"Iran fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported early Tuesday morning, citing a US official.
According to the report, both ships were damaged significantly, but there were no casualties.
Shortly before the report, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) stated that a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile while traveling about eight nautical miles (14.8 km) east of Oman's Limah, causing a fire.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned ships in recent days to remain on Iranian-designated routes rather than the US-designated route near the coast of Oman.
"Our missiles and drones are ready to fire at you," the IRGC told ships over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported. One of the ships appeared to be Al Rekayyat, a Qatari gas tanker.
Early on Tuesday, a crew member on a ship near Al Rekayyat heard a message from the ship stating that it had been hit on the port side, at the top of the engine room, according to a recording shared with the WSJ.
"Engine room fire and full of smoke. Unable to assess further damage. All crew are safe and mustered on the starboard side," the WSJ cited the recording as saying. "
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-901664
"Despite Hamas’s stated willingness to hand over authority to a technocratic committee, the terrorist group will not relinquish its power, according to Palestinians familiar with the matter.
“Hamas hasn’t declared an end to its rule in the Gaza Strip,” a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. “What they have done is announce the dissolution of what they call the emergency committee. But at the same time, they immediately declared that another temporary governing body would run the [Gaza] Strip and appointed someone to head it.”
Hamas seeks to maintain both its military capabilities and governmental authority in Gaza, the official said.
“They say they want to hand over authority to the technocratic committee, but I believe this is only as part of the discussions in Cairo, because they want to show that they are not the ones impeding the process,” he said. “They want to buy more time, hoping that future circumstances may work to their advantage, possibly as a result of developments between Iran and the United States that could also benefit Gaza.”
The most important question is “how the principle of ‘one authority and one weapon’ will be implemented,” the official said, adding that Hamas’s weapons should be removed and handed over to “the authorized Palestinian institutions.” Hamas is seeking to ensure that its police officers and members of its security forces – those responsible for maintaining order – are incorporated into the new police force in Gaza, the official said.
“Hamas wants its members to be allowed to carry weapons in a way that appears legal under the framework of the new technocratic committee, while in reality, it would continue to guide their actions,” he said. Another Palestinian told the Post: “The resignation of one or two heads of Hamas’s governmental committee does not mean the collapse of Hamas’s rule in Gaza.”
Hamas wants to highlight this move to demonstrate its readiness to give up its governance, but in truth, it seeks to shift responsibility to the mediators and Israel, he said.
“They also want to secure financial support, knowing that the organization cannot obtain funding or international backing because it lacks legitimacy,” he added. “The new technocratic Palestinian committee is recognized as legitimate, so Hamas is trying to use this arrangement to rebuild its infrastructure and embolden itself in the future.”
He cited Hamas’s demand that its civil servants and some of its personnel be integrated into the technocratic committee’s institutions.
“Hamas’s employees could be the eyes of the organization inside the new administrative body,” he told the Post. “Hamas cannot give them up, because through them it can continue to operate and play a role.”
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-901649
"The resignation of the head of the Emergency Committee was “carried out in response to the national interest and in order to prevent Israel from making excuses,” Hamas clarified following the announcement of the committee's dissolution on Monday.
The terrorist group also announced the transfer of the committee’s powers to the National Committee for Gaza’s administration, clarifying that the committee's dissolution, as well as all preparations for the transfer of administrative power, had been completed.
"We took another positive step today to deny Israel's excuses; what was done is another step to prepare the ground for the entry of the technocrats' committee, and now the ball is in the mediators' court," Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Al Jazeera.
The source added that it is now the responsibility of the guarantor states and the US to implement the agreement, given that Hamas has fulfilled its obligations. “Today, we are putting the ball in the mediators' court so that they will pressure all sides to bring the national committee into the Strip,” he said.
“We call on our brothers, the mediators and guarantor countries, to take urgent action and pressure the occupation to stop its attempts to obstruct the implementation of the agreement,” Hamas said in a statement released on Monday. “We also urge them to expedite enabling the National Committee for Gaza Administration to enter the Strip and immediately carry out its duties, thereby thwarting the occupation's plans, strengthening the resilience of our people, and alleviating their suffering.” The terrorist organization also warned against Israel’s “continuous attempts” to “hinder the implementation of the agreement and sabotage its path, and its efforts to impose a reality of administrative vacuum with the aim of deepening the suffering of our steadfast people and thwarting efforts to restore normal life in the Gaza Strip.”
A Hamas source told Agence France-Presse that the terrorist group had "decided to dissolve the government committee in Gaza, and that a person accepted by all sides would be appointed to temporarily manage the committee's work."
It will become a temporary administrative committee until the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza enters and officially assumes its powers," he added.
Additionally, Hamas sources told London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al Awsat that the new committee, also known as the "technocrats committee," led by Ali Shaath, would enter the Strip and assume administrative powers.
Shaath was named Chief Commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza in early 2026 by Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish mediators of the Gaza peace plan.
However, Palestinians familiar with the matter, as well as a diplomatic source who spoke with The Jerusalem Post, are wary of the move, claiming it won't be enough for a new technocratic government to take over the Strip.
Sources from Hamas and Palestinian factions said that a new round of talks is expected to take place in Cairo in the following days with the aim of "narrowing the gaps" surrounding the second stage of the fragile ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip."
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-901663
"The communications office of Hamas' government in Gaza announced Monday that the head of the terrorist organization's government committee had submitted his resignation, as part of preparations to transfer administration of the Gaza Strip to a technocratic committee affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.
