Middle East

Death sentences will be replaced with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour.

Lebanon’s parliament has passed a law to abolish capital punishment, making it the first country in the Middle East to do so.

The Lebanese parliament’s speaker’s office said lawmakers signed off on the legislation Tuesday after making several amendments.

A majority of the 128-member assembly voted in favour of ending the death penalty, with the exception of the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah.

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who was in parliament, called it a “historic step” for the country.

The new system replaces the death sentence with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour.

While Lebanon has observed an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004, courts have continued to issue dozens of death sentences.

At the end of 2025, 85 people were facing death sentences, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Justice’s Directorate of Prisons.

‘Lasting legal protection’

Rights group Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef, praised Lebanon’s move to end capital punishment as “a major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country”.

“After more than two decades without executions, today’s step transforms a precarious hiatus in executions into lasting legal protection upholding the right to life and bringing Lebanon in line with the global trend towards abolition,” Morayef said.

It is unclear how aggravated hard labour would be enforced, with some legislators saying the terms of the new punishment are not yet clear. Lebanon does have the punishment of hard labour written into law and court decisions, but even those have been rarely enforced in recent years due to cash-strapped Lebanon’s lack of resources and capacity within its overcrowded prisons.

Lebanon’s abolition of the death penalty comes as parliament also debates a controversial general amnesty law, the largest since the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990, that could reduce sentences or even release some people convicted of violence offences.

Family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed in attacks have repeatedly protested against the law, some saying they had hoped to see the perpetrators who killed their family members executed rather than be issued reduced prison sentences.

Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement last Friday, pledging to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stating that an armed attack on any one of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.

The pact comes as the three countries navigate growing regional tensions, including concerns over Israel’s expanding military reach and Iran’s regional influence.

Together, these countries form a sizeable military bloc. Riyadh is a top oil exporter, Ankara has NATO’s second-largest military, and Islamabad is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country.

In this explainer, Al Jazeera breaks down their combined land, air and naval strength.

Joint land, air and naval strength

Together, the three countries combine nearly 1.4 million active military personnel, 3,400 aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets according to the 2026 Global Firepower Index, which ranks the defence capabilities of 145 countries.

The index scores each country’s potential war-making capability across land, air and sea, drawing on factors including manpower, equipment, natural resources, finances and geography.

• Manpower: Combined, the three countries include about 1.4 million active personnel, backed by large paramilitary and reserve forces. Pakistan provides the largest pool of active personnel at 660,000, followed by Turkiye at 481,000 and Saudi Arabia at 247,000.
• Air power: Together they operate 3,415 military aircraft including fighter jets, helicopters, transporters and training military aircraft. Pakistan possesses some 1,397 aircraft, followed by Turkiye at 1,101 and Saudi Arabia with 917.
• Land forces: The three countries field some 6,046 tanks and more than 179,000 armoured vehicles, alongside thousands of artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems. Pakistan has the highest number of tanks at 2,677, Turkiye has 2,284 and Saudi Arabia, 1,085.
• Naval power: Their combined fleets include 344 naval assets, including 33 frigates, 24 corvettes and 22 submarines. Turkiye comes out top here with 192 naval assets, followed by Pakistan’s 120 and Saudi Arabia’s 32.
• Defence spending: Their combined defence budgets amount to about $124.4bn annually. Saudi Arabia has the largest military budget of the three at $63.9bn in 2026, while Turkiye set aside $51.4bn and Pakistan $9.1bn according to Global Firepower.

Complementary military powers

Andreas Krieg, an academic, security analyst and political risk consultant specialising in the Middle East and North Africa, said the pact’s significance lies in how the three countries’ different capabilities could complement one another.

“Saudi Arabia contributes capital, geography, infrastructure and political convening power. Turkiye contributes an increasingly sophisticated defence-industrial base, drones, missiles, sensors, electronic warfare, naval systems and NATO-derived military expertise,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan contributes manpower, a large professional military establishment, operational experience, defence production and nuclear capability.

What does the alliance mean for each country?

For Saudi Arabia, the pact diversifies its defence partnerships beyond the United States, adding Turkiye’s advanced military capabilities and Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent, amid growing threats to vital maritime corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.

Pakistan is one of nine states that possess nuclear weapons, which it first tested in 1998. The country of more than 250 million people relies heavily on China for its arms imports.

