Saudi Arabia welcomed the agreement between Washington and Tehran to halt military operations and begin negotiations over a 60-day period aimed at reaching a permanent settlement.

Kuwait also welcomed the deal, which includes an immediate cessation of military operations and guarantees freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route.

Kuwait praised mediation efforts by Pakistan and Qatar, along with other countries involved in facilitating the agreement, and called for disputes to be addressed through dialogue, mutual respect and non-interference.

Qatar said the agreement could help bring a lasting end to military operations and reaffirmed its support for diplomacy as the preferred method of resolving conflicts.

Egypt and Lebanon also welcomed the development, saying it could help reduce regional tensions and create momentum for broader negotiations.

Egypt described the agreement as an important step toward restoring regional and international stability and said it hoped the end of the conflict would support wider diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the agreement could contribute to regional security and stability, while praising mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Türkiye also described the deal as a significant development that could strengthen peace and stability across the region.

The Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed the signing of the memorandum and expressed hope that it would lead to a lasting agreement and greater regional security.

Jordan said the start of negotiations toward a permanent settlement was an important step for restoring regional and international security.

The United States and Iran announced the agreement after more than three months of conflict. US President Donald Trump said he had authorized an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

Details of the agreement were not immediately released, while further negotiations, including discussions related to Iran’s nuclear program, are expected to continue.

Syria’s Ministry of Awqaf said two aircraft carrying nearly 700 Syrian pilgrims from Madinah were diverted to Amman after airspace disruptions linked to the latest exchange of attacks between Iran and Israel.

The ministry said the passengers were transferred by bus from Jordan to Syria, with each vehicle carrying between 35 and 40 pilgrims destined for Damascus and Aleppo.

The disruption followed temporary airspace closures by both Syria and Iraq after Iran launched missiles toward Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes overnight. Iraqi authorities initially announced a 72-hour closure of national airspace on Sunday before later reopening it. Despite the reopening, several commercial flights across the region remained canceled.

The delays underscore the continuing impact of the regional conflict on civilian aviation networks across the Middle East, where airlines have repeatedly altered routes or suspended services because of security concerns.

Syrian authorities said approximately 24,500 Syrians participated in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah, which concluded in late May.

The first group of returning pilgrims arrived in Damascus last week aboard a Syrian Airlines flight from Jeddah carrying 134 passengers, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States has increasingly affected regional transportation and aviation infrastructure, forcing airlines and authorities to adjust operations amid recurring missile, drone and airstrike activity across the Middle East.

The State Security Court said it unanimously issued a final ruling against the defendant, finding him guilty of assaulting law enforcement personnel tasked with enforcing narcotics laws, resulting in the deaths of three officers and injuries to another.

According to the court’s statement, the accused was convicted on multiple charges related to the attack and received the harshest penalty available under Jordanian law, a sentence of capital punishment.

The case stems from a March 18 security operation conducted by Jordan’s Anti-Narcotics Department. During the raid, three officers were killed and a fourth was wounded before authorities arrested the suspect and seized quantities of drugs and weapons, according to the Public Security Directorate.

While Jordan’s legal system continues to permit capital punishment, executions have effectively been suspended for years. The last known executions were carried out in 2017, when authorities hanged 15 convicted prisoners, including 10 found guilty of terrorism-related offenses.

The ruling comes as Jordan faces mounting challenges linked to drug trafficking and cross-border smuggling. Authorities have significantly increased enforcement efforts in recent years amid concerns over the kingdom’s role as a transit route for narcotics destined for regional markets.

Jordanian officials say the vast majority of drugs seized within the country are intended for smuggling beyond its borders rather than domestic consumption. Government figures show that security agencies arrested more than 38,000 individuals last year in over 25,000 cases involving drug use, trafficking and smuggling.

Security forces have also stepped up operations along Jordan’s lengthy frontier with Syria, where the military regularly reports intercepting attempts to smuggle narcotics, particularly captagon pills, into or through the kingdom.

