Azerbaijan's SOCAR Deepens Energy Ties as Iran Threats Loom
Baku's state oil firm becomes Israel's gas buffer, supplying LNG to Egypt and holding stakes in exploration zones.
Azerbaijan's SOCAR Deepens Energy Ties as Iran Threats Loom — Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR has integrated into multiple layers of Israel's energy sector, holding stakes in exploration zones and gas fields, and supplying LNG to Egypt.[^1] Egyptian lawmaker Mohamed Fouad describes SOCAR as providing 'resilience engineering around Leviathan dependence,' supplementing rather than replacing Israeli pipeline gas.[^1] This comes as Iran threatens regional fuel shipping; the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint, with the US military using helicopters, intelligence, and hidden routes to escort ships through the dangerous area.[^2] During the 32-day Hormuz war, Leviathan and Karish fields shut down, and Jordan—which gets over half its electricity from Israeli gas—paid an estimated $2.5 million daily in extra fuel costs.[^1] SOCAR's role thus offers a strategic cushion for Israel and its neighbors against potential disruptions. IDF soldiers wounded, Hezbollah bunker found as US strikes Iran — Four IDF soldiers were wounded this morning when a Hezbollah explosive drone struck their Humvee near Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, according to Maariv [^1]. The attack follows the killing of Staff Sergeant Ohad Yaari over the weekend by a stray bullet from another soldier—his father David told Ynet: 'I see no value in investigating and judging the soldier who shot my son. I ask to lift the spirits of his friends' [^2]. Meanwhile, the IDF discovered a large Hezbollah underground complex under Beaufort Castle, as reported by Vesti [^3]. In the Gaza Strip, the IDF eliminated Hamas terror cell commander Muhammad Othman Yassin Farwana [^4], and earlier in the week, senior members of Hamas's General Security Apparatus, including deputy head Hassan Rabah Hassan Labad, were killed by the IDF and Shin Bet [^5]. On the wider regional front, the United States shot down two Iranian attack drones in the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island, per CENTCOM [^6]. The cumulative toll: four officers and soldiers killed in the past week in Lebanon clashes, while the family of Staff Sergeant Moshe Shmuel Nol received a piece of his boot and dog tag found i