Turkiye, which joined NATO in 1952, has no nuclear weapons of its own but hosts US warheads under NATO nuclear-sharing arrangements.

David Des Roches, a former director of Arabian Peninsula affairs in the US Department of Defense, told Al Jazeera that the deal also serves Saudi arms diversification amid Western export unpredictability, since Turkiye and Pakistan can supply items like 155mm artillery shells at scale.

For Turkiye and Pakistan, it opens Saudi financial markets for their defence industries – both have manufacturing capacity exceeding what their own economies can sustain.

Zaid M Belbagi, managing partner at Hardcastle Advisory, told Al Jazeera that, for the US, the stakes are high. “Pakistan is a recipient of US aid, Saudi Arabia is the largest foreign buyer of US military equipment, and Turkiye is NATO’s second-largest army after the United States – so the spectre of the US within this agreement is quite interesting,” he said.

Krieg added that the US remains highly important, particularly for intelligence, advanced missile defence, and high-end military technology – but said that regional actors want to convert their own resources into usable power rather than purchasing from Washington.

“The old model was overwhelmingly hub-and-spokes, with Washington at the centre and individual states looking primarily to the United States for security. What is emerging now is horizontal connectivity between regional powers,” said Krieg.

Which other countries could join the pact?

Egypt is the only country whose potential membership has been publicly raised by a signatory. Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called Egypt a “natural partner” and said he expected Cairo to join once technical issues are resolved.

Krieg said Egypt’s military weight, strategic geography and control of the Suez Canal would make it a significant addition to the pact.

But Cairo may be wary of binding military obligations and the impact on its existing agreements, analysts said. “Egypt may join only if the language protects its aid relationship with Washington, doesn’t undermine existing alliances and peace treaties, and maintains its own freedom to decide when and where it fights,” said Karim Elgendy at Chatham House.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation warns it may halt operations at the country’s largest operating refinery if drone attacks continue.

Firefighters in Libya are battling a massive blaze at the Zawiya refinery following a drone attack, with the country’s national oil company warning it may declare a force majeure and shut down operations if attacks continue.

Libya’s Ambulance and Emergency Service said in a statement on Tuesday there were no “serious injuries” from the fire, with most patients treated for smoke inhalation.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed huge flames and thick black ‌smoke billowing over the facility, the largest operating refinery in Libya with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.

It is located about 40km (25 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Facebook that the fire broke out on Monday evening at tank number 402-T, belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

It said the tank, which contained about 4.5 million litres (1.2 million gallons) of gasoline, was “directly targeted, resulting in a severe fire before the tank completely collapsed”.

The NOC said the attack followed drone strikes on a water desalination plant at the refinery on Sunday and on a naphtha reservoir on Saturday.

The company declared a “maximum emergency” in the region and urged authorities to launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, and the company did ‌not say who they believed was behind them.

In a statement hours later, the NOC said the refinery was “still being subject to sabotage attacks” with a drone targeting an oil blending and filling ⁠plant operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Company.

It said the drone fell near its main oil tank and a pipeline network used to produce oils for the domestic market, without causing any casualties or damage.

“The company’s board of directors also confirms that if these attacks continue, it will have to declare a state of force majeure and suspend operations at the refinery,” it warned.

The Brega Oil Company, meanwhile, appealed to “all parties to stop the fighting and stay away from oil facilities and depots”. It said “oil facilities are vital infrastructure and owned by all Libyans” and that “protecting them is a national responsibility that does not tolerate any negligence”.

The attacks highlight the continuing security challenges in Libya, where rival administrations and armed groups have retained influence despite a ‌2020 ⁠ceasefire that halted major warfare. The country split in 2014 after a NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar ⁠Gaddafi in 2011.

Two governments are currently vying for power: the United Nations-recognised administration in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and a rival in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In a statement, the Tripoli-based government said Dbeibah held a meeting earlier in the day with key officials, including the interior minister and the chiefs of some armed groups in the capital, “to follow up on the latest security developments”.

Dbeibah “stressed the need to deal firmly with any transgressions or actions that threaten security or harm vital facilities and installations”, the statement said.

Separately, a Libyan parliamentary panel condemned the attack and called for stronger protection of oil installations.

