U.S. embassies across the Middle East urged Americans to consider leaving the region Saturday as Israeli strikes in Gaza destroyed medicine-storage warehouses near a hospital and killed at least two Palestinians, while President Donald Trump threatened continued military action against Iran and the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted by attacks on commercial shipping.
The warnings — issued to Americans in Israel, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — cited the "potential for unforeseen escalation" and told citizens to prepare for possible flight cancellations and temporary airspace closures. The embassies said the Iranian regime was unpredictable, pointing to what they described as recent decisions to attack areas in the region without warning or provocation and to expand attacks to areas not previously targeted, such as Egypt. Americans already in the region were told to consider departing or be prepared to depart should there be escalation, while those outside the Middle East were urged to "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region."
Civilian Impact in Gaza
In Gaza, intense Israeli strikes Friday night and Saturday killed at least four people in central and northern Gaza and wounded dozens more, according to local health officials. The strikes followed evacuation warnings by Israel's military, which said Saturday it had struck Hamas targets across the territory and dismantled five Hamas storage facilities. The destruction of medicine-storage warehouses near a hospital came as Gaza's healthcare system remained under severe strain.
The strikes occurred even as Hamas confirmed Friday it would disarm in what could be a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza, though major obstacles remained. Israel hasn't officially commented on the Hamas deal, which was part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced less than one year ago. That agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration, with Israel to withdraw and an International Stabilization Force to be deployed.
In a post on X Friday, Israeli far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir called the deal "unacceptable" and said the killings in Gaza must continue. "Israel must win," he said. Egypt, a key Gaza ceasefire mediator, lauded Hamas and other Palestinian groups for "their positive response" in the phased peace plan, Egyptian state-run media reported.
U.S. Pressure on Iran
Trump said Friday during a meeting with members of his Cabinet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland that "we just want to win" in Iran and signaled that U.S. military action would continue for some time. He said the United States would hit Iran "very hard" until they can't take it anymore. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Tehran had signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States on a truce last month but quickly "broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers." She said, "President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behavior to occur," and added, "Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way."
Regional Spillover
Kuwait's military said its forces were responding to drone attacks from Iran. Maj. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, spokesman for Kuwait's Defense Ministry, said the drones hit "a number of vital facilities," including a government structure in the country's north. He said there were no casualties. The British Navy said a tanker was struck and a separate explosion hit close to a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said an unknown projectile hit the vessel on Friday 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, damaging the vessel's engine room. The group said that on Saturday a large splash and an explosion were reported close to another tanker while it was sailing 21 nautical miles northwest of Khasab city. No casualties were reported in either incident.
Houthi rebels forced eight Saudi ships to reroute from the Bab el-Mandeb strait after the Iranian-backed rebels announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in the chokepoint. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a statement Friday that the vessels changed route to the Cape of Good Hope around Africa to avert the blockade.
Lebanon Tensions
In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces set off explosions Friday to destroy an underground tunnel network under the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle that Israel said had been used by Iran-backed Hezbollah militants as a command center. The 12th-century castle, also known as Al-Shaqif, was seized by Israeli forces in May and was recently added to UNESCO's World Heritage List over Israel's objections. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said the Israeli operation sent "negative messages" ahead of upcoming talks in Rome. Israeli and Lebanese negotiating teams are set to meet again there to continue hammering out a plan under which Israel would withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.
An Israeli army officer was moderately wounded during operational activity in southern Lebanon overnight into Saturday, Israel's military said. It wasn't immediately clear how the officer was wounded. There was no immediate comment from Lebanese authorities or Hezbollah. Thirty-eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel since that conflict reignited when Hezbollah fired at Israel shortly after the start of the Iran war.
Why This Matters:
The escalating regional crisis reveals how quickly diplomatic progress can unravel when military force takes precedence over negotiation. Hamas's offer to disarm represents a rare opening for ending the Gaza war, yet continued Israeli strikes — including the destruction of medical facilities — suggest political will for a ceasefire remains fragile. The U.S. evacuation warnings underscore the risk that localized conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon could merge with the broader U.S.-Iran confrontation, threatening civilian populations across multiple countries. The disruption of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb affects global energy markets and humanitarian supply chains. With thirty-eight Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon and an unknown toll of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the human cost continues to mount while diplomatic frameworks struggle to keep pace with military realities. The upcoming Rome talks on Lebanon and the stalled Gaza ceasefire both face the same obstacle: whether parties on all sides can prioritize long-term stability over short-term military gains.