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Key updates, 7 November 2026:
Iran news agency reports 2 missiles struck Qeshm Island
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says early Saturday initial reports indicate that two missiles struck Qeshm Island, adding there is no official information on possible damage.
Tasnim says further details will be released once the incident is confirmed by relevant authorities.
The state news agency IRNA earlier reported that local witnesses said two projectiles had attacked the Suza area of Qeshm Island in southern Iran after the sound of an aircraft was heard over the island.
US Central Command announces $20M reward for info on Iranian nuclear program
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, listens to the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, on April 9, 2025. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
The United States is offering a $20 million reward “and possible relocation” for information about Iran’s nuclear program, the military says, despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that it has been obliterated.
A State Department program, Rewards for Justice, “is offering a reward of up to $20 million and possible relocation for information about Iran’s nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community,” US Central Command says in a statement posted on X.
‘Unhinged’: Israel, Irish Jews condemn UN’s Albanese for inflammatory remarks to Ireland’s parliament
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, walks through the venue after speaking at the 5th World Conference on Creative Economy in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
A group representing Irish Jews and Israel’s Foreign Ministry separately condemn the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, for inflammatory remarks she made this week to the Irish parliament.
Albanese has a history of antisemitism and regularly makes extremist comments about Israel.
Albanese told the Irish parliament’s Committee on European Affairs this week, “Israel has always killed children, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, the use of torture, even rape.”
“It’s destroying the people, the living. You know it when you read the testimonies of people who have been tortured, have been raped, raped by dogs trained in European countries,” she said.
“European people are profiting from selling dogs that will rape people. This is abysmal, and instead of having a system using our rule of law to prevent this, there are people who are in jail for denouncing the system,” she said.
Albanese did not offer any source or evidence for the allegations.
She demanded that the Irish government “show its spine” in opposition to Israel.
The Foreign Ministry says Albanese is “an unhinged conspiracy theorist consumed by her obsessive hatred of Israel.”
“Her vile lies and grotesque accusations are a disgrace to the UN,” the Foreign Ministry says.
The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland condemns Albanese and the Irish parliament, known as the Oireachtas, for hosting her.
“She dismissed documented antisemitism against Irish Jews on national radio, then appeared before an Oireachtas committee making a series of outrageous, unsubstantiated allegations,” the council says.
“Not one demand for evidence. Not one challenge to her most shocking claims. Instead, she got praise, admiration and smiling photographs,” the statement says.
A United Nations title should not place anyone above scrutiny. Yet that is precisely what appears to have happened during Francesca Albanese's visit to Ireland.
Despite international condemnation, calls for resignation from European governments and demands for a UN… pic.twitter.com/1lQOYaT3Wt
— Orli Degani (@orlidegani) November 5, 2026
Hillel Neuer, the head of the watchdog group UN Watch, says in a statement directed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “You allowed this barking mad lunatic and her friends to bring the United Nations into disrepute.”
The Irish foreign minister, Helen McEntee, hails her meeting with Albanese, saying, “Ireland will not forget about Palestine and will continue to stand up for the UN.”
Settlers filmed beating Palestinian with clubs during overnight attack in southern West Bank
Israeli settlers are filmed beating a Palestinian man during an overnight attack on a hamlet in the Masafer Yatta region of the southern West Bank.
The man seen in the video being beaten lost consciousness, according to Palestinian media.
There are no reports of any arrests, which are highly rare in near-daily instances of settler violence.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
#متداول | مستوطنون يعتدون بالضرب على الأهالي خلال هجومهم في مسافر يطا جنوب الخليل. pic.twitter.com/kySoOAGIed
— PaltodayTV (@Paltodaytv) November 6, 2026
Key Update
Qatar says its mediation between US and Iran continuing to prevent regional escalation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar speaks during an emergency Security Council meeting at UN Headquarters in New York on September 11, 2025. Meeting was called on strike by Israel at a flat in the building where Hamas members were. Before the meeting Council issued a Press Statement expressing concern but did not name Israel by name and underlined once again for hostages in Hamas captivity to be released and war to be ended. (Photo by Lev Radin/Sipa USA)
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani says the country’s mediation efforts between the US and Iran are continuing to prevent the situation in the region from spiraling out of control, according to Al Jazeera TV.
Iran said to be negotiating with Russia for S-400 air defense system
In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, a view of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems in position during a military exercise, in Siberia, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Iran is negotiating a deal with Russia for the S-400 air defense system, the Telegraph reports, citing an Iranian official who says the Islamic Republic is “optimisitc” that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will green light the sale.
The official says that when Mohsen Rezaei met this week with Putin at the Kremlin, he brought a leader from supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei whose chief demand is that Russia supply Iran with weapons.
Key Update
Trump says US launched ‘minor’ strikes on Iran targeting ‘a little bit of an anti-aircraft device’
US President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One, at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, November 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says the US military has carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting an Iranian air defense system.
Iranian state media had reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.
Trump in an exchange with reporters describes the military action as “minor.”
“They knocked out — they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” Trump tells reporters shortly after arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump doesn’t offer further details about the target. But US officials have reported that most of Iran’s air defense systems were destroyed or severely degraded during a June 2025 bombardment by Israel and in the early stages of the current conflict. US officials have assessed that Iran would try to rebuild them and other military infrastructure over time.