“The House of Representatives’ Energy and Natural Resources Committee condemns in the strongest terms the criminal attack targeting the Zawiya Refinery, one of the most vital facilities in the oil and gas sector that is a cornerstone of the national economy,” it said in a statement.

The South American nation is only the second country to recognise Israel’s claims over the illegally annexed Syrian territory.

Colombia has become only the second country to recognise Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, just days after far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella took power.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry made the announcement on Monday, joining the United States as the only other country to recognise Israel’s annexation of the territory in 1981.

“The Government of Colombia recognises Israeli sovereignty over this territory, as well as that State’s right to protect itself against external threats,” read a statement published on X.

“Colombia recognises that maintaining Israel’s control and sovereignty over the Golan Heights is an essential component of its national defence,” it added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar thanked his “good friend” de la Espriella for the “historic” recognition.

He said the pair had agreed on the move in the Colombian city of Barranquilla a day before de la Espriella’s inauguration.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, before illegally annexing the territory in 1981. The move was rejected by most of the international community, although the US formally recognised Israel’s claim in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

The United Nations recognises the region as a part of Syria, and last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that stance, describing Israeli occupation as “totally unacceptable”.

Syria tried to regain the Golan in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but was thwarted. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974, and the Golan has been relatively quiet since.

Colombia’s recognition of the Israeli claim comes as Israel expands its military footprint in Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Israel has moved troops into a UN-monitored buffer zone and seized strategic territories, including the Syrian side of Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon), which overlooks the capital, Damascus.

De La Espriella, the new Colombian president, ran a bombastic campaign during which he promised close relations with the US and Israel as a way to combat armed groups in his country.

The US-backed millionaire has promised to restore Bogota’s ties with Israel after his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, criticised Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, severed diplomatic relations and halted Israeli arms imports.

De La Espriella has also cancelled Petro’s plans to open an embassy in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Reports citing judicial sources say former commercial banker also indicted over alleged financial crimes.

Lebanon has indicted ⁠former central bank Governor Riad Salameh and a former commercial banker over accusations of financial crimes, including embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

A judge accused Salameh and Samir Hanna, the former head of Lebanon’s Bank Audi, of embezzling tens of millions in funds ‌from the Banque du Liban or Lebanese central bank, the Reuters and AFP news agencies reported on Monday, citing judicial sources.

Salameh, who headed the central bank for three decades, has already been indicted and arrested in Lebanon over other alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure. He has denied any wrongdoing, insisting he is being made a “scapegoat” for the country’s economic crisis.

This is the first time a commercial banker has been indicted in a financial crimes case related to Salameh, showing that Lebanese investigations into the former governor are expanding to the private sector, the source told Reuters.

The source added that the file includes accusations that Hanna bribed Salameh while he was central bank governor.

Salameh, 76, headed the central bank from 1993 to July 2023. He was placed in custody last month after missing a hearing over the case, ⁠but is currently under medical supervision at a government hospital outside Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.

Hanna, 88, paid a $1m bail and is not in custody as financial investigations continue, according to the reports.

In January, Lebanon’s current central ⁠bank governor Karim Souaid told reporters that the central bank had filed a criminal complaint against an unnamed former official of the central bank, ⁠a former banker and a lawyer over alleged illicit enrichment ⁠through misuse of public funds. He said the operations were carried out through four offshore shell companies in the Cayman Islands that he did not name.

Salameh was detained for about 13 months over alleged ‌financial crimes ‌committed during his tenure, but was released in September after paying a record bail of more than $14m.

He also faces investigations abroad, including in France, Switzerland and Germany.

Gaza City, the Gaza Strip – Palestinians in Gaza have reacted with a mix of scepticism and frustration to Israel’s rejection of a proposed 15-point plan aimed at ending the war and setting out a framework for the future.

The United States-backed initiative includes provisions for a phased Israeli withdrawal, the gradual disarmament of Hamas, a Palestinian-led civilian administration and steps towards humanitarian aid and reconstruction.

But on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “rejected” the plan, saying its forces will not withdraw until Hamas is “genuinely disarmed”.

For Nesma Harazin, a displaced writer from Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood, Netanyahu’s statement came as little surprise, as Israel continued ⁠⁠to carry out near-daily attacks regardless of a so-called “ceasefire” agreed with Hamas last ⁠⁠October.

