Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected accusations that Israel has been delaying the entry of winter supplies into the Gaza Strip as the enclave faces worsening conditions this week, with severe rains flooding makeshift tents.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a tanker caught fire after hitting a naval mine early on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz. The British military also reported an incident with a tanker in the contested waterway, but it was not immediately clear if it was the same vessel. And Israel struck Gaza twice today, killing three Palestinians.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
Netanyahu dismisses claims that Israel is blocking supplies to Gaza
Netanyahu said Israel was not to blame for the worsening conditions for Palestinians in Gaza's tent camps that have been hit with severe winter floods.
His remarks came after the U.S.-created Board of Peace — established under President Donald Trump's plan to end the Israel-Hamas war and oversee Gaza's recovery — said Monday that Israel's delaying of the entry of winter supplies into Gaza had "exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge."
Torrential rain has battered the war-torn enclave in recent days, damaging tens of thousands of makeshift tents. Four people, including three children, were killed on Sunday when a large sandstone slab collapsed onto tents during the rains.
Netanyahu said the Palestinian militant group Hamas is to blame because it continues to refuse to disarm, although the ceasefire deal does not make entry of tents and other aid conditional on disarmament. Netanyahu also accused Hamas of seizing humanitarian aid to use for military purposes, though he did not provide evidence.
“Hamas alone is responsible for the suffering of the people of Gaza, and it is now cynically exploiting that suffering to shift blame onto Israel once again,” he said Tuesday.
The U.N. and other aid groups have more than 150,000 tents ready to enter Gaza, but Israel has not given permission, the U.N. humanitarian office said Sunday. Israel has also not allowed entry for pumps or other equipment to remove floodwaters, the office said.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the situation in Gaza was “intolerable” and demanded Israel end “arbitrary restrictions” on aid. And in Washington, Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the top Democrat on the Senate's foreign spending subcommittee, called for Israel to immediately allow winter gear into Gaza.
“There are a lot of challenges when it comes to Israel and Palestine that are complicated, and fraught, and contentious,” Schatz said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “But we should all be able to agree that repairing torn tents and helping people to dry out, and providing warmth to freezing children is a basic human obligation.”
Iran says a tanker caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said that a tanker caught fire early Wednesday after hitting a naval mine, Iran's state media reported. It said the tanker was traveling through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway.
The British military said a tanker was involved in an incident while transiting the strait. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, or UKMTO, did not identify the tanker, and further details of the incident were not immediately available.
The center also said the status of the crew remained unknown. UKMTO is part of the British military tasked with monitoring maritime safety.
Last month, it had said it was “struggling to accurately report” the true number of attacks as the majority of ships now refuse to report them.
It was not immediately clear if the Iranian and UKMTO reports referred to the same incident.
Israeli strikes kill 3 in Gaza City, local health officials say
An Israeli strike on Wednesday morning killed one person in Gaza City, and a second later in the day killed two more people, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The Israeli military said both strikes targeted military operatives. It did not provide additional details.
Large-scale fighting has slowed since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal in October 2025.
However, Israel continues to launch near-daily strikes on the enclave. Israel has killed more than 1,600 Palestinians in Gaza since the deal was reached, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.