The strikes are the first since Trump’s Republican Party was dealt a stunning repudiation in Tuesday’s midterm elections in the US.
The electoral setback — Republicans lost both chambers of Congress — was stoked in part by voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s execution of the conflict and elevated fuel prices, a byproduct of the war that’s affected nearly every sector of the global economy.
In the days since Republicans’ shellacking at the polls, Trump has vacillated between threatening to “destroy” Iran and suggesting a resolution to the war is near.
Key Update
Iranian military claims it’s now ‘stronger’ than at start of war with Israel and US
Iran’s military is “stronger” and more motivated than it was when the United States and Israel started the war in February, Iranian state media reports, citing an army spokesman.
“Today, the Islamic Republic’s armed forces… having gained experience from direct confrontation with the United States and the Israeli regime, are on higher alert and are stronger than they were at the beginning of the war. They now possess greater motivation, commitment, and self-confidence,” Mohammad Akraminia says, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Key Update
Cops close part of highway along Dead Sea due to concerns of flash floods
Police announce the closure of part of Route 90 along the Dead Sea, citing concerns of flash flooding.
Saudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi cruise missile fired at Riyadh
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile heading toward Riyadh.
It is the latest in a series of attacks by the pro-Iranian group on the kingdom.
Florida governor DeSantis said planning to run for US president in 2028
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a news conference on August 12, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning a run for the Republican 2028 presidential nomination, three people briefed on his plans tell The Washington Post.
The outlet says the bid comes in the wake of Florida’s survival of the blue wave in the midterms this week. The success of the Democrats is widely seen as repudiation of the policies of the Trump administration.
DeSantis denies the report in a statement on X.
“The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth. I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Using anonymous sources of course!” he writes.
Woman stabbed to death in central Arab town, allegedly by husband — police
A woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband this morning in the central Arab town of Tira, police say.
The husband sustained moderate wounds in the incident and was taken to a hospital, according to police.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said earlier that it found the roughly 40-year-old woman with injuries and pronounced her dead on the scene.
Hamas civil defense agency says it fielded over 1,500 weather-related emergency calls
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says it has fielded over 1,500 calls from people affected by the rain across the Strip, as water fills displaced people’s tent compounds and strong winds threaten to topple war-damaged buildings.
In northern Gaza, first responders rescued a young man after the roof of his home collapsed on him, the civil defense agency says, adding that he is “in good health.”
???? أوضاع صعبة وكارثية مياه الأمطار والبرد والرياح توقظ النازحين من نومهم في مخيمهم الذي لجؤوا إليه في مدينة دير البلح وسط قطاع غزة، بعد تدمر بيوتهم بفعل حرب الإبادة. pic.twitter.com/q918NsZ64K
— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) November 7, 2026
Russia strikes Kyiv, killing one and damaging major bridge, energy infrastructure, officials say
This handout photograph, taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on November 7, 2026, shows Ukrainian firefighters working at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout/AFP)
Russian forces launched missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight, damaging energy infrastructure and a major bridge across the Dnipro River, officials say.
Explosions rocked the city as Russia fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles, several of them hitting the Northern Bridge, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
He describes an “extremely difficult” situation for power, heating and water supplies in Kyiv, where temperatures hovered near freezing on Saturday morning. Governor Tymur Tkachenko says energy facilities in at least three districts of the Kyiv region had been hit.
One person was killed and eight people, including a child, were wounded in the overnight attack, which also damaged homes and non-residential buildings, authorities said.
Moscow’s defense ministry says it carried out a massive strike on what it describes as targets in Ukraine’s military-industrial sector, as well as energy and transport infrastructure in and around Kyiv.
Saturday’s strikes also damaged energy infrastructure in the central Zhytomyr region, the regional governor and Russia’s defense ministry say.
They come days before a new round of three-way talks in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian and Russian officials, as part of a US-backed peace push that has so far yielded few results.
Flooding, blackouts reported amid heavy rainfall
The Israel Meteorological Service records heavy rains along the coastal region and part of the interior, with floods in Binyamina after the northern town received some 50 millimeters (2 inches) of rainfall within an hour this morning.
Residents in and near Gan Yavne, close to southern Israel’s Ashdod, have been cut off from electricity since last night after the electric grid in the area was damaged by the rainfall, the Ynet news site reports.
Since last night, Tel Aviv has seen 40 millimeters of rainfall, Haifa 31 millimeters and Jerusalem 28 millimeters, while just 5 millimeters of rain fell in the Sea of Galilee, according to the service.
Authorities have warned of a heightened risk of flooding in parts of central and coastal Israel.
Key Update
Iran executes man convicted of deadly attack on police station in restive region, judiciary says
Iran executes a man convicted of being involved in a deadly assault on a police station, according to the judiciary.
“The death sentence of Mohammad Aref Shahbakhsh — an operative linked to the terrorist group Jaish al-Zolm (al-Adl) — was carried out this morning following the completion of all legal procedures,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reports.
Jaish al-Adl is an outlawed armed group in Sistan-Baluchistan province, one of Iran’s poorest, which has long seen clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni Muslims and members of the ethnic Baloch minority.
