At Least 13 Killed in Southern Lebanon as Hezbollah and Israel Trade Attacks Despite Ceasefire

In occupied East Jerusalem, Mohammad Abu al-Hummus was arrested at the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard near the Moroccan Gate on May 8, 2026.

Mohammad Abu al-Hummus is an East Jerusalem community activist who has been repeatedly arrested by Israeli police. In 2019 Mohammad Abu al-Hummus was beaten, choked and pepper-sprayed by Israeli officers after asking them not to park on private land.

The US Navy attacked an Iranian-flagged commercial boat in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Makran Sea in Oman near Minab County on the night of May 7-8, 2026, injuring ten sailors.

There were 15 sailors on the Iranian cargo boat attacked by the US Navy. Ten sailors were injured in the US Navy attack on the Iranian commercial boat and transferred to a hospital while five sailors were reported missing. The body of one of the five missing sailors from the US-attacked Iranian vessel was found by rescuers in Minab county, southern Iran.

Search teams are continuing efforts to find the four remaining missing sailors from the US-attacked Iranian vessel. Mohammad Radmehr, governor of Minab county in southern Iran, provided the update on the recovery. Three empty Iranian-flagged National Iranian Tanker Company tankers breached the US Navy blockade in the Strait of Hormuz over the last two days and returned to Iran via the Exclusive Economic Zone of Pakistan.

The Iranian Navy’s rangers and marines directed the seized tanker Ocean Koi to the southern coast of Iran. The US military’s Central Command claims US forces are blocking more than 70 vessels from entering or exiting Iranian ports as part of its blockade of Iran.

The blocked commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion-plus.

President Trump pulled back Project Freedom, a short-term attempt by the US to organise shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE air defence systems intercepted two ballistic missiles and three UAVs launched from Iran on May 8, 2026, leaving three people moderately wounded.

Since the beginning of Iranian attacks on the UAE, its air defences have engaged a total of 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles, and 2,263 UAVs.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US should get a response on May 8, 2026 from Iran to its proposal to end the war. Marco Rubio told reporters in Rome that the hope is Iran’s response puts the sides into a serious process of negotiation. The US will not negotiate with Hezbollah and is focused on talks with the Lebanese government.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran is still reviewing the US’s latest proposal and considering its response. Esmail Baghaei accused Washington of breaching the ceasefire and international law in the military confrontation with the US the previous night.

Esmail Baghaei said Iran’s forces are closely monitoring the situation and fully ready to respond to any aggression and adventurism.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of repeatedly undermining diplomatic efforts in favour of military escalation. U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure.

Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire? ' Negotiations between the US and Iran are happening both indirectly through Pakistani mediators and occasionally directly.

The Trump administration is expressing optimism about a potential Iran deal but insists red lines remain. @AJEnglish reported these developments across the region.