Trump announces Gaza disarmament deal as US sanctions Iran's Mahan Air, Saudi leads Red Sea maritime alliance

Travellers flying to and from the UAE on Friday, July 31, are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport, with Etihad Airways and Air Arabia cancelling several services to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia due to operational reasons.

Emirates and flydubai have not announced any major changes to their flight schedules and continue to operate services as normal.

The latest disruptions come as tensions across the Middle East remain elevated. While commercial aviation across the UAE is largely operating normally, airlines continue to closely monitor the regional security situation and adjust operations where necessary.

Despite the renewed tensions, UAE airlines continue to operate at near-normal levels, although several routes remain affected by operational changes.

Hamas said Friday it agreed to a deal to end the war with Israel that included provisions addressing its weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

The group's disarmament has been one of the key sticking points in the advancement of a ceasefire deal that has been in place in Gaza since October.

President Donald Trump said late on Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, though many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory.

Neither Hamas nor Israel gave immediate indication that they had agreed.

The White House announcement comes nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire was signed.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” Trump said on social media.

“As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilisation Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbours.”

Iranian state media reported that the commercial oil tanker M/T Nora had successfully broken through the US naval blockade.

On Friday, however, US Central Command (CentCom) rejected the claim, saying the tanker had not breached the blockade. CentCom said US warships, hundreds of aircraft and thousands of American personnel remain deployed to enforce what it calls America's “steel wall” blockade around Iranian ports and coastal waters.

A successful tanker breakout would be more than a shipping story. It would be a powerful propaganda victory for Tehran — and a direct challenge to Washington's attempt to demonstrate that it controls maritime access to and from Iran. CentCom's position is blunt: the blockade remains intact. The command has previously reported intercepting or redirecting commercial vessels suspected of attempting to reach Iranian ports. Since the renewed US naval blockade against Iran came into effect on July 14, 2026, CentCom has said its troops redirected 20 commercial vessels, disabled two ships, and boarded two others.

The US Treasury Department announced early on Friday the imposition of sanctions on six entities and individuals across China, India, Russia and Iran for providing sales, logistics and commercial support to Mahan Air, the Iranian airline long accused of ferrying personnel, weapons and equipment for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted general sales agents for Mahan Air and other facilitators, aiming to disrupt what officials describe as the airline’s role in sustaining IRGC operations. Mahan Air has presented itself as a civilian carrier but has been under US sanctions for years over its ties to the IRGC, designated by Washington as a terrorist organisation.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that those providing financial services, logistics or commercial support to the IRGC or Mahan Air “are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise.” “Treasury will continue to identify them, expose them, and cut them off from the US financial system,” Bessent said.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had set up a maritime defence alliance to secure navigation around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The move comes after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said last week they were imposing a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and claimed attacks targeting Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and oil infrastructure in the kingdom.

The narrow maritime artery has been a critical waterway for delivering vast quantities of Saudi crude to the international market, after energy exports from the Gulf were largely choked off the US-Iranian standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi defence ministry issued a joint statement on behalf of the 14 countries in the alliance: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey and Yemen.

The ministry said the alliance was "aimed at enhancing maritime security, safeguarding freedom of navigation, securing international trade routes and energy supply lines and protecting shared maritime interests in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden".

The ministry said it had invited 51 countries and organisations to a meeting about the alliance in Riyadh on Thursday.

It said representatives of 43 countries and an EU delegation attended, of which 14 countries confirmed their support while others were in the process of doing so.

Tehran's forces have carried out frequent missile and drone attacks in the Middle East since the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire, raising renewed concerns about Washington's supply of the weapons needed to intercept them.

Highlighting the issue, the US military said it shot down multiple ballistic missiles fired by Tehran in an "attempted surprise attack" this week, following a deadly Iranian strike on American troops in Jordan earlier this month.

Some lawmakers have raised questions about whether the United States has sufficient munitions since early in the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes in late February before the fighting largely halted under an April ceasefire, only to resume in recent weeks.

"We have depleted our interceptors... which are, obviously, necessary to protect American troops," US Senator Chris Van Hollen said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"We are depleting these every day, despite the fact that we could face other potential conflicts around the world," the Democrat added.

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The US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on six individuals and companies it said were aiding Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that is accused of facilitating Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The new sanctions include a China-based individual, as well as companies in China, Russia, Iran and Indian-administered Kashmir.

"Those who provide financial services, logistics, or commercial support to the IRGC or Mahan Air are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement.

"Treasury will continue to identify them, expose them, and cut them off from the US financial system."

Mahan Air operates as a civilian airline offering domestic and international flights, but Washington says it also provides travel services to IRGC personnel and helps move weapons for the force.

Tehran has consistently said accusations against Mahan Air and state airline Iran Air are baseless, but that has not stopped the United States and its European allies from sanctioning them.

Thursday's sanctions also targeted DadeNegar, a Tehran-based company that is accused of having "solicited locations of American and Israeli equipment to support Iranian military targeting."

Day 151: GCC condemns renewed Iranian attacks on Kuwait, Jordan

Day 150: US, Saudi forces strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq

Day 149: Trump holds 'positive' talks with Zelenskyy, Netanyahu

Day 148: Saudi air defences foil drone attack on oil facilities

Day 147: Iran says military ready as Netanyahu heads to US

Day 146: Iran says it earned $11.5b in oil sales during the war

Day 145: US-Iran war escalates as Tehran targets US bases in Gulf