MIDDLE EAST

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Israel is concerned that US President Donald Trump may strike an agreement with Iran before addressing some of the key issues that drove the two countries to launch the war in the first place, multiple Israeli sources have told CNN.

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The United Arab Emirates has announced it will exit OPEC, ending more than six decades of membership in a move that reshapes global oil politics and underscores growing strain within the producer alliance.

Officials said the decision takes effect on 1 May, as the region grapples with the Iran conflict that has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and tightened global supply chains.

UAE withdrawal is expected to weaken OPEC's ability to coordinate production, widening long-running disagreements with Saudi Arabia over output limits and the direction of the oil market.

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The United Arab Emirates reportedly conducted a covert military counter-strike against a vital Iranian oil refinery just as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was taking effect last month.

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Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the nation's military have condemned a soldier who was photographed damaging a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon. The image, which emerged over the weekend, shows the soldier striking the face of the statue with an axe or sledgehammer. Netanyahu stated on Monday that he was "stunned and saddened" by the incident, condemning the act "in the strongest terms" and expressing regret for the pain caused to believers worldwide.

His comments came after the Israeli military confirmed late Sunday that the photo, showing a statue of Jesus turned upside down and off its cross, was authentic.

“The IDF views the incident with great severity and emphasizes that the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops,” the IDF said in a statement, resharing a post by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi that had circulated widely on social media.

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Iranian forces seized the Barbados flagged tanker Ocean Koi in the Gulf of Oman on Friday after another confrontation erupted between American destroyers and Iranian units moving through the narrow Strait of Hormuz during rising regional tensions.

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Israel and Lebanon have entered a rare phase of direct diplomacy, holding their first face-to-face talks since 1993 in a US-brokered effort aimed at easing escalating tensions along their shared border.

The meeting, described by US officials as a significant diplomatic opening, comes amid intensifying conflict involving Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. While expectations for an immediate breakthrough remain low, both sides signaled cautious willingness to engage after years of indirect communication.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the talks as a long-term process rather than a single decisive moment. Speaking ahead of the discussions, he emphasized that progress would require sustained effort, calling the meeting a "historic opportunity" to reshape security dynamics in southern Lebanon.

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An Israeli airstrike has killed the son of Hamas' top negotiator in U.S.-mediated discussions over Gaza's future, Hamas officials said on Thursday, as leaders of the group held talks in Cairo to preserve a fragile truce with Israel.

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Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it has reinstated full pumping capacity on its strategic East-West oil pipeline, returning flows to roughly seven million barrels per day following recent attacks that disrupted parts of its energy network.

The Ministry of Energy said facilities affected during the regional conflict have been repaired and are now operating normally, underscoring what it described as the resilience of the kingdom's oil system after days of reduced output.

Officials did not assign responsibility for the strikes, though recent weeks have seen repeated missile and drone interceptions across the kingdom amid heightened tensions linked to the Iran conflict.

The attacks temporarily affected multiple sites, including oilfields, processing facilities and pipeline infrastructure in key regions such as Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Yanbu.

The disruption had cut crude production capacity by about 600,000 barrels per day and reduced pipeline throughput by approximately 700,000 bpd, according to earlier government estimates.