US President Biden and VP Harris were told by the national security team it is unclear when Iran and Hezbollah are likely to launch an attack against Israel and the specifics of such an attack, according to a US official.
"Chairman of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Describes Haniyeh's Assassination in Tehran as a Declaration of War", according to Sky News Arabia.
US officials said US President Biden was informed of the expectation of a scenario for two waves of attacks, one of which is from Iran and another from Hezbollah. However, it is unclear to US intelligence who will attack first or the nature of the attack, while intelligence indicates that Iran and Hezbollah have not yet decided what exactly they want to do, according to Axios.
US Secretary of State Blinken said the Middle East is at a critical moment and all parties must refrain from escalation, while it is critical that they break this cycle by reaching a Gaza ceasefire and parties should not look for a reason to delay or say no.
US Secretary of State Blinken spoke to his Egyptian counterpart and Qatar’s PM on Middle East tensions, while Blinken delivered a consistent message to refrain from escalation and calm tensions in the Middle East. Furthermore, Egypt's Foreign Minister called on his Blinken to pressure Israel to seriously engage in ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Abbas said the killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh intended to prolong the conflict in Gaza, while it was also reported that Abbas is to visit Russia on August 12th-14th, according to RIA.
Russia has started delivering advanced radars and air-defence equipment to Iran as the country prepares for a possible war with Israel, according to two Iranian officials familiar with the planning cited by NYT.
Several US personnel were injured in a rocket attack on a base housing US troops in Iraq, according to three officials cited by Reuters. It was later reported that US Defence Secretary Austin spoke with Israeli Defence Minister Gallant on Monday and they agreed that the Iran-aligned militia attack on US forces stationed in Iraq marked a dangerous escalation.
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after air raid sirens sounded, according to Reuters.
Zohran Mamdani’s intern Arzoo Malik is calling for a Holy War through Jihad and martyrdom:
“This is all jihad, this is all ibada, and this is all counted for by Allah. How committed am I to this? What am I willing to sacrifice for this noble cause?”
🔗 Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby)
@CherokeeOwl 🦉
@BrettColdwell
🇺🇸 One good eye = three good teeth. This woman said she would assassinate President Trump and claimed she would target members of the Trump family one by one. She also threatened Elon Musk and made alarming comments about the Pentagon.
She has multiple accounts across social media, including one with more than 30,000 followers.
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May 20, 2026 EST
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