Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, breaching the site's decades-old status quo as he marked a Jewish day of mourning.

The visit coincided with Tisha B'Av, the Jewish fasting day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which is being observed from Wednesday night through Thursday this year.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Yemen's Houthi rebels with "major military punishment" after they launched missile and drone strikes on oil tankers in the Red Sea.

"The U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis themselves" should the rebels launch further attacks, Trump said on his Truth Social network.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said an agreement being reached with Saudi Arabia for a civilian nuclear program requires the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.

In a post on social media, the Republican president said the deal doesn’t allow for enrichment of uranium.

The Houthi rebels' threat to blockade Saudi Arabia has the potential to widen the Iran war and further disrupt global oil supplies and international trade.

The Iran-backed rebels say they have closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping in retaliation for the kingdom's blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sanaa. The Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing fires to break out on both.

The Jordanian and Kuwaiti militaries reported intercepting fresh salvos of Iranian missiles and drones on Thursday.

Jordan said it had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, as Tehran responded to U.S. airstrikes by hitting Washington's allies in the region.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have forged a new agreement that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman formally signed the nuclear cooperation agreement, known as a "123 agreement," alongside what the Trump administration described as a "bilateral safeguards agreement."

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the U.S. military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran as the two countries vie for control of vital shipping lanes.

The Houthi attack in the Red Sea threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy, sending prices for fuel and other goods surging across the world. With the standoff in the Gulf deepening, there were no signs of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

Iran again denied the existence of any secret nuclear complex at Kolang mountain on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to strike the site in the center of the country.

Gaza's civil defense agency and witnesses said Israeli strikes killed 12 people, including a family of six, in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday.

Dubai will offer more than $800 worth of discounts and deals to residents who bring friends and family to visit, the emirate's media office said on Wednesday, as months of war have battered its tourism sector.