“The attack on Qaleh Bid police station in Khash city in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan resulted in the martyrdom and injury of several police personnel,” the judiciary’s media notes, without specifying the date of the attack.
Shahbakhsh was convicted of “baghi (armed rebellion against the Islamic state) and moharebeh (waging war against God) for his role in the armed attack on the station,” Mizan says.
Clashes between armed groups and Iranian security forces in the region have flared again in recent months.
Iran executes more people annually than any country except China, according to rights groups outside the country, including Amnesty International.
Hamas media office says 70,000 tents flooded by rain in past 12 hours
Hamas’s government media office says rain has flooded 70,000 tents housing displaced Gazans over the past 12 hours, and that winter conditions have caused an estimated 3 million dollars worth of damage so far.
Dozens of walls have collapsed because of the weather in various parts of the Strip, causing some injuries, the government office adds.
It accuses Israel of refusing to let shelters and other equipment to handle the rain enter the Strip.
Israel says it restricts the entry of equipment that could be used as weapons, and has also accused Hamas of looting humanitarian aid.
زوجة شهيد تجلس عاجزة بعد غرق خيمتها في غزة pic.twitter.com/BXJr9UNDF5
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 7, 2026
Key Update
Police say they reopened Dead Sea highway that was closed due to fear of floods
Police say they have reopened Route 90 near the Dead Sea, after closing the road due to concerns about possible floods.
Health Ministry warns against swimming in Mediterranean, citing possible contamination due to rain
The Health Ministry warns Israelis not to swim off Mediterranean coasts because of concerns that the rainfall today and yesterday has pushed sewage into the sea.
Saudi strikes in Sanaa kill 11, including women and children, Houthi media says
Houthi media says Saudi strikes killed 11 people, including women and children, in Yemen’s Sanaa province, following the return of the country’s dormant civil war.
“Martyrdom of 11 citizens, among them women and children, in Saudi enemy airstrikes” on homes in the Al-Shariyah area of Sanaa province, the Iran-backed Houthis’ Saba news agency says, adding that operations to recover victims from the rubble were ongoing and that “aircraft targeted paramedics with two strikes.”
Key Update
Oil tanker said to catch fire after hitting naval mine in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s navy says an oil tanker caught fire after hitting a naval mine in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media.
Bessent said to reach out to China to help end Iran war after Republicans’ midterm election defeat
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reached out to China to use its influence with Tehran to end the Iran war, and China has in turn reached out to Iran, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius says, citing a knowledgeable US official.
According to Ignatius, Bessent reached out to China with the blessing of US President Donald Trump after Republicans suffered a midterm election rout on Tuesday, which Trump and Vice President JD Vance have publicly attributed to the Iran war.
Key Update
Trump advisers told him he has until new Congress to restart major Iran operations — report
US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One, November 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
US President Donald Trump was told by some of his advisers five days before Tuesday’s midterm elections that if he restarts major combat operations against Iran, he should do so before the swearing-in of the new Congress in January, NBC reports, citing two US officials.
Democrats’ takeover of both houses of Congress in the election reinforced the assessment, according to the officials, amid widespread voter anger about the war, and the new Congress could hamper operations through investigations, budget cuts, and legislative action.
A Pentagon spokesperson declines to comment, NBC says.
Toll of Saudi strikes on Houthi-held Sanaa rises to 22, Iran-backed rebels’ media reports
Two media outlets affiliated with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis say the death toll in Saudi strikes on Yemen’s Sanaa province has risen to 22.
“The number of victims of the Saudi enemy warplane massacre in the Al-Shariya area… has risen to 22 citizens, most of them children and women, while the number of wounded has risen to 30,” the Houthis’ Saba news agency says, with the group’s Al-Masirah TV reporting the same toll.
French students and teachers call new strike for Tuesday
People gather on and around the statue in the center of the Place de la Republic square at the end of a demonstration, during a nationwide day of actions called by high-school students and teachers' unions, in Paris, France, on October 6, 2026. (Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP)
Student and teacher groups in France have called for a strike on Tuesday as they keep up pressure on the government for more education spending, continuing weeks of school closures and protests.
A joint statement by unions covering the teacher and student associations says their movement “is in a position of strength (and) the government in a position of weakness and starting to yield.”
They say “it is the moment to broaden the mobilization by keeping the government under pressure.”
The demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but there have at times been clashes with police or vandalism on their sidelines, including on October 17, when France saw its worst rioting in years.
Italian foreign minister says pro-Russian hackers put his data on dark web over Ukraine support
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani meets with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 21, 2026. (Jeenah Moon, Pool Photo via AP)
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says his personal data had been published on the dark web by pro-Russian hackers, and links the move to Rome’s support for Kyiv.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been one of the strongest backers of Ukraine among Western leaders, expresses her support for Tajani and says the sale of confidential information relating to public officials is “a matter of serious concern.”
Moscow has not commented on the incident. Russia has consistently denied any involvement in cyberattacks or hacking operations abroad.
Tajani, who is also Italy’s deputy prime minister, says in a post on X that “backing in a transparent way the freedom and independence of a sovereign state” has made him a target, and that the hackers were seeking further information about him and his family and were willing to pay for it.
The attacks were also a reaction to efforts by the foreign ministry to strengthen cybersecurity, Tajani adds.
