🔴 Live: Israel demolition of Hezbollah tunnels in south Lebanon caused 4.1-magnitude quake

Iran-aligned Houthis on Thursday gained further leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's most important shipping routes. Meanwhile, price for Brent crude oil soared more than 5 percent to over $106 per barrel. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates. Saudi civil defence sends danger warning for two areas near Yemen Israel's demolition of Hezbollah tunnels in south Lebanon cause 4.1 magnitude earthquake A 4.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded in southern Lebanon by the US Geological Survey (USGS) after the Israeli military announced that it had blown up tunnels belonging to Hezbollah. The explosion was felt by AFP journalists on the ground and footage released by the Israeli defense minister showed a fireball rising into the sky. Rising fuel prices due to the war in Iran have been a hot topic both in the US and Iran. Trump has conceded that prices will not fall before the midterm elections where the US voters could hold him to account. Meanwhile in Iran where many communities have been bombed since February 28th, there's now the added problem of incresing fuel prices. FRANCE 24's Ali al Basha sent this report. AFP journalists report huge explosions heard in south Lebanon Huge explosions were heard in southern Lebanon, AFP journalists reported, after Israel said it had destroyed underground infrastructure built by Iran-backed Hezbollah beneath a strategic ridge. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel carried out a "massive explosion" on the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, "causing tremors and a powerful rumble that echoed loudly". Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah underground infrastructure in south Lebanon Israel said Thursday it had completed the demolition of key underground infrastructure built by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in south Lebanon. "This is strategic terrorist infrastructure that was built over two decades, with Iranian funding and planning," said a joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, adding that its destruction "completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al-Taher ridge -- above and below ground". Iran Guards say target unmanned US sea drone in Hormuz Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday its navy targeted a US unmanned surface vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. "The Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a Saildrone Explorer-type unmanned surface vessel in the Strait of Hormuz area," they said in a statement carried by their Sepah news outlet under the headline "Destruction of a US Saildrone in the Strait of Hormuz". The ideological arm of the Iranian military added that the sea drone had been used in the region by the US Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain. Iran on Wednesday said it captured an unmanned US submarine drone. The US military said one of its underwater drones had "malfunctioned". Iran says IAEA moves will push countries to exit Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty The UN nuclear watchdog's "political moves" will push countries to exit the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said on Thursday. Mohsen Rezaei made his comments a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors passed a resolution reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for breaching its non-proliferation obligations. Iran assembling new stock of missiles, WSJ reports Iran has resumed producing ballistic missiles from existing components while working in underground facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing officials from the United States and the Middle East. The missiles are being assembled in more limited quantities than before the war, the report added. Iranian arms and advice helped Yemen's Houthis seize key Red Sea city, sources say The lightning Houthi advance down Yemen's Red Sea coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran's Revolutionary Guards seeking to open a new front in Iran's war with the US, according to Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources. By seizing the southwestern port city of Mocha, the Houthis have strengthened their chokehold on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key waterway whose disruption further constricts global energy supplies after Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Six months into the wider regional conflict between the Houthis' Iranian allies and the United States, the group now looks focused on consolidating that grip on the strait even as opposing government forces backed by Saudi Arabia focus on an offensive in the north. Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, and promised more funding, weapons and senior officers to help them do so, two Iranian sources said. Houthi military spox says Saudi launched 64 strikes on Yemen in 24 hours Benchmark oil contract Brent crude soars more than 5% to over $106 per barrel Houthi media says Saudi Arabia launched 10 strikes on Yemen's Taiz province Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of launching strikes on the southwestern province of Taiz, after they seized the key Red Sea city of Mocha. "The Saudi enemy launched 10 strikes on the Dhubab district in western Taiz," the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV channel said. Yemen leader says protecting country's coasts in international interest The leader of Yemen's internationally recognised governing council on Thursday urged Arab and other nations to help protect the country's coasts, after the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of the key Red Sea city of Mocha. "The protection of Yemen's coasts and the restoration of state control over its territory, ports and waters is a joint Yemeni, Egyptian, Arab and international interest," said Rashad al-Alimi, who heads Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, during a meeting with Egypt's ambassador. Houthis say Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab navigation safe and operating normally The spokesperson for Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Thursday that navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remained safe and regular, as fighting with Saudi-backed government forces intensified. In a post on X, Abdulsalam said Yemen posed no threat to shipping and that ongoing Houthi operations were defensive and limited to previously announced targets. He said the operations would end once attacks on Yemen stopped and a blockade was lifted. Houthi seizure of Red Sea port threatens global energy flow Iran-aligned Houthi militants seized control of Yemen's port city of Mocha on Thursday, military sources said, posing a further threat to global energy supplies. Four Yemeni government military sources said the Houthis had gained further leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern outlet of the Red Sea and one of the world's most important shipping routes, and were launching attacks on the strategic islands of Hanish. Two arrested in London for suspected offences relating to Iran, UK police say Two people have been arrested in London as part of an investigation into suspected National Security Act offences linked to Iran, British police said on Thursday. London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "The investigation is not connected to any of the incidents or attacks earlier this year that have been targeted at various venues and buildings linked to Jewish and Iranian communities across London." Fighters from Saudi-backed Nation’s Shield Forces deployed in Yemen in offensive against Houthis European Central Bank raises key interest rate to 2.5 percent as war fuels inflation fears The European Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 2.5 percent on Thursday as the Middle East war pushes up energy costs and threatens to send prices higher. "The conflict in the Middle East continues to generate inflation pressures, and inflation is set to remain well above target for an extended period," said the central bank. Iran's government opposes parliamentary bill to expand definition of 'enemy infiltration' Iran's government opposes a parliamentary bill that would impose tougher criminal penalties for activities deemed to constitute foreign influence or infiltration, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday. The bill, backed by parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, would restrict contacts with foreign media and institutions, the sharing of information, scientific cooperation and other activities that authorities deem to facilitate foreign influence. The elected government's opposition to the measure appears to signal pushback towards hardliners, who have supported enacting tougher security laws during the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israel told the British consulate in east Jerusalem that it must close and that diplomats assigned there would lose their accreditation within 30 days in a reprisal for London-led Western sanctions over settler violence in the occupied West Bank. The US military denied reports of Iranian strikes on its warships.