The Pentagon evaluated increasing its Middle East naval presence beyond the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops already stationed in the region

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The joint military campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran has been ongoing since February 2026

The United States military deployed the Active Denial System to Afghanistan in 2010 but declined to use the weapon during active combat operations

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank surged during the October 2026 olive harvest, prompting U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio to call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to crack down on violence

Rabbis for Human Rights organized around 80 volunteers, including 33 U.S. citizens alongside British, Canadian, and Israeli participants, to provide protective solidarity for Palestinian farmers facing settler violence

Israeli military and police forces detained U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander and approximately 80 volunteers on October 21, 2026 while they harvested olives alongside Palestinian farmers near Nahalin, West Bank

Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller and ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, traveled to the West Bank as part of the Protect the Harvest coalition after vocal criticism of Israel's military operations in Gaza

Israeli forces informed the volunteer group of roughly 80 people detained near Nahalin that they had entered a closed military zone before taking them to a police station in an Israeli settlement on two separate buses

Brad Lander was released from Israeli military custody with a warning because of his public profile as a U.S. congressional candidate, while dozens of other volunteers remained held at a police station

U.S. officials stated that Iran increased attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz to raise global oil prices and pressure President Donald Trump before U.S. midterm elections.

The White House ordered U.S. Central Command to pause military strikes against Iranian anti-ship missile launchers and drone positions near the Strait of Hormuz to avoid escalation before U.S. midterm elections.

The U.S. naval blockade has cost Iran an estimated $25 billion in lost crude oil export revenue since the war began.

Acting Director Anton Goodman of Rabbis for Human Rights stated that the volunteer group detained near Nahalin could not have known the area was a closed military zone prior to arriving and had offered to leave peacefully

Israel Defense Forces officials stated on October 21, 2026 that the local landowner near Nehalim was provided contact information to coordinate the olive harvest near Nehalim at a later date

An American photojournalist for the Washington Post was beaten by Israeli settlers on October 16, 2026 while covering a West Bank olive harvest, and European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked the following day

The Israel Defense Forces stated that conducting an olive harvest near an Israeli community requires prior coordination for safety reasons, describing the presence of Brad Lander's group near Nehalim as an uncoordinated harvest posing security risks

Israeli authorities stated that security forces were actively facilitating authorized, safe olive harvests across the West Bank region while carrying out ongoing defensive and counterterrorism missions

T'ruah chief executive Rabbi Jill Jacobs stated that police made no formal accusations against the roughly 80 volunteers detained near Nahalin while holding them inside and outside a West Bank settlement police station

The United States launched a retaliatory naval blockade targeting Iran-linked shipping in April 2026 following an Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper stated that U.S. forces have helped escort and usher out more than one billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Joint Task Force Gold deputy commander Col. Kevin Stonerook stated the task force was assigned a new mission set focused exclusively on coordinating defensive cyber warfare capabilities for Golden Dome against adversary cyberattacks, rather than offensive operations.