Screenshots seen by Reuters show Tajani’s picture among a list of 18 “citizens hostile to the Russian Federation,” including cybersecurity experts.
The material was found in a section of the dark web accessible through the Tor network as part of monitoring activities carried out by cybersecurity authorities, a person close to the minister tells Reuters, adding that further investigations are underway.
Son of Iran’s ousted shah receives controversial ‘Freedom Prize’ in Frankfurt
Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran's ousted shas, arrives to receive the 2026 Freedom Prize of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation at St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt, western Germany, on November 7, 2026. (Hannes P. Albert/AFP)
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the ousted shah of Iran, receives a “Freedom Prize” in Frankfurt awarded to the Iranian people in a controversial ceremony.
The prize is awarded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, an activist group close to Germany’s liberal FDP party.
Iran “is a country not waiting to be taught democracy — this is a country being prevented from practicing it,” Pahlavi says at the ceremony at St. Paul’s Church, which hosted Germany’s first elected parliament in 1848-1849.
“A people ready to die for the right to vote is willing to exercise the right to vote,” Pahlavi says to applause from the audience, which included relatives of people killed in the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters in January.
“You could not have chosen a people who better understand the meaning of the word ‘freedom’,” Pahlavi says.
He also says he is accepting the prize only as a “trustee” until a democratically elected government is in power in Iran.
“I hold it only temporarily,” he says. “One day I will place it in the hands of its rightful owners, not on foreign soil but in the capital, Tehran.”
Pahlavi’s father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was the last shah of Iran, an autocratic ruler who fled into exile in 1979 ahead of a broad revolution that overthrew the monarchy and later became consolidated under Islamist clerical rule.
While the streets of Frankfurt show support for Pahlavi, he also faces criticism for his own vocal support for Israel and what critics say is his failure to sufficiently distance himself from his father’s autocratic rule.
About 200 prisoners held in Iran had signed a letter protesting Pahlavi’s receipt of the prize, according to Sahar Sanaie, spokeswoman for the Society for German-Iranians in the state of Hesse, considering him a symbol of a “bygone dictatorship.”
Meanwhile, the Frankfurt branches of the centre-left SPD and Greens boycotted the event, arguing Pahlavi could not be considered a legitimate representative of the Iranian people.
And the Frankfurt branch of the far-left Die Linke said the church should not host the event, pointing to city statutes that prevent the place of worship from hosting political events.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says self-proclaimed limit on ballistic missile range ‘has been lifted’
Motorbikes drive past Iranian missiles and banners showing portraits of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, center, and the late armed forces commanders and nuclear scientists, who were killed in Israeli and US strikes, in a military exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, September 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says a self-proclaimed limit of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) on the range of its ballistic missiles “has been lifted,” suggesting the country may seek to develop missiles capable of reaching more distant targets amid fears of renewed all-out war.
The comments by Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, the IRGC spokesman, come days after a statement attributed to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khomeini said “any kind and level of threat” from the US or Israel would face a response without geographic limits.
Asked at a Tehran press conference about the limit on missile ranges, Mohebbi says “that restriction has been lifted for us,” and that Iran will “demonstrate these capabilities in practice” rather than make statements.
He does not say whether Iran had missiles capable of exceeding the limit.
The 2,000-kilometer range puts parts of Greece and the Balkans, the entire Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and most of Egypt within reach of Iran’s missiles.
Despite claiming it restricts its missile range to 2,000 kilometers, Iran in March reportedly tried and failed to hit the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) away from the Islamic Republic.
US officials have also said technology from Iran’s space program can be repurposed to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Key Update
Syria to send thousands of troops to Yemen and Saudi Arabia to help fight Houthis, sources say
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, greets Syria’s leader Ahmad al-Sharaa at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 2, 2025. (Saudi Ministry of Media via AP)
Thousands of Syrian troops are set to deploy to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with some already on the ground, multiple Yemeni officials tell AFP, as Riyadh rallies international help to repel the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and bolster the government in Aden.
Hundreds of troops have already been deployed to both sides of the border, according to three separate Yemeni military sources and a defense official.
A source from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government’s presidency and another from its defense ministry add that thousands more troops are set to be deployed to help with the fight against the Houthis.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US military looks to restrict Iranian land commerce, expanding on naval blockade
After a months-long naval blockade on Iran, the US military is setting up a task force to bolster Washington’s efforts to restrict Tehran’s movement of advanced weapons systems and other sanctioned material across its land borders and the Caspian Sea.
The US Central Command says Task Force Iron Gate will be based in Tampa, Florida, and will coordinate with other US government agencies. Beyond the movement of weapons, the task force will also focus on dual-use and illegal revenue streams.
“Strengthening CENTCOM’s collaboration with US interagency partners will further constrain Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military,” says CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper in a statement.
CENTCOM estimates that its naval blockade has prevented Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil.
Polish police report 5 killed in shooting at Krakow’s main square
Five people have died and more than 10 have been injured in a shooting on the main market square in Krakow, Polish police say.
“The perpetrator was shot by police officers and is currently being transported to a hospital,” police write on X.
A police spokesperson tells Reuters that they began to receive reports at around 3 p.m. local time that a car from which shots were being fired at random people had entered the square.
