Tensions between the US and Iran continue to rise as both countries push contradictory narratives amid Strait of Hormuz crisis.

“Jonathan Pollard is positioning himself on the hard right, advocating full military independence, the forced removal of Palestinians from Gaza, and Israeli resettlement there, while attacking Netanyahu from the right as insufficiently tough,” Barak Sella, senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, told Military.com.

Israel has expanded its control of Gazan territory and is considering more intense military action, further squeezing the war-torn enclave.

Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst who served 30 years for spying for Israel, says he will run in upcoming Israeli elections.

Twelve U.S. Democratic Senators have asked the U.S. Central Command about coordination with Israel on evacuation zones in Lebanon and Iran.

Tense relations soured further after Ukraine accused Israel of buying grain harvested by Russia in occupied territory. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran have grown closer.

The Israeli strike, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted a senior Hezbollah commander, is the first to hit Beirut's suburbs since the April ceasefire.

Israel wants Iran to stop enrichment, dismantle underground nuclear sites, restrict missiles, and cut ties to Hamas and Hezbollah, experts say.

Thousands of marchers gathered in the streets, in the shadow of the superyachts parked along the waterfront.