US top Middle East commander visits deployed aircraft carrier, and other Mideast news

Sailors and Marines line the deck of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as it deploys from San Diego, Jan. 3, 2021. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, File) By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 9:53 AM MESZ, August 16, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a 10-day tour in the region that concluded on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said. Israel said its strikes in southern Lebanon, which killed at least 11 people, targeted two Hezbollah commanders. And a Hamas delegation is in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials. Here’s a look at the latest developments on Sunday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Adm. Cooper visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed aircraft carrier. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Extended deployments of carriers – which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board – have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members. In rejecting Trump’s Gaza plan, Netanyahu reprises a balancing act he has mastered 2 MIN READ 411 Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon kill 11 people in another test to truce 3 MIN READ 20 Possible Strait of Hormuz deal, a large attack in Yemen and other Mideast news 3 MIN READ 20 “History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday. Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement. Israel targets two Hezbollah commanders in Saturday’s strikes Israel’s military said it targeted two Hezbollah commanders in strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, in the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect in June. Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said at least 11 people were killed in two strikes – one on a home on the edge of Ansar village where seven people died, and another on the village of Deir al-Zahrani, where four were killed. Israel’s military said early on Sunday morning that the latter strike killed Abu Hassan Alaa, whom it described as a “senior commander” for Hezbollah who had taken part in attacks against Israel’s soldiers in southern Lebanon as well as led militants who targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians over several years. Earlier, Israel’s military had said the strike on Ansar killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, whom it described as a battalion commander with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force unit. The military said Haj Hassan’s family was with him, but emphasized that the family was not targeted. The United States has been mediating talks between Israel and the Lebanese government. On Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam criticized Israel’s airstrikes. The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli soldiers inside Lebanon, seriously wounding three. It added the military responded by striking the Hezbollah headquarters, which ordered the attack, learning only later that Hezbollah “deliberately put civilians” in that military compound. Hamas delegation is in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks A Hamas delegation, chaired by the group’s leader Khalil al-Hayya, is in Cairo Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials, the group said. The talks come as mediators push for the implementation of a roadmap to move forward with U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area as well as handing over power to Palestinian technocrats. Israel’s Netanyahu has rejected Trump’s latest plan to advance the stalled ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60% of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed — something the militant group controlling the other 40% has long resisted. It wasn’t immediately clear whether al-Hayya would meet with Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner, the Board of Peace’s high representative Nickolay Mladenov, or executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who are scheduled to travel to Israel and Egypt this week. Qatar’s armed forces captured and are holding three Iranian pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed, the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff said. Qatar, however, denied it. Iran’s state TV reported on Sunday that the committee’s commander responded by urging Qatar to allow Iranian Air Force experts to conduct a field investigation. Saturday’s statement alleged that Qatar had not allowed the pilots to meet or communicate with families or Iranian officials handling their cases. A spokesperson with Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed Al Ansari, denied the claims and indicated on X that the pilots had been shot down and that Qatar’s search and rescue teams found the remains of one.