Syria denies it will deploy troops to Yemen, says military cooperation with Saudis could expand
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, greets Syria’s leader Ahmad al-Sharaa at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 2, 2025. (Saudi Ministry of Media via AP)
Syria has no plans to send military forces to Yemen, a Syrian diplomatic source tells state news agency SANA, dismissing reports of a possible deployment as baseless.
The source is outlining the scope of military cooperation with Saudi Arabia, which currently focuses on training Syrian forces, building their capabilities, and exchanging military expertise.
Coordination visits by Saudi officials to Syria are set to begin next month, with the cooperation potentially developing into a mutual defense agreement or Syria joining the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, depending on the shared interests of both countries, the person adds.
France investigating if airline bomb threats linked to ‘foreign powers’
French prosecutors have opened a probe into false bomb threats targeting dozens of commercial flights in Europe over the past week, notably including whether foreign powers could be involved.
The investigation aims to find “the authors of the emails who disseminated this false information… and to determine any potential links they may have to foreign powers,” the office of the Paris prosecutor tells AFP.
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Riyadh airport, Aramco oil sites and Saudi troops
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis say they have launched multiple missile and drone attacks against Saudi troops and infrastructure both in the Gulf kingdom and Yemen.
The group, which is fighting a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government, launched six operations that targeted Aramco oil facilities as well as Riyadh airport and Saudi troops and military facilities on both sides of the border, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree posts on X.
Yair Golan says open to government with Haredim but demands they enlist and ‘respect our way of life’
Democrats party chairman Yair Golan and members of his party celebrate at the party’s election headquarters in Tel Aviv, following the release of exit poll results on election night, October 27, 2026. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)
Democrats chairman Yair Golan says he’s open to a government with the Haredim after fellow opposition party chief Avigdor Liberman floated the option of including an ultra-Orthodox faction in a coalition that would replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but lays out a number of demands.
“Unlike Netanyahu, we won’t go to Bnei Brak or Mea Shearim,” Golan writes in a statement, referring respectively to a Tel Aviv suburb and Jerusalem neighborhood that are heavily Haredi. “Whoever wants a partnership with us needs to come meet us in Ramat Gan.”
Golan calls for conscripting young Haredim, integrating them into the workforce and “ensuring that every child in Israel will receive the tools to make a living honorably,” saying that “the middle class alone can no longer continue to carry the economic and security burden.”
“And just as we respect the Haredi way of life, we expect they will also respect our way of life. In our municipalities it needs to be possible to go out on Shabbat, drink coffee, and, God forbid, get there on public transportation,” the Democrats leader adds, stressing that while he is open to cooperating with the ultra-Orthodox he opposes granting them “a blank check.”
Key Update
Netanyahu demands ‘national unity’ government as he claims Arab parties ‘want to eliminate Israel’
A screenshot of a video shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party shows him speaking in a pre-recorded video statement released on November 7, 2026. (Screenshot)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls on the parties of the so-called change bloc to form a national unity government with the parties of his outgoing coalition, and issues dire warnings that a government formed with the Arab parties, whom he labels “terror supporters,” would destroy the country.
While demanding unity, Netanyahu says that such a government would have to include all of his allies from the last coalition, meaning the ultranationalist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit factions, and the ultra-Orthodox parties, together with Likud.
The prime minister does not say, however, who should lead such a government.
Netanyahu’s call marks another shift in his post-election phraseology. Hours after the polls closed on October 27, he said he would build a strong, national, right-wing coalition. On November 2, he called for a “broad national government” under his leadership.
Netanyahu’s comments come as President Isaac Herzog is poised to assign the task of forming a new government tomorrow, and is expected to give Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to do so, having consulted on Wednesday and Thursday with all the incoming Knesset parties. Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition lost its majority in the election, winning 53 of the 120 Knesset seats. Eisenkot’s four-party “change bloc” won 48 seats. The two Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List, won 19 seats and are backing Eisenkot for prime minister.
“There is someone who wants to hastily swear in a government, already next week, with terrorism supporters,” claims Netanyahu in apparent reference to Eisenkot. “To establish a government in the State of Israel with those who want to eliminate the State of Israel,” continues Netanyahu, in reference to the Arab parties.
The prime minister alleges that “a government dependent on Hamas supporters won’t fight Hamas,” and won’t defend IDF soldiers operating in Gaza and Lebanon.
He also raises the specter of civil war in Israel, warning that the severe riots witnessed in Europe in recent weeks, which Netanyahu blames on “Islamists,” will be repeated in Israel if a government backed by the Arab parties is formed.
“With a government like that, Israel simply won’t survive,” Netanyahu claims.
“I call for the establishment of a government of national unity which will include all the parties of the national camp, and all the Zionist parties which want to protect our country, the one and only state of the Jewish people,” he continues. “A national unity government will permanently remove the nuclear threat from Iran, protect Israel as a Jewish state, and bring unity among us.”
The video comes as some in Eisenkot’s four-party Jewish-led anti-Netanyahu bloc, and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, long allied with Netanyahu, signal they could team up to form a government that would replace the incumbent premier. Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman on Friday formally withdrew his longtime veto on partnering with ultra-Orthodox parties and expressed a readiness for “painful compromise” on IDF service for the ultra-Orthodox, although Eisenkot is still insisting on mandatory service for them.
