Evening update - Middle East Eye

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said on Wednesday the election was "stolen" by Arab parties, after his party fell short of a majority to form the next government. The co-leader of the Arab Joint List party Hadash-Ta’al, Ahmad Tibi, rejected the claims, telling Al Jazeera that “the accusations made by the Likud are merely the rhetoric of the defeated”.

The leader of key Arab-led party said on Wednesday that he was willing to cooperate with an opposition-led government to unseat Netanyahu, but was not open to joining such a coalition outright, after the Israeli Prime Minister called any coalition with Arab parties "forbidden". Leader of the Democrats party, Yair Golan, said on Wednesday that Arab-led party Ra’am could be part of the governing coalition in Israel.

The Israeli army struck the Deir Mimas municipality in southern Lebanon, after issuing an earlier warning to residents of a massive explosion in the town's vicinity.

Air traffic was halted after Yemen's Aden airport was targeted with two missiles following an evacuation warning from the Houthis which caused injuries to civilians and material damage.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem released a statement on Wednesday rejecting calls for the disarmament of the Lebanese group under a June US-brokered framework agreement with Israel and calling it a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.

The US military said on Wednesday that claims from Iranian media that commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz were hitting sea mines were "false". 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Iran will keep in close contact with intermediaries to give diplomacy a chance, even as its armed forces stand ready to defend the country.