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THE WAR, STILL
The United States struck approximately 90 targets in Iran on Wednesday. Iran struck US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan in response. The Strait of Hormuz recorded just 13 vessel transits in the past 24 hours — the prewar daily average was 110. GPS spoofing has returned to the waterway. The war that ended on June 17 has not ended.
Thursday brought a new development the headlines have not fully captured: after the US began striking Iran again Wednesday, Tehran contacted American officials seeking a new deal. Trump, aboard Air Force One, told reporters he “just doesn’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal” and “doesn’t know if they’re going to honor the deal.” A US official told NBC News no further US strikes were conducted Thursday, though American forces were actively shooting down incoming Iranian projectiles. Pakistan and Qatar are working to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.
The geography of the strikes is expanding. On Wednesday night, US cruise missiles struck a railway bridge in Aqqala in Golestan Province in northern Iran, roughly 900 miles from the Strait of Hormuz. That is well beyond the coastal infrastructure near the waterway that has been the US strike pattern since June. The targeting of infrastructure this far inside Iran represents a significant escalation in scope. Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned it as “a grave war crime,” saying the strikes hit civilian infrastructure. Washington has not confirmed this specific strike.
In the same window, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call Thursday evening, after which the Israeli PM’s office said they “agreed to continue coordination between their countries on the various fronts.” The Khamenei funeral concluded Thursday in Mashhad with a private burial. Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, did not appear at any ceremony during the six days of mourning — not in Tehran, not in Qom, not in Najaf, not at his father’s burial.
The MOU was signed on June 17. Today is Day 22.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Iran struck US military targets across four Gulf states this week. The US has struck roughly 90 targets inside Iran, including infrastructure 900 miles from the Strait. Iran is seeking a new deal. Trump doesn’t know if they’re worthy of one. Pakistan and Qatar are mediating. Thirteen ships transited the Strait in the past 24 hours. The prewar average was 110.
Sources: NBC News live blog (US — 90 targets Wednesday confirmed, Iran struck Bahrain/Kuwait/Qatar/Jordan confirmed, Tehran sought new deal confirmed, Trump “worthy of a deal” quote confirmed, no further strikes Thursday confirmed, July 9); CNN live blog (US — 13 vessels 24 hours confirmed, GPS spoofing returned confirmed, Pakistan/Qatar mediating confirmed, Trump-Netanyahu call confirmed, “coordination on various fronts” confirmed, Mojtaba absent burial confirmed, July 9); CNN analysis (US — Schuster “IRGC has no authority” quote confirmed, Stavridis “degrade but not remove” confirmed, Aqqala railway bridge 900 miles confirmed, geolocated video confirmed, “grave war crime” Iran FM confirmed, July 9)
THE “CEASEFIRE”
Nine Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Wednesday. Two of them were children.
A 10-year-old child was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi, in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave. A father, his son, and a child were killed in the same strike — four people dead in a tent that displaced people had been told to shelter in. Later that day, a 6-year-old boy died of wounds sustained from Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. An 8-year-old child also died of wounds from an Israeli strike on a civilian vehicle in Sabra, Gaza City. A man was killed when an Israeli drone struck a civilian vehicle west of Gaza City. One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a gathering of civilians on Al-Oyoun Street in Sheikh Radwan.
Israel also targeted the vehicle of Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas. Qassem was not in the vehicle. His bodyguard was killed.
Israel says the strikes targeted militants. The Israeli military said it was “unaware of casualties” in one of the Gaza City strikes. It did not immediately comment on several others.
A “ceasefire” has been in place in Gaza since October 10, 2025. Since it took effect, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,084 Palestinians and wounded more than 3,491 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military says it has lost five soldiers in Gaza over the same period. The total death toll in Gaza since October 2023: at least 73,098 killed, more than 173,571 injured.
The children killed Wednesday — aged 10, 8, and 6 — were not combatants. They were displaced. They were sheltering. They are counted in a number that grows every day under a “ceasefire” that has not stopped the killing.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Al Jazeera reports on Gaza consistently with quotation marks around “ceasefire” — a sustained editorial position that the October 2025 agreement has not stopped Israel’s military operations and therefore does not constitute a ceasefire in any meaningful sense. That framing is shared across Arab and international press. The Middle East Monitor and Anadolu Agency both documented Wednesday’s deaths with the same characterization — “latest violation of an ongoing ceasefire agreement.” The international press is not reporting these deaths as incidents in a post-war context. It is reporting them as continuation of a war — one that a piece of paper signed in October declared over.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Nine Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Wednesday. Three of them were children aged 10, 8, and 6. They were sheltering in tents. There is a ceasefire in place. Since it took effect in October, more than 1,084 Palestinians have been killed under it. The total since October 2023 is 73,098.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — nine killed Wednesday confirmed, 10-year-old al-Mawasi confirmed, 6-year-old Zeitoun confirmed, “ceasefire” quotation marks consistent, 1,084 since ceasefire confirmed, July 9); Arab News / Reuters (Saudi Arabia/wire — six killed Thursday confirmed, Qassem vehicle targeted confirmed, bodyguard killed confirmed, 1,092 since ceasefire confirmed, Mladenov both sides violated confirmed, July 9); Middle East Monitor / Anadolu (UK/wire — 8-year-old Sabra confirmed, Al-Oyoun Street strike confirmed, al-Mawasi father/son/child confirmed, Israeli gunboats west Gaza City confirmed, July 8); Express Tribune / Reuters (Pakistan/wire — 10-year-old and 6-year-old ages confirmed, tent shelter displaced people confirmed, IDF “unaware of casualties” confirmed, July 9)
WAR DAY 132 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468 killed, 26,500+ injured (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10 — does not reflect ongoing exchanges of fire)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,321 killed (Al Jazeera live blog, updated July 8) 🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — tracker frozen June 10; does not reflect Iranian strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10 — does not reflect ongoing strikes)
🛢️ Brent crude: $75.98/barrel (OilPrice.com — down $1.55 from this morning; markets easing slightly on Iran’s outreach for a new deal)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.85/gallon (AAA — pump prices continuing to catch up to crude spike)
Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon, updated July 8. The tracker does not reflect the ongoing exchange of US strikes on Iran and Iranian strikes on US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan. Casualty figures from those exchanges have not been confirmed at publication time. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
