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People walk past an anti-US mural on a street in Tehran, Iran, on April 20, 2026 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters]
By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaid Sabah, Nils Adler, Heba Habib, Urooba Jamal and Federica Marsi
Published On 22 Apr 2026

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22 Apr 2026 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

Our coverage continues

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Join us for all the latest developments, analyses and reactions here.

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers and civil defence workers carry the body of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, killed in an Israeli air strike, in at-Tiri, south Lebanon, on Wednesday [Handout/Lebanese Civil Defence via AP Photo]
22 Apr 2026 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

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Here are some of the day’s top developments:

  • Israeli forces have killed five people in Lebanon, including journalist Amal Khalil.
  • Iran’s top negotiator and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Israel’s warmongering and “flagrant” ceasefire breaches made reopening the Strait of Hormuz “impossible”.
  • The IRGC said it “directed to the Iranian coast” two container ships it accused of seeking to “covertly exit the Strait of Hormuz”.
  • An Israeli drone attack killed five people in northern Gaza, including three children.
  • A French peacekeeper who was injured in an attack on a UNIFIL patrol on Saturday succumbed to his wounds, the UN has said.
22 Apr 2026 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

UN official calls out Israel over ‘highly provocative’ incursion into Syria

The United Nations has scolded Israel over the latest infiltration of Syrian territory.

“Israeli military activity in southern Syria continues in breach of existing agreements and international law,” Claudio Cordone, UN deputy special envoy for Syria, told a UN Security Council session.

He accused Israeli forces of “conducting near-daily incursions, erecting checkpoints, and detaining Syrian nationals”.

Cordone highlighted an incident on Wednesday in which “dozens of Israelis crossed several hundred metres” into Syria, calling the move “highly provocative”.

He expressed hope that “talks between Israel and Syria with US facilitation can lead to sustainable security arrangements”.

22 Apr 2026 - 23:20
 (23:20 GMT)
Analysis

Trump could be comfortable with the status quo with Iran

In brief remarks to reporters earlier, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt used the word “satisfied” twice to describe how Trump feels about the US naval blockade on Iran.

She also said the US president has not set a specific timeline for the extended ceasefire.

Leavitt’s comments suggest that Trump may be comfortable with the status quo and is not in a rush to renew the fighting or finalise a deal with Iran.

Tehran has long used so-called “strategic patience” to outlast economic and military campaigns against it – but Trump appears to feel like time is on his side at this stage of the conflict.

The White House may be calculating that the economic pain the naval siege is inflicting on Iran is a low-cost pressure tool to extract concessions without returning to an unpopular war.

The oil markets are slowly stabilising. While the increase in the cost of energy products in the US has hurt Trump politically, it has not sparked a revolt within his Republican Party, and the ceasefire has capped the upward trajectory of the price of petrol.

However, the sustainability of the current situation is not guaranteed. Iran, which has described the blockade as an “act of war”, may choose to draw first blood this time around.

The drop in supplies, meanwhile, may cause a global energy crisis.

In Lebanon, the daily Israeli violations of the ceasefire, which have been met by timid military responses from Hezbollah, may re-ignite that conflict, risking the regional truce.

But for now, Trump’s “satisfaction” with the state of affairs makes an imminent US attack on Iran less likely.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters [Kylie Cooper/Reuters]
22 Apr 2026 - 23:10
 (23:10 GMT)

Big leadership change at US Navy amid major military operations

By Alan Fisher

Reporting from Washington, DC, US

In the last hour or so, it was announced that John C Phelan, the secretary of the Navy, is leaving the Pentagon.

It was a surprise announcement – surprise because here is the head of the Navy, as far as the US military complex is concerned, being removed from his position when the Navy is actually involved in significant military operations far from these shores, including in the blockade of Iranian ports that is in place.

He will be replaced by Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao. People think that this is a good move because John C Phelan never served, never gave any time to the military – whereas Hung Cao spent 30 years in the Navy, so he will be considered a safe pair of hands.

But it is still a big leadership change at a time when the US Navy is involved in such a significant operation overseas.

22 Apr 2026 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

The rocky ride of money markets during the war on Iran

It’s been a jarring ride for investors, many of whom may have felt the urge to dump their stock investments last month when the S&P 500 fell nearly 10 percent below its prior record.

