Netanyahu denies Israel is to blame for conditions in Gaza camps, and other Mideast news
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected accusations that Israel has been delaying the entry of winter supplies into the Gaza Strip as severe rains flood makeshift tents, worsening conditions in the enclave this week.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a tanker caught fire after hitting a naval mine early on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz. And Israel struck Gaza twice, killing three Palestinians.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
Netanyahu denied that Israel was responsible for worsening conditions for Palestinians in Gaza’s tent camps, which have been hit by severe winter flooding.
He instead blamed Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group refuses to disarm and seizes humanitarian aid for military use. He provided no evidence for the aid seizure claim.
His remarks came after the U.S.-created Board of Peace said Monday that Israel’s delays in allowing winter supplies into Gaza had “exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge.”
The U.N. and other aid groups say more than 150,000 tents and pumps to remove floodwaters are ready to enter Gaza, but Israel has not authorized their entry.
Torrential rain has battered the war-torn enclave in recent days, damaging tens of thousands of makeshift tents. At least four people died Sunday when a large sandstone slab collapsed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a tanker caught fire early Wednesday after striking a naval mine while traveling along an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway, Iranian state media reported.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, a British military agency that monitors maritime safety, said a tanker was involved in an incident while transiting the strait.
The agency did not identify the tanker. Further details, including the crew’s status, were not immediately available. It was unclear whether the Iranian and UKMTO reports referred to the same incident.
An Israeli strike on Wednesday morning killed one person in Gaza City, and a second later in the day killed two more people, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The Israeli military said both strikes targeted military operatives. It did not provide additional details.
Large-scale fighting has slowed since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal in October 2025, but Israel continues to launch near-daily strikes that have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians.
A Cairo judge postponed the retrial of the editor-in-chief of one of Egypt’s last independent news outlets for a week after her defense lawyers asked him to recuse himself, the outlet said.
Lina Attalah, a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Mada Masr, is challenging a one-year prison sentence and a fine imposed in absentia on charges of operating a website without a license and spreading false news.
Mada Masr said Wednesday that her lawyers sought the judge’s recusal because he had ordered the outlet’s closure late last month in a separate case.
Attalah's retrial is now scheduled for Nov. 18 while hearings on Mada Masr’s appeal against its closure begin Nov. 25.
Mada Masr has been a rare independent voice in Egypt, investigating allegations of government corruption and human rights violations amid a widening crackdown on the press.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for dialogue and restraint to ease regional tensions during a meeting Wednesday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Sharif's office.
Sharif expressed deep concern over the prolonged conflict as the two spoke on the sidelines of the United Nations climate summit in Turkey, his office said. The prime minister stressed the need to build on an interim deal reached between the United States and Iran in June.
Sharif’s office said Pezeshkian praised Pakistan’s diplomatic support, and the two leaders agreed to work closely to promote peace, security and prosperity in the region.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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