U.S. crude oil jumps as Biden comments on possible Israel retaliation against Iran
U.S. crude oil prices rose more than 4% today, on pace for a third consecutive session of gains on fears that Israel could strike Iran’s oil industry in retaliation for Tehran’s ballistic missile attack this week.
Asked by reporters this morning whether the U.S. would support an Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities, President Joe Biden said: “We’re discussing that. I think that would be a little — anyway.” He added that “there’s nothing going to happen today.”
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Biden’s comments were the catalyst that moved prices higher, said Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities. “Geopolitical risks in the Middle East are probably at their highest levels since the Gulf War,” Ghali told CNBC.
The U.S. benchmark hit an intraday high of $73.95 per barrel, a gain of about 5.5%. West Texas Intermediate is ahead more than 7% this week.
90% of Gaza's infrastructure is gone, Palestinian Authority president says
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said today that Israeli bombardment has destroyed 90% of the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in the last year, according to the WAFA News Agency.
Abbas made the assertion in a speech at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha, Qatar, where he spoke about the difficulties Palestinians face to persevere.
He emphasized that "peace and tolerance cannot co-exist with occupation, racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing, oppression and injustice," WAFA reported.
In a report in August, the Global Education Cluster research group said nearly 93% of education infrastructure in Gaza have had "some level of damage to their buildings."
U.S. organizes second flight for citizens to leave Lebanon
A second private charter organized by the U.S. Embassy has left Lebanon, the State Department said today, bringing to 250 the number of Americans and their immediate family members who have left the country on U.S.-facilitated flights.
The U.S. has also worked with airlines to make 1,400 seats available for U.S. citizens on existing commercial flights, but not all of those tickets are affordable.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said U.S. families were having “severe difficulty in finding safe travel routes home from Lebanon,” with some flights costing up to $8,000 a ticket. The State Department said today it was aware of the high prices and that they among the reasons for organizing the private charters.
“The most that any American will pay for a seat on those flights is $283, and if they can’t afford $283, they don’t have $283, we will provide them a loan from the U.S. government for the cost of that ticket,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “So we would urge any American citizen who wants to leave to take the advice that we are offering, to register with our website, and we will reach out to them about flights that are available and work with them to try to get them on a flight they can afford.”
The State Department is prohibited under U.S. law from providing seats to American citizens without seeking compensation.
The U.S. will continue to organize the flights “as long as the security situation is challenging, as long as there aren’t sufficient commercial options available and as long as there’s demand,” Miller added.
The State Department also announced a program offering loans to U.S. citizens who wish to stay but want to instead move to safer destinations in Lebanon.
“We are working 24/7 to help provide U.S. citizens in Lebanon with as many options as possible to depart,” Miller said. “We know that not all of them wish to leave, but our goal is to provide as many options as we can to make sure all of them are safe.”
Failure to stop war in Gaza was a 'green light to expand the conflict,' Qatar's emir says
Qatari Emir Tamir bin Hamad pledged his support to Lebanon's humanitarian crisis and condemned the international community.
“The failure of the international community to stop the war on Gaza was a green light to expand the conflict without the slightest degree of responsibility by the aggressors,” he said on X.
He said he has directed all resources necessary to help Lebanon's displaced citizens as the country contends with "the brutal attacks they are being subjected to."
IDF says it hit Hezbollah intelligence headquarters in Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck the main intelligence headquarters belonging to Hezbollah in Beirut.
It was allegedly the site that housed Hezbollah intelligence-gathering and command centers, according to the IDF statement.
Tehran says G7 statement on Iran’s missile attack on Israel is ‘biased’
Iran views the Group of Seven (G7) condemnation of its attack on Israel as “biased and irresponsible," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said today.
Baghaei “pointed to the definite responsibility of G7 countries, especially the United States, in increasing insecurity and instability in West Asia due to their armament, (and) financial and political support” of Israel, a ministry statement said.
“We believe that if European states had taken effective and practical measures on time, including cutting off financial and weapons support, they would have cut short the killing and genocidal machine of the Zionist regime (Israel) by today and we would not have witnessed such tragedies,” the ministry said.
Iran launched more than 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for the killings of militant leaders and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.
Abbas Nilforoushan, a deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was also killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut a week ago that killed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
In a statement on Wednesday, Group of Seven leaders condemned Tehran’s attack, expressing “strong concern” over the crisis in the Middle East, but said a diplomatic solution was still viable and a region-wide conflict was in no one’s interest.
Lebanese prime minister says 1.2 million people are displaced
An estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced within Lebanon, according to Najib Mikati, the country’s prime minister.
Mikati spoke in an interview yesterday with the American Task Force on Lebanon, noting that the government's resources to help the displaced are "very modest."
He accused Israeli officials of choosing war, urging the neighboring state to end the destruction. Mikati said that Hezbollah has agreed to language that would restore an end of hostilities in accordance with United Nations Resolution 1701.
"Why is Israel not accepting a cease-fire today? They, they are looking for war," Mikati said. "We are looking to have a diplomatic solution, a diplomatic to be a win-win."
At least 5 blasts heard in Beirut
At least five loud explosions could be heard just now in the Lebanese capital.
IDF says it has killed Hezbollah member responsible for Majdal Shams strike
The Hezbollah member allegedly responsible for a strike in Majdal Shams has been killed, Israel Defense Forces said today.
Israel's military announced it had killed Khider al-Shaebia, the Hezbollah member responsible for rockets fired at the areas of Har Dov, Mount Hermon and the northern Golan Heights.
Hezbollah said it did not fire the strike at Majdal Shams, which killed 12 children playing soccer. The group rarely denies responsibility for attacks.
Mideast tensions have not been this bad since the ‘70s, says former NBC News Tel-Aviv bureau chief
As tensions between Israel and Iran rise, former NBC News Tel Aviv bureau chief Martin Fletcher weighs in with the historical context of the turmoil in the Middle East.
He said unrest in the region has not been this heated since the Yom Kippur War, which started in 1973.