The British government has stated that Jordan’s historical custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites must be respected. In a statement to Middle East Eye, a Foreign Office spokesperson said the UK values Jordan’s important role as custodian and emphasized that the existing historical status quo at these sites must be maintained. This marks the first official reaffirmation of support for Jordan’s role following reports of a joint US-Israel plan to alter the arrangement.

According to Middle East Eye, the alleged plan aims to remove the Jordanian royal family’s long-standing custodianship over Al-Aqsa Mosque, replacing it with an Israeli-established body that would designate the site as a multi-faith center. The report named Jared Kushner and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee as key backers. Independent MP Shaukat Adam wrote to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper expressing constituents’ anger and concern over the reports and asking whether the UK had raised the issue with Israel and the US.

The UK’s official policy recognizes Jordan’s custodianship of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites. The government has also recently toughened its criticism of Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and is considering restrictions on imports from those settlements.

Twenty-eight individuals remain stranded in no-man’s-land along the Bangabari border in Gomastapur upazila of Chapainawabganj after being pushed by India’s Border Security Force (BSF). The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) confirmed that the group, consisting of 12 men, 10 women, and 6 children, has been stuck since early Thursday. They are currently about 50 yards inside the Indian side of the zero line. Despite a flag meeting between BGB and BSF commanders, the BSF has not yet taken them back or communicated any decision.

Local residents reported that the BSF attempted to force the group into Bangladesh at night, but BGB resisted. The stranded people are enduring severe hardship under open skies, facing heat and rain without food or shelter. Locals condemned the BSF’s actions as inhumane and expressed solidarity with BGB’s stance. BGB’s Rajshahi Sector Commander Colonel Kamal Hossain visited the area and stated that the force remains on high alert to prevent any push-in attempts.

The situation remains unresolved as the 28 people continue to suffer in no-man’s-land, awaiting a decision from Indian authorities.

An explosion occurred at Oman’s Mina Al Fahal oil terminal, leading to a suspension of operations at the country’s main crude export facility. According to a Reuters report citing sources, the blast took place near the terminal’s Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) berth, prompting authorities to stop oil loading activities.

Sources indicated that the explosion likely resulted from a suspected drone attack between SBM 1 and SBM 2 berths, though the exact timing of the incident remains unclear. Following the explosion, several supertankers were reportedly anchored outside the port area, suggesting a temporary disruption in maritime operations.

The incident has raised immediate operational concerns for Oman’s oil export infrastructure, though no further details on damage assessment or restoration timelines were available from the report.

The United States has issued a security alert for its citizens residing in various Middle Eastern countries, with special emphasis on Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The advisory highlights a complex security environment caused by ongoing tensions and potential conflicts, particularly in light of Israel’s operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

According to a message posted on the social media platform X by the US Embassy in Jerusalem, the region remains highly volatile and conditions may change rapidly. Embassies from Jerusalem to Riyadh have urged US citizens to enroll in the Smart Traveler Program, avoid large gatherings, stay updated with news, and remain cautious around US facilities.

The alert advises citizens to be aware of the nearest shelter locations in case of conflict but does not call for any evacuations. It emphasizes precautionary measures only, reflecting heightened concern over the evolving security situation in the region.

The Israeli military has reported that 63 additional soldiers were injured in southern Lebanon over the past four days. According to the military’s data, since March 2 a total of 27 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,243 injured in the ongoing operations. The clashes continue despite recent diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, has rejected a ceasefire proposal that had been agreed upon between Lebanon and Israel under U.S. mediation. The group’s leader, Naim Qassem, announced the rejection, while Israel has also refused to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. The situation has complicated U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to end hostilities and promote peace with Tehran.

Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a precondition for any agreement with Washington and warned that continued Israeli attacks could draw it directly into the conflict. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Israeli forces will not retreat or halt operations in southern Lebanon.

An opinion essay published in the Bangladeshi outlet *Amar Desh* on June 5, 2026, draws parallels between wartime destruction and current assaults on academic institutions. It highlights reports of Israeli strikes on Iranian universities, including Sharif University of Technology and others, describing them as deliberate efforts to erase a nation’s intellectual and cultural continuity. The piece cites Columbia University professor Hamid Dabashi’s argument that such attacks represent a systematic destruction of knowledge, or “epistemicide,” targeting Iran’s centuries-old scholarly tradition.

The article also connects these events to the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices on U.S. campuses, where police interventions and administrative pressures have curtailed student protests. It argues that both the bombings in the Middle East and the silencing in American universities serve the same purpose—weakening spaces of free inquiry and dissent. The author warns that this normalization of violence and censorship against universities signals a moral decline, where societies grow indifferent to the destruction of knowledge and the erosion of intellectual freedom.

The essay concludes that the fate of universities now symbolizes a broader struggle between knowledge and power, questioning whether humanity will defend learning or succumb to fear and conformity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a renewed effort to end the ongoing war. In an open letter addressed to Putin, Zelensky stated that peace can only be achieved through direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia. According to the Ukrainian president’s office, copies of the letter were also sent to the United States and several other countries.

Zelensky emphasized that with U.S. attention currently focused on the Iran crisis, Europe should not wait for the war in Ukraine to regain prominence in global discussions. He called for a full ceasefire to be implemented during any talks, describing it as a normal and internationally accepted practice. The Ukrainian leader also suggested setting a specific date for the meeting and noted that countries such as Switzerland, Turkey, and those in the Arab world have extensive experience in hosting peace discussions.

