Ship Struck Amid US-Iran War Talks     08/04 06:29

   A British maritime monitoring agency said a cargo ship reported being hit by 
a projectile overnight off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, while the 
United States and Iran made opposing claims about whether they were holding 
talks.

   CAIRO (AP) -- A British maritime monitoring agency said a cargo ship 
reported being hit by a projectile overnight off the coast of Oman in the 
Strait of Hormuz, while the United States and Iran made opposing claims about 
whether they were holding talks.

   U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the two sides are resuming talks 
to wind down the war. But Iran insisted it only was talking with Oman and the 
discussion focused on the Strait of Hormuz.

   Here is a look at the most important developments in the Middle East on 
Tuesday.

   Cargo ship reports strike in Strait of Hormuz

   The cargo ship reported being "hit by an unknown projectile" at 2 a.m. local 
time while it was 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of Al Khasab in Oman, the 
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said.

   The UKMTO did not provide further information on the ship, including what 
flag the vessel was sailing under or whether it was carrying cargo.

   The ship suffered damage, according to British maritime security firm 
Ambrey, which did not elaborate.

   The town of Al Khasab sits on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula that juts 
into the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway at the mouth of the Persian 
Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed before the 
war.

   The strait has been effectively shut by Iran's attacks on shipping since the 
start of the war in February, while the U.S. also has imposed a blockade on 
Iranian ports in the waterway.

   Yemen's Houthis say they fired a drone toward an airport in Saudi Arabia

   A military spokesman for the Iranian-backed rebels, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, 
claimed the drone hit a "sensitive target" at the airport in the southwestern 
city of Najran. He did not provide evidence.

   He said the drone attack was in response to what he called Saudi breaching 
of Yemen's airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah. There was no 
immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

   The Houthis recently announced they were imposing a blockade on Saudi-linked 
shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea. 
The rebels have long been at odds with Saudi Arabia, having fought a war 
against the kingdom and its allies. Major fighting ended with a truce in 2022.

   The Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in a 
civil war that began in 2014. Saudi Arabia led an international coalition 
fighting the rebels, and also imposed an air and sea blockade on Houthi-led 
parts of Yemen that has eased in recent years.

   Qatar says mediation underway after US, Iran offer conflicting claims

   Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that 
mediation efforts were underway with all parties. "We're looking into a 
diplomatic solution," he said during a briefing. He did not elaborate, or 
mention the conflicting statements from the U.S. and Iran about direct talks

   Trump said Monday that talks with Iran had resumed, a day after saying he 
called of massive strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country. Trump 
said he pulled back at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the 
United Arab Emirates.

   Whether "Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking," Trump 
maintained.

   Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that no 
negotiations were being held with the U.S., adding that Tehran's talks were 
only with Oman and focused on establishing a route for safe navigation through 
the Strait of Hormuz.

   Trump voiced frustration with Iran, suggesting Tehran had asked for the 
talks, which are critical to ending the monthslong conflict and reviving 
stalled cargo traffic through the strait.

   "Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous!" the U.S. president vented 
on Truth Social, his social media platform.

   "They ask for a meeting, some would say 'beg,' talks begin, with more 
scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that 
they're not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and 
they're only dealing with 'Oman'," he wrote.

   Gaza holds mass funeral for people killed in 2023 airstrike

   Gaza residents held a mass funeral Tuesday for 112 Palestinians whose bodies 
were recovered after nearly three years under the rubble in Gaza City. They 
were among more than 300 people killed on Nov. 22, 2023, when Israeli warplanes 
flattened a residential block in the city's Sabra neighborhood.

   First responders recovered the bodies over the weekend after digging through 
the rubble for 136 hours, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency 
operated under Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

   The bodies included 40 children, 30 women and seven people with 
disabilities, the Civil Defense said in a statement, adding that another 157 
people remained missing under the rubble.

   Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral, where the bodies wrapped in 
Palestinian flags were laid in rows near the flattened buildings before being 
carried on stretchers through a narrow street for burial in a nearby cemetery.

   The Gaza war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked 
southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

   Israel's military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, 
according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between 
civilians and combatants but they are considered generally reliable by the 
United Nations and other international organizations.

   Victims' relatives mark anniversary of Beirut port explosion

   Families of some of the more than 200 people killed in the 2020 Beirut port 
explosion gathered at the blast site to mark six years since tons of improperly 
stored ammonium nitrate exploded, devastating large parts of the Lebanese 
capital.

   No official has been convicted in a judicial investigation that has been 
repeatedly obstructed. The tragedy has since been overshadowed by other 
dramatic events, including two wars between Israel and the Hezbollah militant 
group that have killed thousands in Lebanon and left widespread destruction, 
and an Israeli military occupation of much of the country's south.

   But some of the families said they have renewed hope that the long-stalled 
investigation is nearing a breakthrough, after officials from the government of 
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam promised that indictments would be issued by the end 
of the year.