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 Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.The Islamic Republic’s retaliation for Israel’s attack on its South Pars gas field sent fuel prices soaring even higher and risked drawing Iran’s 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 field.Since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, Iran’s top leaders have been killed in airstrikes and the country’s 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 evidence.Still, Iran—now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the war’s 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 route.Brent 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 month.Netanyahu says Iran’s military has been severely hitMarch 20, 2026 8:18 amAt Thursday’s news conference, Netanyahu said: “Iran’s 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 half-century. There’s been no sign of any organized opposition since the war began, after Iranian authorities crushed mass protests in January.UN Security Council meets over Iran’s attacks on Gulf statesMarch 20, 2026 8:18 amThe 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 Bahrain’s UN Ambassador Jamal Alrowaiei, the Arab representative on the UN’s most powerful body. But 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 Hormuz. Qatar, 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 attacks. Two 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 Bank.