Bill extending mandatory military service to 32 months finalized before last plenum votes

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.

US military says 5-hour wave of strikes hit Iranian coastal defenses, missile and drone sites

The US military says its forces have completed their latest wave of strikes on Iran.

“During the five-hour mission, US forces successfully struck military targets across Iran including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping,” US Central Command says. “CENTCOM forces employed precision munitions against Iranian coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities.”

“American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” it adds, while releasing video of the strikes.

https://t.co/9ofbRK68gl

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 14, 2026

IRGC also claims missile and drone strikes on Bahrain

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it carried out missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, after the Gulf country urged citizens to take shelter as a siren sounded.

“Several weapons support warehouses, a satellite communications center and the residential building for US forces in Bahrain were targeted,” Iranian state television IRIB quotes the Guards as saying.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim responsibility for deadly attack on UAE tankers

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims responsibility for a deadly missile attack on a pair of UAE oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the two “offending supertankers” have been hit and disabled after ignoring warnings, turning off navigation systems and attempting to pass through “a mined route.”

The IRGC, in its statement to Iranian media, says the US is “inciting vessels to use an illegal route” and that cooperation with the “aggressor enemy” will result in damage, delays in reopening the strait and a global energy crisis.

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Bill extending mandatory military service to 32 months finalized before 2nd and 3rd plenum votes

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee finishes readying legislation extending the period of mandatory military service for Israelis to 32 months, ahead of the final readings it must pass in the Knesset plenum before becoming law.

The bill is being advanced over the objections of the Israel Defense Forces, which advocated for it to again be extended to 36 months for men from the current 30. At the same time, the coalition is pushing through legislation aimed at shielding members of the ultra-Orthodox community from having to serve and preventing them from being punished for not doing so.

Trump says he wants Gulf states to reimburse US for ‘protection’ from Iran

US President Donald Trump says he wants the United States to be reimbursed by Gulf countries in the region for working to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing Iranian attacks.

“I want to be reimbursed because we’re protecting a very rich portion of the world. We’re spending money, so… we are going to be reimbursed for protection,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office, singling out Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait as countries that the US has protected.

Many of those Gulf countries have privately faulted the US for launching a war against Iran without coordinating with them and without a plan for what it would do when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. Those countries have since found themselves bearing the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory strikes.

He speaks about the US “protecting allies… including Israel, including Saudi Arabia, including Qatar, including UAE. We’re protecting all of them, and we’ve done a very effective job.”

Trump is peppered with questions about how long he expects the latest escalation with Iran to drag out, given that he campaigned on avoiding protracted conflicts.

He reiterates that the US is striking Iran hard tonight, but claims that the current round of escalation will end quickly.

Trump says Iran agreed to a deal over the weekend that would have led to deescalation before backing out of the agreement “because they found out there was something in the deal they didn’t like.”

Asked if he thinks that it won’t be possible to reach a settlement with Iran, Trump responds, “I never reached that conclusion. But we’re hitting them very heavy tonight.”

“They’re going to fight for a while… and we’ll see what happens,” he says.

UAE says crew member killed, 8 others hurt in Iran missile attacks on tankers in Hormuz

The UAE defense ministry says that two national tankers have been targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles in the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others, including four seriously.

The ministry says fires broke out on both tankers but have been brought under control. It condemns the attack as a serious breach of international law and says the UAE retains its full right to respond and take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and security.

‘Imposing a heavy cost’: US military confirms it has launched strikes on Iran for 3rd night in a row

The American military confirms launching strikes in Iran for the third consecutive night, after Tehran fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” says the US Central Command on X.

Three settlers detained over racist slurs toward police officers

Police detained three residents of a West Bank settlement on Tuesday for hurling racist slurs at officers trying to locate a suspected violent extremist.

Hebrew outlets report that as officers were leaving a home in Adei Ad, a woman present called one police detective a “kushit” — the feminine form of a Hebrew slur for black people.

She allegedly kept demeaning the investigator even when told to stop.

Another family member, who is under house arrest, called a Border Police officer on the scene “Sudanese” with the intent to humiliate him, according to the reports.

The pair and another individual, whose role in the incident is unclear, were later detained, interrogated and then released from police custody under restrictive conditions.