Israel says it will hold off striking key Iranian natural gas field as war rattles energy markets

Israel pledged to refrain from more strikes on a key Iranian gas field after Iran intensified attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf raising the stakes in a war that has sent shock waves through energy markets and the global economy Global fuel supplies were already under pressure because of Irans stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the worlds oil is transportedThe Islamic Republics retaliation for Israels attack on its South Pars gas field sent fuel prices soaring even higher and risked drawing Irans Arab neighbors directly into the conflict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that at the request of President Donald Trump Israel will hold off on any further attacks on the offshore gas fieldSince the US and Israel launched the war on February 28 Irans top leaders have been killed in airstrikes and the countrys military capabilities have been severely degraded Netanyahu said in a televised address that Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles although he did not provide evidenceStill Iran now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the wars opening salvo remains capable of missile and drone attacks targeting its Gulf Arab neighbors Underscoring the danger to ships in the region a vessel was set ablaze off the United Arab Emirates coast and another was damaged off Qatar Efforts to bypass the strait were also under pressure An Iranian drone hit a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea which the country had hoped to use as an alternative routeBrent crude oil the international standard briefly surged above USD 119 a barrel up more than 60 per cent since the war started The European benchmark for natural gas prices also rose sharply and has roughly doubled in the past monthUN Security Council meets over Irans attacks on Gulf statesThe United Nations Security Council held an urgent closed meeting Thursday during which Gulf countries stressed the need for Iran to halt attacks on them said Bahrains UN Ambassador Jamal Alrowaiei the Arab representative on the UNs most powerful bodyBut Iran has showed no signs of backing down Saudi Arabia said its SAMREF refinery in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu was hit Saudi Arabia had begun pumping large volumes of oil west toward the Red Sea to avoid the Strait of HormuzQatar a key source of natural gas for world markets said Iranian missiles that caused extensive damage to the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility reduced its exports by about 17 percent and will cost about USD 20 billion in lost revenue a year The damage will take up to five years to repair even though production at the facility had already been halted after earlier attacksTwo oil refineries in Kuwait and gas operations in Abu Dhabi also were targeted by Iran authorities said Millions of people fled to shelters in Israel as sirens warned repeatedly after a barrage of Iranian missiles in the central part of the country as well as Jerusalem and areas nearby including the West BankNetanyahu says Irans military has been severely hitAt Thursdays news conference Netanyahu said Irans air defenses have been rendered useless their navy is lying at the bottom of the sea Their air force is nearly destroyed He said he hopes the Iranian people will rise up against the Islamic Republic that has ruled for nearly a halfcentury Theres been no sign of any organized opposition since the war began after Iranian authorities crushed mass protests in JanuaryThe prime ministers comments to foreign journalists came amid difficult days for Trump and Netanyahu with a top US intelligence official resigning and claiming Israel pushed Trump into the war and Israels attacks on South Pars which led to Irans retaliatory strikes on the regions oil and gas fields I misled no one Netanyahu said And I didnt have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear programmeGen Dan Caine chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that US forces were attacking deeper into Iranian territory with warplanes hunting Iranian boats in the strait and dropping 5000pound bombs on underground weaponsstorage facilitiesIrans state TV quoting a Revolutionary Guard statement said the countrys air defense system hit an F35 fighter jet US Central Command said an F35 made an emergency landing after flying a combat mission over Iran A command spokesman Capt Tim Hawkins said the aircraft landed safely the pilot was in stable condition and the incident was under investigationTrump says he is not deploying troops to IranIran condemned Israels attack on South Pars the Iranian part of the worlds largest gas field located offshore in the Persian Gulf and owned jointly with Qatar With some 80 per cent of power generated in Iran coming from natural gas according to the International Energy Agency the attack threatens the countrys electricity suppliesAfter Trump requested Israel not attack South Pars he also warned on social media that if Iran continued striking Qatar the US would massively blow up the entirety of the field Asked later about the possibility of US ground troops being deployed to Iran Trump responded No Im not putting troops anywhereDeath toll climbs in third week of warMore than 1300 people in Iran have been killed during the war Israeli strikes against the Iranianbacked Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people according to the Lebanese government which says more than 1000 people have been killed Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militantsIn Israel 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire Four people were also killed in the occupied West Bank by an Iranian missile strike overnight At least 13 US military members have been killedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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