Dubai, Aug 16 (AP): Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a 10-day tour in the region that concluded on Saturday, US Central Command said.
Israel said its strikes in southern Lebanon, which killed at least 11 people, targeted two Hezbollah commanders. And a Hamas delegation is in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials.
Here’s a look at the latest developments on Sunday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East.
US Central Command chief visits aircraft carrier
Admiral Cooper visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed aircraft carrier. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the US war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.
Extended deployments of carriers, which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board, have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members.
“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday.
Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement.
The US Navy’s blockade was in response to Iran’s asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war started on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before then.
Talks between the US and Iran have stalled while Iran is in discussions with Oman about how to manage the strait that runs between them and had been considered an international waterway.
Israel targets two Hezbollah commanders in Saturday’s strikes
Israel’s military said it targeted two Hezbollah commanders in strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, in the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect in June.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said at least 11 people were killed in two strikes.
Israel’s military said early Sunday morning that the latter strike killed Abu Hassan Alaa, whom it described as a “senior commander” for Hezbollah who had taken part in attacks against Israel’s soldiers in southern Lebanon as well as led militants who targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians over several years.
Earlier, Israel’s military had said the strike on Ansar killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, also described as a Hezbollah commander, adding that his family was with him, but was not targeted.
Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” in late June, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament. It envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.
Hezbollah has refused direct talks and was not party to the US-mediated deal.
Hamas delegation is in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks
A Hamas delegation, chaired by the group’s leader Khalil al-Hayya, is in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks, the group said. Al-Hayya met with Major General Hassan Rashad, head of Egypt’s intelligence service, Egyptian state-run media reported.
Al-Hayya reiterated Hamas’ commitment to implement US President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Gaza “end the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip and to begin the reconstruction process,” al-Qahera News television reported.
The talks come as mediators push for the implementation of a roadmap that calls for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, as well as handing over power to Palestinian technocrats.
Israel’s Netanyahu has rejected Trump’s latest plan to advance the stalled ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60% of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed — something the militant group controlling the other 40% has long resisted.
It was not immediately clear whether Al-Hayya would meet with Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner, the Board of Peace’s high representative Nickolay Mladenov, or executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who are scheduled to travel to Israel and Egypt this week.