Trump Vows Continued Military Action Against Iran as Regional Tensions Escalate

President Donald Trump declared Friday that the United States would intensify military pressure on Iran until the regime capitulates, speaking at Camp David during a Cabinet meeting. Trump stated the administration aims to “win” in the conflict and indicated military operations would persist for an extended period, vowing to strike Iran “very hard” until officials there can no longer sustain the assault.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced the administration’s stance Friday evening, accusing Tehran of violating a memorandum of understanding signed last month by resuming attacks on commercial vessels and killing American personnel. Leavitt announced that Iran would face continued consequences until it returns to negotiations on terms the president deems acceptable.

Kuwait’s military reported Saturday that its forces engaged Iranian drone strikes targeting critical infrastructure, including a government facility in the nation’s north, though no casualties were sustained. The British Navy separately documented a tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman’s coast on Friday, with the vessel suffering engine room damage from an unknown projectile 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima.

A second incident Saturday near the strategic waterway involved a large explosion near a tanker 21 nautical miles northwest of Khasab city, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization. Iran has waged a sustained campaign targeting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz without authorization as tensions with Washington persist.

Israeli forces conducted intense strikes across central and northern Gaza on Friday night and Saturday, killing at least four people and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian health officials. The bombardment followed Hamas’s Friday confirmation that it would disarm as part of a potential resolution to the Gaza conflict, though significant hurdles remain before implementation.

The disarmament pledge emerged from a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal announced last October that required Hamas to lay down weapons and transfer authority to an independent Palestinian government, with Israel withdrawing and an international stabilization force deploying. Israeli far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the arrangement on social media Friday, demanding that military operations in Gaza continue and asserting that Israel must achieve total victory.

In other regional developments, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels forced eight Saudi vessels to alter course from the Bab el-Mandeb strait after announcing a blockade on Saudi shipping. The rebel military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, reported Friday that the ships rerouted around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to circumvent the closure.

Israeli forces detonated explosives Friday in southern Lebanon to demolish an underground tunnel network beneath the 12th-century Beaufort Castle, which Israel contends had served as a Hezbollah command center. The structure, seized by Israeli forces in May and recently inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List despite Israeli opposition, sits in a region that remains contested between Tel Aviv and Beirut.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun characterized the Israeli demolition operation as conveying “negative messages” ahead of scheduled negotiations in Rome between Israeli and Lebanese delegating teams. The talks aim to finalize withdrawal arrangements whereby Israel would exit southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.