Eisenkot has insisted he will not partner with Netanyahu in any government, but is open to parties and MKs that meet four conditions: Recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state; commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; commitment to requiring military or national service for all citizens; recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization and of the obligation to destroy its military and governing power in Gaza.
Key Update
Protesters gather in Tel Aviv to press for government with Arab parties
Protesters are gathering at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to demand a government with Arab parties that will unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The premier lost his parliamentary majority in the October 27 election after his Zionist opponents and the two Arab-majority parties, Ra’am and Joint List, cumulatively won 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. But most leaders of the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc, which on its own got 48 seats, reject forming a government that relies on Arab support.
Hebrew- and Arabic-language banners hanging at Habima Square declare: “67 seats — embarking on a new path.”
A few hundred people have gathered so far. Some beat drums or carry signs of left-wing groups such as Standing Together and Looking The Occupation In the Eye. Protesters chant, “Without partnership there’s no peace” as well as “No more divide and conquer, freedom and equality for all.”
Some protesters also hold signs and chant slogans demanding the release of journalist Abed Abou Shahadeh, who was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent after he traveled to Doha to interview former MK Azmi Bishara ahead the election. Bishara fled Israel in 2007 amid suspicions he aided Hezbollah in the previous year’s Lebanon war.
Shas reportedly won’t oppose Eisenkot-led government that includes United Torah Judaism
A source from the Shas Council of Torah Sages tells Channel 12 news that if the spiritual leader of the fellow Haredi party United Torah Judaism greenlights a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief political rival, Gadi Eisenkot, Shas won’t oppose it.
“There is no scenario in which Shas rabbis will act against United Torah Judaism rabbis,” the source is quoted as saying. “This would lead to a huge split in the Haredi street.”
Channel 13 news quotes an unnamed UTJ official voicing the same sentiment: “If the rabbis approve the details of the deal being worked on, Shas won’t have any choice but to toe the line and join the move.”
In response, Shas claims reports that it could potentially join an Eisenkot-led government are “total fake news,” though the TV outlets reported no such thing.
“As instructed by the Council of Torah Sages. Shas is part of the right-wing bloc, lovers of Torah and Jewish tradition,” the statement adds.
Trump offers White House press secretary post to UFC chief Dana White
US President Donald Trump, center, talks to UFC head Dana White, left, alongside first lady Melania Trump, during UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, June 15, 2026, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says he has asked UFC chief executive Dana White to serve as White House press secretary and calls on the longtime fight promoter to bring some assistants with him “even though some are not from our country.”
Yashar accuses Netanyahu of hypocrisy for urging unity government, invites ‘Likud and its friends’ to join coalition led by Eisenkot ‘without extremists’
Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of hypocrisy after he called for a national unity government earlier this evening, condemning him for having “divided” Israeli society and having undermined previous unity governments he established.
“If Likud and its friends are suddenly interested in ‘unity’ and in a broad government, they are more than welcome to announce publicly that they are dissolving the alliance with the extremists, that they accept Gadi Eisenkot’s four principles, and that they are willing to enter a government under prime minister Eisenkot,” Yashar says.
That invitation notably does not mention Netanyahu, whom Eisenkot has repeatedly said must quit public life along with all others who held major leadership roles on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu claimed in his video message that a government established by Eisenkot and supported by the Arab political parties would destroy Israel from within, and called for a national unity government with the Likud’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox partners.
“The man who divided, tore apart, and sowed discord within Israeli society is heard speaking of ‘unity’ only now that he realizes his days in office are numbered,” says Yashar in its response, calling Netanyahu’s video message “hysterical.”
“Unity is an important value for Israel, yet Netanyahu has acted systematically and resolutely against it — even during the most difficult war in our history.”
The party goes on to say that the “national emergency government which Gadi Eisenkot will establish will include only Knesset members who support the four principles Eisenkot has set out, including recognizing Hamas as a terror organization, and a commitment to destroying its military and governing power.”
Netanyahu alleged in his video message earlier this evening that a government established by Eisenkot with support from the Arab political parties would not fight Hamas.
Eisenkot’s three other conditions are: Recognition of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; acceptance of the values of the Declaration of Independence; and mandatory service for all.
Key Update
Herzog announces he will task Eisenkot tomorrow with forming new government
This handout photo released on November 7, 2026, shows President Isaac Herzog (R) meeting Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot at his official residence in Jerusalem. (Arnon Bossani via the spokesperson for President's Residence)
President Isaac Herzog will task Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel’s next government tomorrow at 5 p.m., the President’s Residence announces.
Herzog informed Eisenkot and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this evening of his decision, the statement says, after he held further talks over the weekend with figures across the political spectrum, including the two rivals.
During Herzog’s consultations with party delegations representing all 120 incoming Knesset members on Wednesday and Thursday, Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership, while Netanyahu got 46. The seven-strong United Torah Judaism made no recommendation.
Eisenkot will formally receive the mandate at a ceremony at the President’s Residence tomorrow. He will then have 28 days to form a government, with Herzog authorized to grant him an extension of up to 14 days if necessary.
