Gaza airstrikes kill five as Iran war strains Middle East shipping and diplomacy

Dubai,UPDATED: Aug 28, 2026 23:06 IST

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed five people on Friday despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States, as wider tensions linked to the Iran war continued to affect shipping, energy ties and diplomacy across the Middle East.

Alongside the latest deaths in Gaza, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, Iran and Russia are looking to revive an energy deal, the US has moved to restrict a major Egyptian bank over its alleged links with Iran, Finland has decided not to extend aid through the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and the UK has warned Israel against removing British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination centre.

In Gaza, local hospital officials said two brothers and another relative were killed in a strike on the family home outside Khan Younis. Officials at Nasser Hospital reported the deaths, while Israel's military said it was not aware of a strike in Khan Younis. In Gaza City, two separate Israeli strikes killed one person each on Friday, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. Israel's military said it had struck two separate areas in the city, without giving further details.

The five deaths are the latest in Gaza since an October ceasefire deal sought to halt the more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Although the heaviest fighting has eased, Israeli forces have continued airstrikes that have killed at least 1,303 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.

The UN's maritime agency said 19 seafarers have been killed and at least 6,000 remain stranded on hundreds of ships unable to leave the region since the Iran war began on February 28. The Maritime Organisation said there have been at least 70 attacks on international shipping in the Persian Gulf. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called for practical solutions and renewed cooperation to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a key commercial waterway through which about 20 per cent of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed before the war.

Iran's ambassador to Russia said on Friday that the two countries were seeking to deepen links between their energy grids by reviving a plan dating back to 2022, according to Iranian state media. Umud Shokri, a fellow at George Mason University, said the plan involved piping 55 billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually into Iran through Azerbaijan. He said this could help Iran deal with US economic pressure by easing seasonal gas shortages, though he added that there were major hurdles because the infrastructure would be costly and time-consuming to build. "It is more than bluster, but not yet a game changer," Shokri said.

The Trump administration is also moving to limit the operations of Banque Misr, Egypt's second-largest bank, in the United Arab Emirates. The bank is accused of serving as an economic lifeline to Iran's leadership. Under a new rule proposed by the US Treasury, the bank's Emirati branches would be cut off from access to the US financial system.

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned a new round of US economic measures on Friday, calling them "economic terrorism" and saying Tehran would use all available means to counter them. The ministry said the sanctions violated international law and urged other countries not to implement them. It also accused Washington of using the US dollar to pressure other countries into following its policies. Earlier this week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US would fully sever Iran from the global economy and warned countries continuing to do business with Tehran of secondary sanctions.

Finland said it would not extend its agreement to provide humanitarian aid through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA. Israel's Foreign Ministry, which has accused the agency of being a "hotbed of terrorism," welcomed the decision. UNRWA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Finland had been providing 5 million euros annually under a multi-year agreement due to expire later this year. Foreign Trade Minister Ville Tavio said on X that aid to the Palestinian territories would instead be routed through other channels, including the UN's World Food Programme.

The UK, meanwhile, warned against any move by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination centre after reports that Israel was considering expelling UK officials. The British government said such a step would "undermine shared efforts" to implement the 20-point Gaza peace plan. The warning followed reports that Israel was considering removing officials from Britain and other European countries from the monitoring centre. Israel has already removed two Dutch diplomats, saying the decision was a response to a Dutch ban on trade in Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other "anti-Israel measures."

The latest developments showed that even as the Gaza ceasefire remains in place, violence, disruption to shipping, economic pressure and diplomatic disputes continue to shape the wider Iran war and the Middle East.

With PTI Inputs

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