“We are dealing with an Israeli occupation army that is capable of stopping these operations, but does not accept stopping them and continues to kill the Palestinian people,” said the 27-year-old.

Rather than a “real opportunity” to end Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians, Harazin said the proposal has been US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu’s plan “from a long time ago”.

Harazin’s scepticism was shared by Mehdi Ahmed, a Gaza City resident whose family home was among the few in his area to remain standing.

“We are under occupation,” said the 53-year-old. “As far as we are concerned, any ceasefire is temporary.”

Since the October “ceasefire”, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,258 people, bringing the overall number since the start of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023 to at least 73,386.

Ahmed warned that even if an agreement produced a period of calm, it might not last.

“Maybe we could sit here for a year without war, but I don’t think it will continue like that,” he said, arguing that the killings and the destruction in Gaza would shape future generations.

“The generations that are coming will not accept these kinds of solutions,” he said. “People who have lost their children, their parents and their families … you cannot expect them to simply forget.”

In a statement late on Sunday, Hamas said it remained committed to fully implementing the plan. It also urged mediating and guarantor countries to “assume their responsibilities” and prevent any “violations or breaches” that could obstruct the process.

The Gaza Government Media Office also blamed Netanyahu for what it described as a reversal of the negotiations and called for international pressure to prevent further escalation.

In a statement issued on Monday, the office said Netanyahu’s rejection of the 15-point document, along with demands including opposition to an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, represented “a clear and unequivocal reversal of the negotiation track”.

‘We have no one’

But Ahmed said his experience of living his “whole life under occupation” and “in hardship” had left him unconvinced that years of negotiations could produce a lasting solution.

“They have been talking about these points for three years … are we going to spend another seven years talking about the points?” he asked, saying that Palestinians had been left without sufficient regional and international support.

“We have no one standing behind us to protect us. Why?”

For Harazin, a meaningful ceasefire would have to include the withdrawal of the Israeli army and an end to attacks, as well as a clear path towards reconstruction and the return of displaced Palestinians.

But following Netanyahu’s declaration, she said she feared further displacement and greater Israeli control over Gaza.

“If the ceasefire plan is rejected, the Israeli occupation army will carry out harsher operations than what we have heard about before in Gaza,” she said.

“Perhaps they will ask us to displace again to the southern areas. There are no buildings left standing in Gaza City.”

For Ahmed, the possibility of lasting peace is closely tied to the balance of power.

“When you are weak, there are no opportunities, and there is no hope,” he said. “Hope comes when you are strong.”

‘Hope in God’

Unlike Harazin and Ahmed, Ramez Haniyeh sees the proposed plan as a genuine missed opportunity to “end the war and the genocide”.

Haniyeh, who was displaced to Nuseirat in central Gaza after his home was destroyed, said he believed the proposal could have helped end the fighting and “stop the suffering” of Palestinians in the territory.

For Haniyeh, that would mean more than simply an end to Israeli attacks.

“Withdrawal, then reconstruction, and living with dignity,” he said when asked what he expected from a ceasefire.

But he fears the rejection could instead bring another escalation.

“I expect them to create a new target bank, so that things will escalate and there will be more bloodshed in the coming period,” he said.

Haniyeh described the humanitarian and economic conditions in Gaza as deteriorating, with widespread unemployment and many people unable to afford basic necessities.

“The situation is very bad, and it is getting worse every day,” he said. “There are some food and drink items available now, but there is no one who can afford to buy them.”

Despite his pessimism, Haniyeh said his hope rests on faith.

“I have hope in God, but there is no hope that this war will end,” he said. “It will continue until God relieves us.”

Despite her doubts about the proposal, Harazin said she also had “hope in God”.

“As long as we are Muslims, World War I ended and World War II ended too, so we have hope that the war in Gaza will end.”

Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has posted an AI-generated video depicting a starving Palestinian prisoner as well as real videos mocking detainees who describe poor jail conditions. It’s part of a campaign to promote his harsh treatment of Palestinians ahead of October’s elections.

Gaza Health Ministry says hospitals receive bodies of two Palestinians as Netanyahu rejects Trump plan to end war.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least one person as Palestinian health authorities have confirmed another death after a body was recovered from beneath the rubble in the war-shattered enclave.

Israeli forces shot and killed one Palestinian east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported, quoting medical sources.

