• War with Iran: The US is planning fresh strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, officials said. The precise scope of the strikes and potential targets were not clear, and officials also cautioned the strikes could be called off. President Donald Trump signaled the plan Friday, saying “we’ll be hitting them very hard.”
• Ship Attack: A tanker was hit by “an unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report from a British maritime monitor. No casualties were reported and it’s unclear who was responsible for the attack.
• Gaza Peace Effort: Trump said the US and Israel are aligned on plans to begin implementing a new agreement in the Palestinian enclave, where Hamas has said it will disarm if Israel upholds its end of a truce. That would mark a critical diplomatic breakthrough, but major questions remain.
A tanker was attacked off the coast of Oman near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Friday report received by a British maritime monitor. The ship was hit by “an unknown projectile,” which caused damage to its engine room, according to the report from the Royal Navy-sponsored United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The tanker, which was not named, was hit about 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of Lima, Oman, on the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz, the UKMTO said, adding that the ship was not under command and no casualties were reported.
The UKMTO did not say who was responsible for the attack.
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, said Friday that Tehran would tighten its declared closure of the strait due to a United States blockade of shipping traffic from or to Iranian ports, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been cut drastically from pre-war levels of around 130 ships per day to only a handful now. The United States is planning fresh strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend as President Donald Trump seeks a resolution to the war, according to two US officials familiar with the plans.
The precise scope of the strikes, and potential targets the US may go after, were not clear, and both officials cautioned the strikes could be called off.
Trump, speaking at a Cabinet meeting earlier Friday, previewed a renewal of heavy strikes while venting anger at diplomatic efforts that have fallen short.
US Central Command has prepared options and readied its forces for expanding the war, including a heavy 2-week bombardment of Iran’s missile sites.
There also has been planning around options that would target energy sites, the officials said.
The Trump administration has been leery of striking Iran’s energy infrastructure over concern that Tehran could retaliate against Gulf infrastructure sites and shock global energy markets already under strain from the war.
Earlier this week, the Israeli Defense Minister said the country’s leadership wanted to strike Iranian energy infrastructure as a means of causing even more economic pressure on Iran. “We very much want to strike Iran’s energy targets — the US is not approving it at this time,” Israel Katz said.
There has also been planning around options that would target energy sites, the officials said.
Trump has grown frustrated at Tehran’s unwillingness to bend to his demands, leading to angry meetings behind the scenes and expletive-laced phone calls to his allies, according to US officials. He convened his Cabinet on Friday at Camp David, perhaps hoping to seize inspiration from the retreat’s past role in successful Middle East diplomacy.
“I think we just want to win,” the president said when asked how he planned to revive the stalled diplomatic efforts, offering few clues of how he intends to proceed. “They’ll get weaker. They’ll get a little stronger maybe now. Then they’ll get weaker. And then they’ll peter out.”
The “Board of Peace” reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. The charter draft, obtained by CNN, describes the Board of Peace as an “international organization” promoting stability, peace and governance “in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”
Trump has never agreed to a specific disarmament plan before. The United Nations Security Council backed the plan in November — giving it international legitimacy — with a mandate for the board to oversee the demilitarization and rebuilding of Gaza,”
Some cautious optimism was present in the international community and among Gazans who spoke to CNN on Friday. But reaching a lasting peace deal in Gaza comes with significant challenges.
Read how Hamas and Israel reacted to the announcement.
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Source: CNN