Since late March, expectations have built that the United States and Iran will avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy. It would be in both countries’ economic interests to do so – and for Iran’s leadership, an end to the war would also likely mean survival.

The market’s shift away from abject fear has also shown itself in oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, went from roughly $70 before the war to $119 when worries reached their heights. It has since pulled back and was bouncing about $100 on Wednesday.

However, if Iran keeps the Strait of Hormuz closed and if the US Navy continues to blockade Iranian ships, everyone will get hurt.

“By denying Iran its oil-related revenue, traders may be thinking that the economic war may be more effective in getting concessions from Iran’s regime than was the kinetic war only, and that this will end the war sooner, rather than later,” Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group, told The Associated Press, commenting on market optimism.

22 Apr 2026 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

50,000 Lebanese homes damaged or destroyed in Israeli attacks

Israeli attacks on Lebanon during its latest war with Hezbollah damaged or destroyed more than 50,000 housing units in the country, a government estimate says.

“Within about 45 days [of the war], we had 17,756 destroyed housing units and 32,668 damaged housing units,” Chadi Abdallah, head of the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), told AFP news agency.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,400 people and displaced more than one million since the fighting began on March 2.

“The aggression that extended between 2023 and 2025, which is in fact an aggression that did not stop, left behind enormous destruction at various levels,” Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara Zein said at a news conference.

She added that “more than 220,000 housing units were damaged and destroyed” during that period.

Israel’s strikes did not spare residential neighbourhoods, civilian infrastructure or places of worship, and resulted in damage to large agricultural and forested areas, said Zein.

22 Apr 2026 - 22:35
 (22:35 GMT)
Houthi

Lebanon will pursue accountability for slain journalist, PM Salam says

By Ali Harb

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned the killing of journalist Amal Khalil, calling her targeting and preventing rescuers from reaching her a “blatant war crime”.

“Israel’s targeting of media professionals in the South while they are performing their professional duties can no longer be viewed as a series of isolated incidents. Rather, it has become a proven pattern – one that we condemn and reject, just as it is condemned and rejected by all international laws and norms,” Salam said on X.

“Lebanon will spare no effort in pursuing these crimes before the relevant international tribunals.”

Rights advocates have been calling on the Lebanese government to join the Rome Statute and refer Israeli abuses to the International Criminal Court.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Tuesday [File: Ludovic Marin/Pool/EPA]
22 Apr 2026 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)
Houthi

US Senate again rejects bid to curb Trump’s war powers

A fifth vote on a war powers resolution aimed at halting Trump’s war on Iran has failed to pass, with 51 votes against and 46 votes in favour.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said before the vote that “Trump has been offering empty promises to end his war for weeks” and that the vote offered “Senate Republican puppets a fifth chance to do just that”.

22 Apr 2026 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Transport workers’ federation says civilians caught up in Hormuz ship captures

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has called on ship owners not to risk the lives of workers by attempting to transit through the Strait of Hormuz while it remains under blockade.

ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton said in a statement that there have been three attacks, two captures by Iran, and one capture by the United States.

“These are not accidents, not collateral damage, these are deliberate acts against civilian workers who have no part in this conflict and no power to escape it,” Cotton said.

“Seafarers are not soldiers,” Cotton added. “They are workers largely from the Global South, far from home, carrying the world’s cargo on behalf of all our economies. They did not start this war. They cannot end it. Yet they are being used as pawns, as leverage, as instruments of geopolitical pressure by states that know full well what international law requires of them.”

The ITF said it received 1,900 requests for help from seafarers who are “stranded and desperate for help”.

“These seafarers have names, families and rights, and it is a damning indictment that we have to remind anyone of that fact,” said Cotton.

22 Apr 2026 - 22:05
 (22:05 GMT)
Houthi

Israeli forces kill 5, including 3 children, in northern Gaza

The Wafa news agency reports that five people have been killed, including three children, in an Israeli drone attack near a mosque in the Beit Lahiya area in the northern Gaza Strip.

Several others were seriously injured, Wafa added.

 

22 Apr 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Journalist killed in Lebanon received ‘death threats’

By Heidi Pett

Reporting from Tyre, Lebanon

Amal Khalil is a respected and well-known journalist here. During the last war on Lebanon in 2024, she received direct threats from an Israeli phone number on WhatsApp, telling her to cease her reporting.