The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed on Sunday that hospitals had received the bodies of two Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks, including one recovered from the rubble.

At least five people, including children, were wounded in Israeli attacks in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah on Saturday, QNA reported.

Local sources said several people were wounded when an Israeli tank opened fire on tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis. Among them was a woman who was critically wounded. A girl was seriously wounded by Israeli army fire in the al-Mawasi coastal area of Rafah.

Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of Khan Younis, and Israeli fire wounded several more people in the al-Mahatta area of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the overall death toll since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023 was 73,386 with 174,250 wounded.

The remains of many people killed in Israeli attacks are still buried under rubble, and those deaths are uncounted, the ministry added. Ambulance and Palestinian Civil Defence crews remain unable to reach them.

Since a “ceasefire” took effect in October, the Health Ministry has recorded 1,258 people killed by Israel, 4,139 wounded and 807 bodies recovered from the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel has rejected United States President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, telling a cabinet meeting that Israeli forces “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed”.

The rejection follows a similar position taken last week by the US-led Board of Peace, which said an Israeli withdrawal would only proceed once Hamas’s disarmament is complete, leaving both the ceasefire’s terms and any timeline for Israel’s exit from Gaza unresolved even as casualties continue to mount.

Iran-backed Houthis have resumed attacks on Yemen’s al-Makha port in the Red Sea, striking Saudi weapons depots with missiles and drones. Yemen’s military says at least seven people were killed.

Trump says US will wait for economic pressure to mount on Iran, as Israel formally rejects 15-point Gaza peace plan.

The latest Houthi attacks come less than 24 hours after an earlier barrage struck al-Makha (Mocha) and its commercial port.

Yemen’s Houthis have launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks on the Red Sea port city of al-Makha (Mocha), extending an assault on government-held areas along Yemen’s western coast and killing at least 11 people.

The latest attacks came on Sunday evening, less than 24 hours after an earlier barrage struck al-Makha and its commercial port. Yemeni government forces said air defences intercepted six drones during the renewed assault, while two ballistic missiles fell into the sea without hitting their targets.

Footage broadcast by the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV showed several ballistic missiles and drones being launched. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the operation targeted Saudi troop concentrations and weapon depots in the area, according to the Reuters news agency.

At least 11 killed

Earlier on Sunday, Attacks on al-Makha killed at least 11 people, including eight military personnel and three civilians, and wounded 32 others, according to the latest toll cited by the AFP news agency.

The strikes also caused extensive damage at al-Makha’s port. Government authorities said buildings and commercial facilities were hit, while The Associated Press reported damage to port infrastructure, commercial goods and food supplies.

Government forces also said they intercepted and destroyed an unmanned explosive boat approaching the commercial port.

During the renewed attacks later on Sunday, the National Resistance Forces, which are aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, urged residents of al-Makha to remain indoors, accusing the Houthis of carrying out indiscriminate shelling.

Houthis say Saudi military buildup prompted attack

The Houthis said the operation involved a large number of ballistic missiles and drones and was launched in response to an alleged continued Saudi military buildup, including the reinforcement of allied forces with weapons and equipment along Yemen’s western coast and in Taiz province.

Houthi political council member Hizam al-Assad separately claimed that continuing explosions, fires and columns of smoke from the port were caused by large quantities of weapons and military equipment stored there.

Attacks extend to al-Khokha

The escalation was not limited to al-Makha, but also targeted the al-Khokha district, south of the coastal city of Hodeidah.

Al-Jumhuriya television, which is affiliated with the National Resistance Forces led by Presidential Leadership Council member Tareq Saleh, said the government-appointed governor of Hodeidah, al-Hassan Taher, survived an assassination attempt on Sunday after a Houthi ballistic missile struck his residence in the district.

Tehran, Iran – Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have expanded their mutual defence pact to add Turkiye, raising questions about the emergence of a new security architecture at a time when the United States and Iran have yet to reach a final deal to end their war.

Under the agreement signed in Mecca on Friday, any external armed attack on either of the three countries will now be considered an attack on all.

The trilateral pact was announced more than five months after the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a conflict that quickly spread to the Gulf and disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, however, have been careful not to antagonise any regional or international actors while finalising what they said was the result of years of hard work and negotiations. They have stressed the pact, which does not identify a specific threat, is not targeted against any country – particularly Iran – and does not abrogate or replace any existing agreements with others.

