Report: Trump Declines Saudi Crown Prince’s Call for U.S. Strikes on Houthis

Here are Friday’s latest updates:

■ U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not regret going to war against Iran despite its possible impact on the November U.S. midterm elections, telling Fox News that if he were to redo it, “I would do exactly as I did.”

■ Trump rejected a request from Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to launch strikes against Yemen’s Houthis after Mohammed bin Salman called ⁠the president ⁠twice, urging him to strike ‌the Iran-backed rebel group, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two U.S. officials.

■ Orna Neutra, whose son Omer was killed in Hamas’ October 7 massacre, spoke at a Republican party convention on the anniversary of 9/11, saying that “the same hatred, the same glorification of murder and the same responsibility to stand together against it” connected the two terrorist attacks.

■ Slightly more American voters say their sympathies lie more with Palestinians than Israelis, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University, adding to evidence of the growing animosity toward Israel among the U.S. electorate.

■ All IDF battalions deployed in the West Bank were called up Friday morning for a surprise drill, the army said, to ensure operational preparedness ahead of the Jewish holiday period.

■ Gulf ‌foreign ministers plan ‌to meet their Iranian ⁠counterpart in a ⁠push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary ‌deal to manage ‌shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported.

■ Four unknown projectiles hit two vessels 4 nautical miles west of Oman’s Khasab, causing a fire on one vessel and leaving the status of the second vessel unknown, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

■ Only seven ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from 11 the previous day, preliminary shiptracking data showed, well below the 10-day average of 15.