Morning update

Live Blog Update| War on Iran 26 August 2026 07:23 BST Good morning Middle East Eye readers, Here are the latest developments from across the region: US President Donald Trump sent an agreement to Congress on the civil nuclear energy deal with Saudi Arabia, maintaining that his position that the pact will only move forward if the kingdom joins the Abraham Accords and recognises Israel, a US official told Reuters on Tuesday. US Senator Chris Van Hollen has accused Trump of profiting from the war on Iran, describing it as "pure corruption". He said in a post on X that the US president "turned the White House into a pay-to-play casino" and "pocketed over a billion dollars" since returning to office. "While prices are going up for Americans, things couldn’t be going better for his stock portfolio," he added. Israel expelled Dutch representatives from a Gaza coordination centre after the Netherlands announced its decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar indicated that the representatives were also asked to leave Israel within a week. Israeli forces advanced into the village of Jumla in the Yarmouk Basin, located in Syria's Daraa province, according to Al Jazeera. The network also reported that the Israeli military launched an air strike targeting Kafr Rummana in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon. Reports of Israeli artillery shelling, explosions and strikes in southern Lebanon continued on early on Wednesday. Yemeni government forces said they repelled an attack by Houthi fighters in the south western province of Taiz, saying they killed at least eight. The military command said that clashes erupted in al-Safa, and it involved heavy exchanges of fire.