In Tehran, the reaction has largely been subdued, with officials mostly focusing on aspects of regional and Muslim cooperation and what they perceive as a declining role for the US.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that when Muslims stand together, “we can face every challenge by malicious outsiders head-on”.

“Time to rely only on ourselves and embrace true brotherhood,” he wrote on X, without directly mentioning the trilateral agreement signed hours earlier.

But Iran certainly sees some reasons to be concerned in the long run, according to Hamidreza Azizi, a researcher and analyst on Iran and Middle Eastern geopolitical dynamics.

The associate at Clingendael Institute told Al Jazeera that the timing is important, since the agreement comes after months of a war in which Saudi Arabia has faced attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen and armed groups in neighbouring Iraq.

“From Tehran’s perspective, the concern is therefore not only that the pact could strengthen Saudi deterrence, but that it could eventually facilitate coordinated pressure on Iran in Yemen, Iraq, and even economically through Turkiye and Pakistan,” he said.

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed another successful drone strike on the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan. Saudi Arabia confirmed a fire was extinguished without inflicting casualties, but did not mention the cause.

Separately in Yemen, Houthi missiles and drones struck the Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government’s Red Sea port of al-Makha, with officials reporting at least seven people killed, 15 wounded and severe infrastructure damage. The Yemeni group, which has also been hitting or turning back Saudi-linked ships in the Red Sea over recent weeks, said it targeted weapons depots.

‘A strong bloc’

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not released a formal statement about the Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye deal, but a senior official outlined Tehran’s diplomatic thinking in an interview with local media on Saturday.

Hossein Noushabadi, a director general for parliamentary and legal affairs, told the state-linked ISNA news service that the ministry predominantly regards the agreement within the context of a diminishing direct US presence in the region.

The pact “is being viewed as the beginning of the collapse of US security hegemony in West Asia and the Persian Gulf”, said Noushabadi.

“It appears that, in the not-too-distant future, a new regional security order based on cooperation among regional states will replace the power structures imposed by extra-regional actors, heralding the end of the prevailing security and geopolitical paradigm and West Asia’s departure from the sphere of vital US interests,” added the official, who is a former Iranian envoy to Oman.

Political scientist Vali Nasr said he does not believe the pact is currently a threat to Tehran.

“For now, these are all elements of a post-American security order in the Middle East,” the professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University told Al Jazeera.

“This is also as much a balance to the Abraham Accords as a direct challenge to Tehran,” he added, in reference to the US-pushed regional normalisation effort with Israel, which US President Donald Trump last month tied with a civil nuclear deal sought by Saudi Arabia.

Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University of Qatar, also agreed that decision-makers in Iran do not immediately feel threatened by the pact, especially since they have maintained cordial relations with both Pakistan and Turkiye even under trying circumstances.

“Ultimately, this pact is not that new, nor is it something that, at present at least, has a great deal of substance beyond its symbolic significance. For example, neither Turkiye nor Pakistan would be willing to get involved in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen despite recent Houthi attacks on the kingdom,” Kamrava told Al Jazeera.

Not all inside Iran are content with the pact, however, with some hardline lawmakers and media arguing that it could ultimately be directed against the “resistance front” of Tehran-backed armed forces across the region, and degrade Pakistan’s credibility as a main mediator between Iran and the US and others.

“It’s clear that Arab states finally understand security cannot be imported; it must be built within the region. However, a roadmap is still missing,” Ebrahim Azizi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said in a more hawkish viewing of the pact.

“Warning: Miscalculation is a historical mistake. Iran has proven that every error comes at a cost. Balance is the only way forward,” he wrote on X.

Ebrahim Rezaei, another member of the commission, also wrote on X that “a paper agreement with Turkiye and Pakistan” will not bring Saudi Arabia security, “just as years of one-sided dependence on the Americans did not bring them security”.

Is Iran missing out?

Clingendael Institute’s Azizi said Tehran’s priority will likely be to avoid turning the pact into an explicitly anti-Iranian coalition amid a war with regional repercussions, and that would mean preserving individual relations with each of the three countries.

He said Tehran can also continue to emphasise its long-standing argument that regional security should ultimately be organised by regional states rather than external powers.