In his message to Putin, Zelensky urged him not to fear choosing a path out of the war, calling it the most important decision before him.

An Israeli soldier was killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack in southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon. The victim, Captain Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, was from Mishmar Hashiva and served in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade. The strike targeted an Israeli tank positioned north of the Litani River.

Following the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had launched air and artillery strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in the area. The incident occurred just one day after Jerusalem and Beirut had agreed to a ceasefire plan. Under that plan, Hezbollah was to halt attacks, and the Lebanese army would deploy in several test zones in southern Lebanon where neither Hezbollah fighters nor IDF troops would be present.

The timing of the attack raises questions about the durability of the newly agreed ceasefire arrangement between the two sides.

At least 12 people were killed and more than 30 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian police reports released on Thursday. The strikes hit multiple regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Sumy. In Donetsk, bomb and drone attacks killed five and injured 11, damaging 16 residential buildings and 42 civilian facilities. Additional casualties were reported in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and the Shostka district of Sumy.

The Ukrainian police press service stated that the attacks caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, including apartment buildings and vehicles. The violence comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky observed a day of mourning for at least 707 children killed since the war began more than four years ago.

The continued strikes highlight the persistent intensity of the conflict, which has led to widespread civilian suffering and destruction across multiple Ukrainian regions.

Israel’s Supreme Court has annulled a government ban that prevented representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting Palestinian prisoners. The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, stated that by blocking such visits, the government had violated both Israeli and international law. The court ordered the immediate cancellation of the policy.

The restriction had been imposed by Israeli authorities in October 2023, following the start of the Gaza war, and remained in effect for more than two years. Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, in her main opinion, noted that despite repeated opportunities, the government failed to present any valid legal justification for maintaining the ban.

The decision came in response to petitions filed by several human rights organizations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, HaMoked, and Gisha. The ruling marks a significant legal setback for the government’s wartime policies regarding detainee access.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that northern Israel would not remain safe if Israeli attacks on Lebanon persist. In a statement reported on June 4, 2026, he said that as long as Lebanese civilians and border villages face Israeli military strikes, the areas across the border in Israel will also be under threat.

Qassem rejected any attempt to link Hezbollah’s military presence to broader political negotiations. He stated that connecting the group’s deployment to issues such as ceasefire or Israeli troop withdrawal is unacceptable. According to him, Hezbollah will not accept any political pressure or conditional arrangements regarding its role or positioning.

The remarks came amid rising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, which have recently intensified. The report noted that Israel had not issued an immediate response to Qassem’s comments.

India extended a red-carpet welcome to Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday during her official visit to New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Rodríguez aimed at strengthening commercial relations between the energy-dependent India and the oil-exporting South American nation. Rodríguez, who assumed leadership after former socialist president Nicolás Maduro was detained by U.S. forces in January, leads a country that holds about 17 percent of the world’s crude oil reserves.

Before the meeting, Rodríguez and Modi exchanged greetings outside Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the discussions would further reinforce cooperation between the two countries. Rodríguez’s visit comes as India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, seeks to expand crude imports from Venezuela amid supply disruptions caused by conflict in the Middle East.

Upon her arrival in India on Wednesday, Rodríguez expressed optimism about having productive discussions and said she aimed to explore areas of cooperation that would help meet the urgent needs of the Venezuelan people.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the past 24 hours have killed 11 people and injured 32 others, according to a statement from Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry said that many victims remain trapped under rubble or stranded on roadsides, where ambulances and civil defense teams have been unable to reach them.

Since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 947 people and injured 2,935, while 781 bodies have been recovered from the ruins across the Gaza Strip. The ongoing violence continues to strain emergency services and worsen humanitarian conditions in the enclave.

A Gaza-based human rights group, Ad-Damir, reported that more than 9,500 Palestinians have gone missing since Israeli assaults began in October 2023, including around 4,700 women and children, highlighting the scale of the crisis.

At least three people were killed and seven others injured in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-controlled Crimea, according to Moscow-backed local authorities on Thursday. The strike occurred in Simferopol, where several non-residential buildings were hit. Emergency services were deployed to the site, said Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea’s administration.

The attack came a day after Ukraine targeted fuel and military facilities in Russia’s St. Petersburg, where the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was underway. The event was expected to host around 20,000 delegates from 130 countries, with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled to deliver a keynote speech on Friday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned of a “systematic” response to Ukraine’s strikes. Black smoke was seen over St. Petersburg following Wednesday’s attack, visible even from the forum venue.

A Gaza-based human rights organization, Ad-Dameer, has reported that more than 9,500 Palestinians have gone missing in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s attacks began in October 2023. The group’s report, released on June 4, 2026, states that around 4,700 of the missing are women and children. It estimates that about 8,100 people may be trapped under rubble, while 250 others disappeared near aid distribution centers. Additionally, over 800 people were detained at Israeli military checkpoints during evacuations from northern to southern Gaza, with no information on their current whereabouts.

The report also notes that the fate of 350 individuals who entered Israel on October 7, 2023, remains unknown. Ad-Dameer described the situation as one of the most complex and painful humanitarian crises caused by the ongoing war. The organization called for urgent international intervention to release Palestinian detainees, return the bodies of the dead, and establish a genetic database to identify the missing.

The report emphasized that these figures are based solely on Ad-Dameer’s findings, and no official response from Israeli authorities was mentioned.