Captagon trafficking expanded significantly during the Syrian conflict and became one of the region’s most lucrative illicit trades during the rule of former Syrian president Bashar Assad. Jordan has repeatedly cited drug smuggling as a major national security concern and has intensified cooperation between military and law enforcement agencies to curb the flow of narcotics.

The court’s decision reflects the increasingly hard-line approach adopted by Jordanian authorities toward drug-related crimes, particularly cases involving violence against security personnel engaged in counter-narcotics operations.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the updated guidance is expected to encourage more European visitors and support the tourism sector, a key pillar of Jordan’s economy.

The UK Embassy in Amman also welcomed the return of British tourists and business travelers, while advising visitors to check official travel guidance before their trips.

Jordan is home to major attractions including Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea. Officials said tourism facilities across the country are fully prepared to receive visitors despite regional tensions that have affected travel across the Middle East.

Major General Avi Bluth, commander of the Israeli military’s Central Command, signed the implementing order required to enforce the legislation in the West Bank, according to Israeli media reports.

The measure follows legislation passed by the Knesset in March authorizing capital punishment for Palestinians convicted of attacks resulting in the deaths of Israeli citizens.

Under the military order, courts handling such cases must impose the death penalty as the default sentence unless judges determine that unspecified “special circumstances” justify life imprisonment instead.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that provisions within the legislation make its application overwhelmingly directed at Palestinians. The law requires proof that the accused acted with intent to undermine the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the territory, conditions critics say are unlikely to be applied to Jewish Israeli suspects.

The legislation has prompted legal and diplomatic criticism amid heightened tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza Strip.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt jointly condemned the measure, warning that it entrenched discriminatory policies against Palestinians.

In a joint statement, the countries described the law as a dangerous escalation and accused Israel of advancing practices amounting to apartheid while denying Palestinians’ rights in the occupied territories.
The ministers also cited what they called credible reports of abuses against Palestinian detainees, including torture, starvation and denial of basic rights, arguing the death penalty law risked intensifying existing tensions.

Israeli authorities have defended the legislation as a counterterrorism measure intended to deter attacks against civilians.

The Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) said the reduction would lower the number of Syrians receiving emergency food aid from 1.3 million people to 650,000. The agency said 7.2 million people in Syria continue to face acute food insecurity even after conditions stabilized following the end of the country’s civil war.

WFP said the cuts were driven entirely by financial constraints rather than improving humanitarian conditions. The agency added that it required $189 million over the next six months to maintain and restore assistance operations in Syria.

“The reduction in WFP’s assistance is driven solely by funding constraints, not by a decrease in needs,” Marianne Ward, WFP director in Syria, said in a statement issued by the agency.

Ward described the current period as a fragile stage in Syria’s recovery, warning that the withdrawal of food assistance would remove a critical safety net for vulnerable communities.

As part of its food support operations, WFP said it had been supplying fortified wheat flour to more than 300 bakeries across Syria under a bread subsidy initiative designed to keep staple food prices affordable for low-income families.

“The bread subsidy program has been a vital lifeline, keeping this staple food affordable,” the agency said.
The funding shortfall is also affecting Syrian refugees in neighboring countries including Jordan and Lebanon, WFP said, as regional humanitarian programs face mounting financial pressure amid rising living costs and prolonged displacement.

“Across the region, vulnerable families are facing the cumulative effects of prolonged crises, rising costs, and shrinking assistance,” Samer Abdeljaber, WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, said in the statement.

International humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that donor fatigue and competing global crises are straining relief operations in Syria and across the wider Middle East, where millions remain dependent on food assistance more than a decade after conflict erupted.

Syrian state TV, citing local sources, said the Jordanian army had likely targeted a headquarters in the village of Shahba that contained weapons and narcotics controlled by rebel groups in the Druze-majority province of Sweida, where large areas remain outside the full control of Damascus.

The report said the strike focused on facilities allegedly used for storing drugs and arms, reflecting ongoing concerns over smuggling routes operating through southern Syria toward Jordan and the wider Gulf region.

