Gnosly

The municipality of Houla in southern Lebanon accused Israeli forces of systematically destroying public facilities in border villages and highlighted the torching of a government hospital. Israeli soldiers also destroyed Houla’s official school and daycare centre previously. It called the latest incident – the burning of Mays al-Jabal’s government hospital – a “flagrant violation of the sanctity of public institutions”, state-run National News Agency reported. The municipality called on the Lebanese state, the United Nations, and international humanitarian organisations to hold those responsible to account. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli troops set fire to the Mays al-Jabal hospital on Friday after occupying the building and using it as a military post, describing the act as a war crime. The facility had already been put out of service by Israeli strikes in October 2024 and was undergoing reconstruction.

Oil Minister Bassem Mohammad Khadeer says the majority of oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz belong to Iraq. Iraq managed to export four million barrels of oil in a single day in September, Kadeer said, adding the daily average this month stands at 2.6 million barrels a day. At the beginning of September, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “at least 10 million barrels” were passing through the strait each day. Before the US-Israel attack on Iran, an estimated 20 million barrels of oil transited Hormuz daily. Control of the strait is a major stumbling block in efforts to draw the US war on Iran to a close.

ANZ: “ #Crude #oil prices in China are rising disproportionately higher as sources of crude become increasingly tight for the world’s biggest consumer. It has traditionally sources most of its crude from the Middle East, in particular Iran. With the disruptions in the region, China is being forced to source cargoes from less traditional sources. This has seen the premium for crude in Shanghai against Brent surge to a record high of nearly USD20/bbl in recent weeks.”