes place without a mandate from the elected Kurdistan Regional Government, it would be closer to an act of rebellion since there is no legal provision permitting withdrawal from or the dismantling of a region in this manner.”

The interceptions come as the Houthis report 33 people killed in a coalition air attack on a village near Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says its air defences have destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the Iran-aligned armed group towards the kingdom.

Two of the missiles were launched towards the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said in a post on X on Sunday.

Later, the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles in Riyadh and the southern region.

Earlier, al-Maliki also confirmed another interception of a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the kingdom’s Eastern province.

The attacks come as fighting intensifies across Yemen between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), and government forces, who launched the Dawn of Yemen operation aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, last month.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson, Anees al-Asbahi, said on Saturday that 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed after Saudi-led coalition air attacks on the village of al-Shariyah, near Sanaa.

In a post on X, al-Asbahi said at least 39 others were wounded in the attacks on Saturday, which targeted homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams in the village, located in the Bani Hushaish district east of Sanaa.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition on the reported strikes. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports.

Media outlets affiliated with the Houthis reported on Sunday that various areas of the Shada border district in Saada province have also been subjected to artillery shelling.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree earlier claimed that the coalition had carried out 105 air strikes and missile attacks over 24 hours targeting Sanaa and seven other governorates, taking the total number of strikes since the escalation began to 4,369.

The Houthis, meanwhile, carried out six operations targeting Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions on both sides of the border, Saree claimed in a post on X.

On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people. The Houthis blamed it on Saudi air strikes, while Yemeni government forces accused the Iran-aligned group of firing a ballistic missile at the site.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports.

In September, the Houthis seized much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive, while government forces launched a campaign to reclaim Houthi-held territory in October.

Heavy rain has flooded tens of thousands of displaced people’s tents in war-devastated Gaza, Palestinian authorities said, leaving many without shelter.

Since early Saturday, displaced families have been seen fleeing camps in parts of Gaza City and other northern areas of the territory, as well as parts of central Gaza, after they were inundated by rainwater.

Gaza authorities said about “70,000 tents sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people were flooded on the first day” of rains.

The statement also noted the “collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs, which caused injuries”, some of them critical, in various areas of the war-devastated territory.

Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the news agency AFP on Saturday his teams had received more than 1,500 calls during the night from residents requesting urgent assistance after their tents were flooded, explaining that the agency “is operating without any equipment or capabilities”.

“We have issued an urgent distress call to the international community and humanitarian organisations to intervene immediately to save hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the flooding of their tents.”

“We cannot face the consequences of this storm on our own,” Bassal added.

The operation is to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport weapons and other materials, US Central Command says.

The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced a plan to block Iran’s land-based supply routes, expanding its months-long naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced on Saturday that it had established a new task force “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”.

Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the task force will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM said.

Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera the task force’s role will be to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off”, and how “Iran is transporting its energy”.

He added that if US President Donald Trump orders an escalation to the war, it will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”.

“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily focuses on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets, as part of this comprehensive plan to cut the regime off from its ability to fight and ability to fund itself,” Mulroy told Al Jazeera.

CENTCOM separately said on Saturday that it had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.

A US “military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of St. Kitts-flagged M/V Huda, disabling the ship after CENTCOM forces directed the crew to abandon targeted spaces”, it said in a statement.

“Enforcement actions since July have resulted in U.S. forces redirecting 147 commercial vessels that complied”, and disabling “five merchant ships that refused to comply”, it added.

Explosions reported

On Saturday, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported the sound of two explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz.

IRNA also reported the sound of “several explosions” in the cities of Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas.

Trump confirmed new strikes on Qeshm Island a day earlier, but downplayed them as “minor”. He added that Tehran still wants a deal as Qatari-mediated talks continue.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy reported that two oil tankers struck mines near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

Iranian state television, citing the navy, said the tankers had passed through an “unsafe” part of the strait with their navigation systems off. They “suffered severe damage and stopped after hitting sea mines”.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government, passing over the former army chief’s rival, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog told Eisenkot of his decision on Saturday evening and will formally hand him the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday, the president’s spokesperson said.

Herzog held consultations with political parties this week to decide who he would appoint to form a government after neither side secured a majority in the October 27 general election.

Some 67 lawmakers, including from Arab-led parties, endorsed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, to form the next government, while only 46 backed Netanyahu, the current prime minister.

Eisenkot will have 28 days – with a possible 14-day extension – to build a coalition of at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the minimum threshold for a government.

In the October election, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.

Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.

He could also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Herzog’s decision, said the president “took the predictable route” in selecting Eisenkot, as he had the highest number of recommendations.

“The hard work will begin now for Eisenkot to put together a government that can pass a vote of confidence at the Knesset that: one, will not break too many of the promises he made on the campaign trail; and two, that can survive the opposition of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu,” Odeh said.

If Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate another candidate. If the second nominee fails, a parliament majority can back a third candidate, who will be granted a final 14 days.

If, once again, no government is formed, a new election will be called within 90 days, with Netanyahu staying on as a caretaker prime minister.

United against Netanyahu government

Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.

Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List – a coalition of Arab-led parties that holds 11 seats – told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Herzog’s decision was “expected”.