They encouraged her to leave the country if she wanted her “head to remain on her shoulders”.

The Israeli military has denied reports that it prevented emergency workers’ access to the site four hours after the attack.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the number of media workers killed in this war so far stood at seven, until an hour ago, when Amal was killed. It is now eight journalists killed.

The information minister here, Paul Morcos, says this is a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:46
 (21:46 GMT)

Pentagon says US ​Secretary ⁠of ​the Navy John Phelan has left Trump administration

The Pentagon has said ⁠US Secretary ⁠of the Navy John ‌C Phelan is departing the ⁠administration “effective immediately”.

The announcement by spokesman Sean Parnell marked the latest departure of a top defence leader.

“We are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy. We wish him well in his future endeavors,” spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

Undersecretary Hung Cao will become the Navy’s acting secretary.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Lebanese army offers condolences on death of French peacekeeper

Lebanon’s Army Command has shared a statement offering condolences on the death of Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, a French peacekeeper with UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.

As we reported earlier, Girardin succumbed to his wounds after being injured in an attack on a UNIFIL patrol on Saturday.

“The Command reiterates its condemnation of any attack on UNIFIL and affirms that the investigation will continue until the perpetrators are apprehended,” the statement said, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)
Analysis

How Israel killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil

By Ali Harb

Several Lebanese officials and journalists are accusing Israel of deliberately targeting the Al Akhbar reporter.

According to several reports from Lebanon, Khalil and fellow journalist Zeinab Faraj were reporting in the southern town of at-Tiri when an Israeli strike hit a vehicle near them.

Khalil took cover in a nearby home and was able to contact officials and get in touch to share her location. Lebanese officials rushed to secure passage for rescuers to the area.

When they arrived, they recovered two bodies from the area and were able to retrieve Faraj, who was injured. But they came under Israeli fire before they were able to rescue Khalil.

The Israeli military then struck the house in which Khalil was sheltering about two hours after the first strike, and contact was lost with the journalist, Al Akhbar reported.

Hours later, civil defence crews pulled Khalil’s lifeless body from under the rubble.

She was the fourth Lebanese journalist killed by Israel this year. Three others were killed in a targeted assassination last month.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

US CENTCOM denies reports of Iran-linked ships evading blockade

The US military has denied suggestions that its naval blockade of Iran has failed to stop some vessels from getting through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Over past 24 hours, media reports have alleged that several commercial ships evaded the blockade … These reports are inaccurate,” it said in a statement.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:10
 (21:10 GMT)

Body of slain Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil recovered, civil defence says

We have a statement by Lebanon’s civil defence on the killing of journalist Amal Khalil in the south of the country.

Its press office said rescuers were “able to recover the body of martyred journalist Amal Khalil, who was killed as a result of a hostile air strike that targeted a house in the town of at-Tiri”.

22 Apr 2026 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)
Developing

‘Heinous crime’: Lebanese minister slams killing of journalist in Israeli attack

Lebanon’s Minister of Information Paul Morcos has said “targeting journalists is a heinous crime” following the killing of reporter Amal Khalil.

He also called her killing following an Israeli air attack that Lebanese authorities say targeted Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj in a southern Lebanese town, was a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which we will not remain silent about”.

Israel has now killed five journalists in Lebanon since early March.

Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, who worked for the daily Al Akhbar newspaper before she was killed by Israel, reports near a destroyed bridge in Qasmiyeh, Lebanon, on March 22 [File: Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo]
22 Apr 2026 - 20:50
 (20:50 GMT)
Developing

Press Club praises Lebanese journalist killed by Israel

Lebanon’s National News Agency has also confirmed the killing of journalist Amal Khalil following an Israeli attack.

It quoted a statement by the country’s Press Club saying Khalil “paid with her life and blood for a cause she believed in”.

The organisation said the attack was part of Israel’s “deliberate campaign targeting journalists and media workers”.

22 Apr 2026 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

Editor’s Choice: What to read and watch right now

We’ve published several stories covering various aspects of the conflict in recent hours. Here are a few highlights:

  • From the ground: Iran’s leaders debate war and peace after Trump ceasefire extension
  • Explainer: Trump calls Iran’s leadership ‘fractured’. Is it, and who’s in charge?
  • Video: The war on Iran – Breaking down the words you’re hearing
  • News: At least four killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, journalists wounded

And there’s plenty more here.