“If those states come to see the pact as providing meaningful protection against Iran or Iran-aligned groups, that would make Iranian membership even more difficult,” said Azizi. “Over the longer term, however, if the arrangement evolves from a balancing coalition into a broader regional security architecture, the question of Iranian participation could look quite different.”

Experts also said it could be a possibility that Iran itself would be seeking potential membership in the pact in a distant future, but that would mean a sustainable end to attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and across the region, while expansion to other regional Arab states seems more plausible in the near term. Egypt has already been floated as a candidate, but that could be a complex decision for Cairo to make.

Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North African Programme at Chatham House, said the trilateral pact reflects both short- and long-term security concerns and opportunities for Riyadh, Islamabad and Ankara.

“They are driven together to forge greater diplomatic and defence cooperation in reaction to US unreliability, Israeli revisionism and Iranian retaliation,” she told Al Jazeera.

After visiting the West Bank, the group of public figures known as “The Elders” has concluded that Israel “aims to make Palestine disappear physically, economically, culturally and politically”.

Mary Robinson, former president of the Republic of Ireland and one of the leading members of The Elders, tells host Steve Clemons that the delegation was “shocked” at how the situation has deteriorated since 2023.

“It starts with hate speech, clear talk about Jewish supremacy and annexation of the West Bank,” says Robinson, adding that the Israeli government affords “complete impunity” for settlers and soldiers grabbing land and disrupting the lives of Palestinians across the territory.

‘We’re going backwards.’ Palestinians in Gaza say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of the US-backed 15-point plan has deepened uncertainty over an end to the war. Hamas says it remains committed to the agreement.

Stalled for months, the peace process in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be gaining momentum.

The Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group has accepted 15 prisoners released by the government in Kinshasa. The handover is part of a framework agreement signed last year, after talks mediated by Qatar.

It may be a small step, but it could pave the way to ending the fighting in the eastern DRC. Previous attempts have failed to bring peace to the region.

Could this mechanism address the core issues of the long-running conflict?

Presenter: Per Nyberg

Guests:
Kambale Musavuli – Analyst at the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa

Felix Ndahinda – Researcher on the Great Lakes region, specialising in conflict resolution, peace and transitional justice

Abdulla Al Etaibi – Assistant Professor in International Affairs at Qatar University

Israel is trapped in a cycle it created. Occupation fuels resistance, and resistance is used to justify more occupation. Near Nablus, that cycle turned deadly yet again: five Palestinians killed as four new outposts were erected. Al Jazeera’s Leila Warah reports.

Published On 9 Aug 20269 Aug 2026

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Ahmed al-Jubouri and a close associate were arrested on charges of misusing contract funds in Saladin province.

The former governor of Iraq’s Saladin province, Ahmed al-Jubouri, also known as Abu Mazen, has been arrested on corruption charges, Iraqi media say.

Al-Jubouri was arrested in Baghdad on Saturday after allegedly embezzling funds from Saladin province contracts, a senior government source told the Iraqi News Agency said. The news was widely confirmed by other Iraqi media.

The politician served as governor of Saladin from 2013 to 2014, followed by a tenure as minister of state for provincial affairs between 2014 and 2015. He is currently secretary general of the National Masses Party, which holds three seats in Iraq’s parliament and is part of the ruling coalition.

Businessman Mohammed al-Hajaf, who has been described as al-Jubouri’s close associate, was arrested in Saladin province under the same charges.

The source did not reveal the amount of money that had been taken. Al-Jubouri and al-Hajaf have not publicly commented on the allegations.

The National Masses Party posted a photo of al-Jubouri on Facebook, captioned: “You can take pride in what you have done for sick and poor people.”

Both arrests come days after the State Administration Coalition, which consists of parties that form and support the government, reaffirmed the need to continue the anti-graft campaign and to support the prime minister’s efforts.

Earlier this year, new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi assumed office amid growing United States pressure on Baghdad to tackle corruption and disarm Iran-backed armed groups that have targeted US facilities in Iraq.

Security forces arrested 47 prominent Iraqi politicians, lawmakers and officials in June, leading to the seizure of tens of millions of dollars and bringing renewed attention to the decades-long issue of corruption.

Al-Jubouri was previously arrested in November 2019 after his parliamentary immunity was revoked over alleged criminal activity related to the construction of student dormitories at Tikrit University. According to local media, he was later released on bail.