U.S. embassies across the Middle East urged Americans to prepare for departure on Saturday as Iranian attacks spread beyond traditional flashpoints, with drone strikes hitting Kuwait and projectiles targeting tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The warnings came as Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least four people following Hamas's announcement that it would disarm under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire — a potential breakthrough undermined by Iran's widening campaign of regional aggression.
The embassies said the security environment remained complex because of the "potential for unforeseen escalation" and warned that travel could be disrupted. They told Americans in the Middle East to exercise caution and heightened vigilance, and said those planning trips should "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region." The messages cited what they described as Iran's recent decisions to attack areas in the region without warning or provocation and to expand attacks to areas not previously targeted, such as Egypt.
Iran's Expanding Threat
Kuwait's military confirmed 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 reported 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. 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that military action against Iran would continue for some time during a meeting with members of his Cabinet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday. He said the United States would hit Iran "very hard" until they can't take it anymore. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt 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."
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department issued new security alerts for Americans in Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, urging heightened caution because of escalating tensions with Iran. The warnings told U.S. citizens to prepare for possible flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures and other travel disruptions.
Hamas Disarmament Pledge Meets Israeli Skepticism
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 on Saturday that it had struck Hamas targets across the territory and dismantled five Hamas storage facilities. Hamas had confirmed Friday that it would disarm in a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza, though major obstacles remained. Israel had not officially commented on the Hamas deal, which was part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced less than one year ago in October 2025. 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.
Regional Proxy Networks Expand Pressure
Elsewhere in the region, 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. 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:
Iran's decision to expand attacks beyond traditional theaters — hitting Kuwait, threatening Egypt, and disrupting global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — reveals the strategic challenge facing democracies in the region. The regime's willingness to violate a memorandum of understanding signed less than a month ago, kill American soldiers, and attack commercial vessels demonstrates why Israeli caution about territorial concessions without ironclad security guarantees is grounded in regional reality, not paranoia. Hamas's pledge to disarm, if genuine, would represent a significant shift — but the group's history of breaking ceasefires and rearming under international cover makes verification mechanisms essential. Meanwhile, Iran's proxy networks — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen — continue to operate as extensions of Tehran's regional ambitions, creating multiple fronts that stretch Israeli and U.S. resources. The upcoming Rome talks on Lebanon and the fragile Gaza ceasefire framework both hinge on the same unresolved question: whether armed groups backed by Iran will genuinely disarm, or whether diplomatic agreements will simply provide cover for rearmament and the next round of conflict.