Key Update
Tel Aviv protesters rail against Shin Bet election probe, call for new government to fire Zini
Some 200 people protest at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square against Shin Bet chief David Zini, accusing him of catering to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by allegedly manufacturing an investigation into claims of foreign interference in last week’s Knesset election.
Speakers call for a new government to unseat Netanyahu and fire Zini, with the Shin Bet’s former attorney general Eli Bechar saying it is “a danger to Israeli democracy” for Zini to remain in office.
In a speech reminiscent of a civics class, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon also confirms Thursday’s Haaretz report that he met with Zini this week after being invited to consult on the election interference probe.
Ayalon, who has criticized Zini, says he saw the invitation as a “brave” move and “maybe a small step toward mending” their differences.
But Ayalon suggests Zini is beholden to Netanyahu and that the election probe runs counter to the Shin Bet’s task of protecting “the democratic rule of law” in Israel.
“The head of the Shin Bet serves Israeli democracy,” Ayalon says. “Not the ruler.”
Dan Meridor, a former Likud minister whose son Shaul is now a senior member of Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, says at the rally that the government has “polluted Zionism with racism” and that Israeli democracy is “quickly eroding.”
He calls for a government with anyone who “agrees with the core values this country is built on, as written in the Declaration of Independence,” which says Israel will be a “Jewish state” with equal rights for all citizens.
“Whoever agrees — Jew or Arab, Haredi or secular — is welcome to take part,” says Meridor.
The speakers are addressing a demonstration in Habima Square’s southwest corner led by the Movement for Quality Government corruption watchdog, which unsuccessfully petitioned the High Court against Zini’s appointment last year.
The demonstration is distinct from an earlier rally on the square’s southeast corner that demanded a Jewish-Arab government and featured more overtly left-wing tropes, such as chants against “occupation.”
The earlier rally, which drew younger protesters from a number of left-wing activist groups, peters out during the speeches.
When the Movement for Quality Government rally ends with Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva,” a handful of youths who stayed after the earlier rally sit down.
Also during the speeches, about two dozen Netanyahu supporters rally on the square’s northeast corner, behind a cordon of fences police put up in advance to prevent friction.
Using Netanyahu’s nickname, supporters of the premier sing, “Bibi is the king of Israel.”
When a group of anti-government protesters gather outside the cage-like enclosure, officers who stand by the security cordon demand they step back and not create “provocations.”
Likud readying to appeal against election results over alleged illegal voter tracking by Arab parties
Attorney Ilan Bombach arrives for a Central Elections Committee hearing at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Likud party is preparing to appeal the results of the recent election — either in part or in whole — based on allegations that Arab political parties used electronic means of tracking voters to boost turnout in a manner banned by the High Court of Justice just before the election.
Likud party lawyer Ilan Bombach tells The Times of Israel that Likud polling station observers filed 700 complaints on election day about Arab party activists using a smartphone app to track voter turnout, asserting that each complaint affected “hundreds or thousands of votes.”
Since the High Court barred the practice, this gave the Arab parties an unfair advantage, Bombach maintains. The Likud lawyer says it has yet to be decided whether the appeal will challenge the entire election result or be more narrowly focused.
The complaint will be filed with the Jerusalem District Court, though likely not before November 17, the last day such appeals can be filed.
The appeal may also cover the two ongoing investigations into electoral fraud currently being investigated by law enforcement agencies, depending on what findings are released by that date, Bombach adds.
An organization called the Civilian Election Guard which sent volunteer observers to polling stations on election day reported on 374 instances of apparently illegal use of apps to track voter turnout.
The group said that the largest number of such violations was by Likud activists and polling station workers, who comprised 32 percent of all such incidents, followed by United Torah Judaism with 10%, Shas with 6%, Ra’am with 2% and the Joint List with 1%.
Iranian state media reports explosions on island in Strait of Hormuz
Explosions are heard on Saturday in Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, IRNA reports.
Polish minister says Krakow shooter ‘was fascinated by far-right ideologies’
Forensic investigators work behind police privacy screens in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, November 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
The gunman who killed six people in a shooting in the historic city center of Krakow, Poland’s second city, was “fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski says.
“Everything suggests that the perpetrator held very, very radical views. A number of weapons were found in the car he was driving,” Kierwinski says, adding that “everything suggests that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies.”
Eisenkot says he will push to form ‘national emergency government’
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot says “now is the time for the formation of a national emergency government,” after President Isaac Herzog said he will be formally tasked tomorrow with trying to assemble a ruling coalition.
“I will do everything so that we are worthy,” he writes in a post on X.
US military says strike disabled ship trying to run blockade on Iran
American forces disabled a commercial vessel that tried to get through the US blockade of Iran, the US military says.
US Central Command says one of its aircraft fired at the vessel’s stern and disabled the ship after it attempted to violate the blockade.
CENTCOM forces disabled a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Oman, Nov. 7, after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings and attempted to violate the naval blockade against Iran multiple times. A U.S. military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of St.… pic.twitter.com/NS5PzRmYkS
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 7, 2026
Key Update
Polish PM says 3 bodies believed to be family of Krakow shooter found at his home
Armed police officers secure a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, November 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)
Two women and one man, most likely members of the family of the Polish gunman who killed six people shooting from a car in the heart of the southern city of Krakow, have been found were dead in his house, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says, citing drone footage.