At the same time, Hamas has already announced that the terrorist organization's officials "will continue to work at the technical level to ensure the provision of services," and that all its employees will continue to perform their duties.
"Hamas' announcement is only for show. On the ground, nothing will change," a security official told Israel Hayom. "It is merely a statement meant to show the Americans and the world that Hamas is willing to give up power, even though that is not actually the case."
Security officials who spoke with us said Hamas is continuing to grow stronger and rebuild itself for a confrontation with Israel, both through money reaching it from outside the Gaza Strip and thanks to the "humanitarian" aid that continues to enter Gaza unchecked, about 600 trucks a day, while the real need is only about 200, or at most 250, trucks a day.
Israel Hayom can now report that Hamas directly taxes the incoming trucks, inspecting and registering them in order to collect a tax of between 15% and 30% from merchants.
Hamas also controls the markets, forcing merchants to sell their goods to traders operating under its auspices at a "supervised" price, so it can collect tax on the price gaps and take a cut of the profits for the organization. Hamas also manages to smuggle banned products into the Gaza Strip, such as cigarettes and tobacco, which are sold at high prices and taxed at a higher rate.
In addition, the terrorist organization exploits essential systems for the sake of its military buildup. For example, there is evidence that Hamas sells electricity produced by hospital generators, using fuel that enters the Gaza Strip for humanitarian needs, to residents living near the hospitals.
The terrorist organization does not stop there, also collecting fees from merchants. In other words, it imposes additional taxes and fees on local merchants by charging rent for operating markets, renewing business licenses, operating stalls and the like. In addition to direct tax collection from the private sector, Hamas uses overseas financial mechanisms to operate an offset system in which money enters the Gaza Strip in the form of goods. This enables the terrorist organization to efficiently fund its military arrays. "One cannot deny that Hamas is growing stronger," sources in the defense establishment said. "The money Hamas receives from outside the Gaza Strip, along with the strengthening it achieves through the aid entering the Strip, enables it to rehabilitate military infrastructure, recruit new and young operatives who cannot find other work in Gaza, and the money Hamas offers is their solution."
According to the sources, Hamas is engaged in military buildup and preparing for combat with Israel. "We cannot repeat the statements we made before Oct. 7, according to which Hamas was deterred and would not attack. We cannot once again ignore what the other side is doing," the sources added. At the same time, they noted that in the near term it is doubtful Hamas will be able to carry out again what it did on Oct. 7, though the possibility that the organization will try to act against IDF soldiers or positions along the yellow line has not been ruled out.
According to the sources, Hamas is also closely watching the fact that the Americans are tying Israel's hands in Lebanon and Iran, and is aware that the Americans want to advance their 20-point plan at almost any cost. Even when it is clear to everyone that Hamas has no intention of disarming, and that there is no body that will disarm it, this does not stop the Americans from advancing the remaining clauses of their plan, which include, among other things, rehabilitating the Gaza Strip in areas without Hamas.
Israel's leadership is also speaking in several voices regarding the Gaza Strip and has not laid out a clear policy. For example, while IDF Southern Command, headed by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, is talking about the need to return to fighting so as not to allow Hamas to restore its strength, the top echelon of the General Staff does not support such a move, and even says explicitly that the worst possible outcome would be military rule in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, declares on the one hand that there will be no reconstruction in the Gaza Strip without its demilitarization. On the other hand, discussions are being held in Israel about reconstructing Rafah in areas without Hamas. One way or another, there is no doubt that Israel's attention is now focused on Iran and the north, and Hamas is exploiting this to prepare for the next campaign, which, for lack of any alternative, will come sooner or later."
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/07/06/hamas-rakes-in-millions-prepares-for-war/
""Low likelihood" is how Western diplomats and political officials from the Middle East are describing the chances of reaching a full agreement between Iran and the US to end the war.
Efforts by supporters of the agreement in the administration to calm matters and paper over the gaps are running into growing difficulties, partly because of the harsh statements against the US by leaders in Iran during the week of mourning for Ali Khamenei, the eliminated former Supreme Leader, and the calls to take revenge on Trump and his supporters, whom Iran holds responsible for his death.
Moreover, the faltering relationship between the sides has been compounded by the humiliation of US envoys Witkoff and Kushner, who waited in vain for the arrival of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Israel Hayom reported that senior Revolutionary Guards commanders prevented Araghchi from leaving for the talks with the American envoys, who waited in vain in Doha, the capital of Qatar. According to the political officials, a kind of status quo in recent days is what has enabled the continued passage of ships and tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the opposition of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Attacks by Guards personnel on vessels and on Bahrain and Kuwait have almost completely stopped, and many tankers are leaving the strait via the route closer to Oman. "Today" learned from these officials that what led to the Guards' consent was the particularly large share of Iranian ships and tankers crossing the strait, which generate revenue of about half a billion dollars a day.
In addition, imports to Iran have resumed, mainly food and medicine, but also industrial equipment intended to repair damage from the war. The officials note that the lifting of the extensive US restrictions on the oil industry is being used by Iran to import goods for other industrial sectors as well, including the military industry. As of recent days, the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz stands at between 40 and 50 vessels a day, compared with the prewar period, when more than 100 ships crossed the strait daily. Of the vessels now crossing the strait, close to 60% are ships linked to Iran.
Many international shipping companies are still refraining from sending oil tankers and container ships to the region because of extreme insurance risks and concerns over attacks..."
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/07/06/low-likelihood-of-a-full-iran-us-agreement/