In a separate statement, the Jordanian army confirmed it had carried out what it described as a “deterrent operation” against multiple locations used by arms and drug traffickers along the kingdom’s northern border.It did not specify the exact sites targeted or provide casualty figures.

Local sources told an AFP correspondent that a series of airstrikes struck at least five locations, including warehouses in the town of Arman, another area in southern Syria believed to be linked to trafficking activity.

Jordan has repeatedly accused armed groups and smuggling networks operating in southern Syria of using the border region to move large quantities of narcotics, particularly captagon, as well as weapons into Jordanian territory.

Amman has increasingly adopted a more aggressive military posture in recent years, including cross-border raids and airstrikes, arguing that the scale of trafficking has become a national security threat.Sweida province, with its complex tribal dynamics and limited central state authority, has remained a sensitive zone for both Syrian authorities and neighboring Jordan, particularly as security vacuums have enabled illicit trade networks to expand.

The latest strikes come amid wider regional efforts to stabilize southern Syria while containing the spread of organized smuggling operations linked to armed factions and local militias.

Zelensky has conducted a series of high-level visits to Gulf and regional states, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Syria, positioning Kyiv as a provider of security expertise in a region where influence has often tilted toward Russia.

Analysts say Ukraine’s battlefield experience, particularly in countering Iranian-designed drones used by Russian forces, has enabled it to offer specialized anti-drone capabilities abroad.

Ukrainian officials said more than 200 experts were deployed to multiple countries in response to escalating drone activity during the regional conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Moscow was reacting negatively to Kyiv’s expanding ties in the Gulf, accusing Russia and Iran of spreading disinformation aimed at undermining Ukraine’s role in the region.

The diplomatic push marks a shift from 2022, when Kyiv relied heavily on Western partners for military assistance following Russia’s invasion. The proliferation of drone warfare has since allowed Ukraine to develop niche capabilities that are now in demand internationally.

While details of the security agreements remain undisclosed, analysts say Ukraine may seek financial backing from Gulf states to scale its defense technologies. Some observers suggest Kyiv could leverage these partnerships to secure investment and sustain its military innovation sector.

However, analysts caution that the outreach has yet to produce a strategic breakthrough. Many Middle Eastern states have maintained balanced relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, avoiding sanctions on Russia while positioning themselves as mediators in the conflict.

The durability of Ukraine’s expanded role may also depend on the trajectory of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and continued demand for its defense capabilities in the region.

The legislation, approved earlier this week, allows for capital punishment to be applied as a default sentence for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted of carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis, according to official statements and media reports.

MWL Secretary-General Mohammed Al-Issa said the measure reflects continued disregard for the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people, citing concerns over what he described as repression, racial discrimination and inhumane treatment of detainees.

Under the legal framework, Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to military courts, while Israeli citizens, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, are tried in civilian courts. Critics say the structure effectively results in unequal application of the death penalty.

The MWL expressed support for similar positions taken by foreign ministers from several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The law has added to international scrutiny of Israel’s legal and security policies in the occupied territories, particularly regarding the treatment of Palestinians within differing judicial systems.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt said they supported steps announced by Hamas, including the release of hostages — alive or deceased — and the group’s readiness to transfer administration of Gaza to a transitional Palestinian committee of independent technocrats.

The ministers also endorsed President Trump’s call on Israel to halt its military campaign and begin implementing an exchange agreement linked to the proposal. They described the US leader’s commitment to peace as “an opportunity to achieve a ceasefire and address the critical conditions facing the people of Gaza”.

The ministers urged the launch of immediate negotiations to agree on practical mechanisms for implementing the plan. They stressed the need for unrestricted humanitarian aid deliveries, the prevention of Palestinian displacement, and guarantees for the security of civilians.

The joint statement also called for the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and efforts to unify governance across Gaza and the West Bank.

The ministers underlined that any agreement must include a security mechanism to protect all sides, ensure a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and pave the way for reconstruction. They reiterated support for a “just peace” based on the two-state solution.

The statement marks a rare moment of regional alignment on Gaza’s future, though much depends on whether the proposal gains traction with Israel and key international stakeholders.