He also says Poland will hold two days of mourning following the attack.
“Sunday and Monday will be days of national mourning in Poland,” he says at a press conference in Krakow, adding “my office will determine what form (it) will take, but we will all undoubtedly live through these two days together.”
Video from Gaza shows sewage mixed with rainwater flooding into tents of displaced Palestinians
Footage from earlier Saturday in the Gaza Strip shows rainwater mixed with backed-up sewage flooding into the tents of displaced Palestinians.
The majority of Gaza’s population of over two million has been living in tents and makeshift shelters for much of the last three years since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
Israel claims it has facilitated the entry of tents able to weather the winter, but the top envoy of the US-led Board of Peace said Jerusalem’s restrictions were inhibiting much-needed winter shelter equipment from entering the Strip, calling the policy “unacceptable.”
????HORRIBLE: Sewage has mixed with rainwater as floodwaters engulf displaced Palestinians’ tents in Gaza. For the fourth consecutive winter, families are once again facing flooding, contamination, and unimaginable suffering as a result of Israel’s genocidal war. pic.twitter.com/a3g9GbHW9Y
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) November 7, 2026
UK maritime agency reports bulk carrier, military forces involved in incident in Gulf of Oman
A bulk carrier and military forces were involved in an incident in the Gulf of Oman, approximately 18 nautical miles east of the UAE’s Khor Fakkan, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says.
It says the status of the carrier’s crew and damage assessment, and environmental impact are currently unknown.
Paraguay’s pro-Israel ex-president taken into custody over alleged bank crisis role
Then-Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, attends a Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace, February 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
ASUNCION, Paraguay — A Paraguayan judge orders that impeached ex-president Santiago Pena be taken into custody over his alleged role in a banking crisis that left millions of depositors without access to their savings.
“The court has ordered pretrial detention,” the judge tells reporters after a hearing with Pena, who was charged with breach of trust and mismanaging funds for personal gain over the collapse of Ueno bank.
Pena maintained close relations with Israel, and in 2024, reopened his country’s embassy in Jerusalem, making it the sixth country at the time to make the move. Most other Israeli allies maintain an embassy in Tel Aviv, with many saying that the status of Jerusalem should be determined during a future two-state solution.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Pope Leo urges South America to bridge divides on Uruguay stop of 12-day tour
Pope Leo XIV leads a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, on the second day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, November 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo urges an estimated 40,000 people, many of whom waited overnight in the rain on the Uruguay-Argentina border for his visit, to bridge their differences as he toured a region marked by sharp political divisions.
Leo, on an ambitious 12-day, three-country tour through November 17, traveled some 750 km (466 miles) back and forth from Montevideo to Paysandú, a riverside economic hub in Uruguay’s northwest, where crowds gathered in heavy rain that eased shortly before his arrival.
He is the first pope to visit the city on the Uruguay River, chosen by the Vatican as the location for Leo’s first Mass in South America because it is accessible to pilgrims across the region.
The crowd in a sprawling park on the southern edge of the city erupted into cheers and blew loud horns as Leo toured in an open-top popemobile amid blustery winds.
In his sermon, Leo drew inspiration from the nearby General Artigas International Bridge, which connects Uruguay and Argentina.
“It is not difficult to imagine the benefits a bridge brings: openness, communication and exchange. That is why it is so important to be builders of bridges!” he says.
“This is the vocation to which we are all called: to build bridges, strengthen bonds, unite, communicate.”
At least 22 hurt after 5.5 magnitude earthquake strikes central Japan
TOKYO (AP) — A strong earthquake shakes central Japan, shattering store windows, causing people to flee buildings and leaving at least 22 people injured, according to local media.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency puts the quake’s magnitude at 5.7, while the US Geological Survey reported it at magnitude 5.5. Smaller aftershocks are reported.
A wide area near Aichi Prefecture is affected, including the city of Hamamatsu, the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, and nearby prefectures of Yamanashi, where Mount Fuji is located, as well as Gifu.
Japanese TV footage shows shattered store windows and scattered shards of glass on the streets. A bookstore is left with mounds of books that had flown off the shelves. The injuries include people who fell down stairs while they were trying to flee.
The quake, which struck at 1:04 a.m., was located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) below the earth’s surface in Shizuoka Prefecture. Aichi and Shizuoka are neighboring regions. They are far enough from Tokyo that the quake was not felt there. The most violent shaking was felt in Aichi, according to official seismic assessments.
The Shinkansen bullet trains were running at slower speeds in the affected areas as a precautionary measure. Sometimes quakes can damage the railways the trains run on.
Japan is located in an area that is prone to earthquakes.
Saudi Arabia issues all clear after alerts in several parts of kingdom
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence says that the danger has passed, shortly after issuing alerts warning of potential threats in several parts of the kingdom, including Dhahran, home to oil giant Saudi Aramco’s headquarters.
The danger had also passed in Dammam, Abqaiq, and Al-Ahsa governorate, the civil defence says.
The country has been under consistent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the past month.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
UAE says it rescued 22 people from burning cargo ship in Sea of Oman
The United Arab Emirates National Guard says that it has rescued 22 people, all of whom are Arab nationals, after a fire broke out on a cargo ship in the Sea of Oman.
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