“We were concerned that the president would move towards a national unity government,” he said, referring to a proposed power-sharing agreement between Eisenkot and Netanyahu.

Instead, Arab-led parties endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate, granting him a “considerable margin”.

Tibi said he believes Eisenkot is headed for a minority government “with external support from the Arab parties”.

While this would not be a “dream government” for Arab-led parties, Tibi prioritised bringing down “the government of Netanyahu, [Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich”.

Hours before Herzog’s decision, Netanyahu had warned that a government formed by the opposition bloc with support from Arab-led parties would lead to Israel’s collapse.

“Such a government, dependent on Islamists, will dismantle the state of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and far worse than that,” Netanyahu said in a prerecorded video speech, echoing the language of far-right politicians who falsely claim parts of Europe have come under Islamic law.

Netanyahu “described us as supporters of terrorists and terrorism”, Tibi said. “My response to him is this: Netanyahu is the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, and the foremost supporter of terrorism, particularly Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.”

Al Jazeera’s Odeh noted that although Eisenkot has expressly said he does not wish to form a government with Arab-led parties, “they both share quite compelling reasons to get rid of Netanyahu”.

El Hierro asks Spanish government for help after more than 3,300 people arrived on boats since start of November.

Authorities of El Hierro, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, have declared an emergency and asked the government in Madrid for help after a surge in migrants and refugees arriving on boats.

“We are very concerned… by this sharp increase in arrivals,” Alpidio Armas, head of the governing council for El Hierro, one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants and refugees from West Africa, told Spanish television on Saturday.

“This is precisely what has led us to declare an emergency in order to ensure a framework of cooperation with higher-level institutions.”

More than 3,300 people have arrived on the island in about 30 boats since the start of November, according to local authorities. El Hierro has about 11,400 residents.

Officials are seeking temporary accommodation for the new arrivals, while conditions at the island’s hospital have become “undesirable”, Armas said.

The situation is “absolutely unsustainable”, the Reuters news agency quoted Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, as saying on Friday.

Maritime rescue services rescued 3,261 migrants and refugees off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first six days of November.

Clavijo said the numbers were approaching the record levels seen in 2024, and on some days, the current pace was even higher.

Buses have been diverted to migration operations, and medical staff have been brought in from other islands, he said.

Deadly route

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.

Two people were found dead on a boat heading for the Canaries this week, and five others are believed to have died during the voyage, according to the AFP news agency, citing survivor accounts.

At least nine migrants or refugees have died off the islands in recent weeks.

Arrivals reached a record of more than 46,000 in 2024, then fell sharply due to tighter surveillance and greater cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

Between January and October, 13,327 irregular migrants and refugees arrived by sea, 5.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year, according to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.

Patrols off Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have pushed departures further south, from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, making crossings longer.

Senegalese police said on Saturday that they intercepted 142 migrants, including women and young children, off Dakar.

Iranian state media report blasts in Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the cities of Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas.

IRGC says underground military complexes allow missile production to continue even under heavy bombardment.

Iran is building underground military complexes able to sustain weapons production and storage even under heavy bombardment, according to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi made a series of announcements on Saturday about the military’s capabilities during a news conference in Tehran, Iranian media reported.

Among the achievements listed were an “underground missile city” set to be unveiled, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Mohebbi said the IRGC had rapidly transferred its missile and drone production lines from the surface to underground facilities. This allows Iran to continue producing missiles while its adversaries assumed its stockpiles were dwindling, he explained.

The spokesperson also outlined advances in stealth technology. He maintained that such improvements had allowed Iran’s missiles and drones to pierce air defence systems and accurately strike targets during previous rounds of fighting with the United States and Israel.

“Today, every weapon used by the IRGC Aerospace Force is manufactured using homegrown knowledge and expertise. Moreover, our products are not even derived from reverse-engineering captured enemy war material,” Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Mohebbi as saying.

A recent report by US newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, shows that Iran caused billions of dollars in damage to US bases throughout the Middle East during previous rounds of fighting.

Meanwhile, a separate report by the Reuters news agency found that Iran had successfully targeted Gulf infrastructure on at least 135 occasions during the same period, causing billions of dollars in damage and lost revenues.

Mohebbi also warned on Saturday that restrictions on the range of Iranian missiles had been lifted. The warning follows a statement from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who said that there would be “no geographical limits” to Iran’s response if it were attacked again by the US and Israel.

The US-Israeli war on Iran was launched on February 28, prompting Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz and triggering a global energy crisis. Mediation efforts have stepped up recently, as regional countries hope to bring the war to an end.

On Friday, President Donald Trump said the US military launched limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, while also claiming Washington had made “a lot of progress” in talks with Iran.

Tehran has repeatedly warned that it will target Gulf energy infrastructure if the fighting resumes. Such attacks would likely push energy prices even higher.

Meanwhile, Washington has also imposed additional sanctions on Iran as it seeks to force Tehran to concede to its demands. The restrictions have further strained the country’s economy, forcing Iran to adopt new trade routes.

On Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it was establishing a new task force that will support ongoing US efforts to prevent Iran from using land routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials.

The US has also imposed a naval blockade on Iran to prevent it from exporting oil.