Oct. 4: Netanyahu orders ‘thorough review’ of security procedures for foreign flights to Israel

Israel finishes 1:1 in its second tense UEFA game against Ireland

After the previous game ended with a 3:0 loss, Israel achieves a more respectable result against Ireland tonight, ending at a 1:1 draw in the UEFA Nations League game.

As with last week’s first game, there were no customary handshakes between the teams, at Ireland’s insistence. And the Irish players and coaches all bowed their heads as Israel’s national anthem played.

Israel must still play Kosovo and Austria in the UEFA group stage. Those games will take place in November.

For now, Israel is bottom of its group, with just two points from four games.

Polls close in Brazil election pitting Lula against Flavio Bolsonaro

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro arrives to vote during general elections in Rio de Janeiro, October 4, 2026. (AP/Lucas Landau)

Polling stations have closed in Brazil’s first-round election featuring a nail-biter presidential race between incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Results are expected within a few hours of polls closing due to the vast nation’s electronic voting system.

From the Amazon rainforest to the agricultural heartlands in the south and sprawling urban favelas, Brazilians queued to cast their vote, many of them fed up with familiar choices.

Lula, almost 81, is seeking a fourth term in an election which he has branded a battle between democracy and “barbarism,” warning voters that Brazil’s sovereignty is at stake in the face of US pressure.

He is facing a tough battle against right-wing senator Bolsonaro, 45, eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after his failed 2022 re-election bid.

Little known until a few months ago, Flavio Bolsonaro, who describes himself as more moderate than his firebrand father, has vowed to “rescue” Brazil from Lula, corruption, high taxes and crime.

Opinion surveys show neither Lula or Bolsonaro are likely to score more than 50 percent — the threshold required to win in the first round. They are neck-and-neck if the vote goes to a runoff on October 25.

Israel bans UK Green Party leader Polanski after party equates Zionism with racism

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announces that British Green Party leader Zack Polanski is barred from entering Israel after the party passed a resolution equating Zionism with racism.

The party also voted in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israel’s stead.

Polanski himself did not take part in the vote.

Iranian oil minister quits, replaced by oil executive

Mohsen Paknejad attends a parliament session in the capital Tehran, on August 17, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, has resigned and been replaced by the country’s top oil executive, the president’s office says in a statement, amid a blockade on Tehran’s oil exports by the United States.

“Following the acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation, Hamid Bovard,” the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, “has been appointed as acting Minister of Oil by a decree from the president,” says the statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB.

In a news bulletin on the minister’s resignation, state television runs an interview with an official from the Iranian presidential office who says Paknejad initially offered his resignation a while ago “due to personal issues,” but this was rejected.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian asked Paknejad to continue in his post, but is now accepting his departure, as the minister has insisted on leaving, the official adds.

He says that Pezeshkian “commended his efforts and sincere service” after accepting his decision to quit.

The crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway has been the focal point of the Middle East war, as a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG passed through it before the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February.

Tehran has been blocking the passage of commercial ships, firing on vessels it accuses of unauthorized crossings.

Washington responded with a counterblockade of Iranian ports in an effort to prevent Tehran from exporting its oil.

Earlier in the war, capital Tehran and other Iranian cities at times saw queues build up at gas stations, as Washington choked the country’s economy.

Report: Israeli official overseeing flight security did paid consulting work for flydubai in UAE

Dvir Rubinstein, director of the Aviation Security Operations Center at the Transportation Ministry. (Hagilda)

Dvir Rubinstein, a Transportation Ministry official responsible for security oversight of foreign airlines flying to Israel, has also done paid private consulting and training work for those carriers, including flydubai and Emirates, Channel 12 reports.

Rubinstein, who has served as the ministry’s aviation security director for 19 years, is responsible for granting security approvals and permits to foreign airlines and flights entering Israel, according to a professional biography cited by the Hebrew network. His responsibilities include oversight of flydubai and its Dubai-Tel Aviv route, on which last week’s terror attack by an Omani copilot took place.

Channel 12 reports that Rubinstein traveled to the UAE in his private capacity to provide training and consulting to flydubai as well as Emirates, displaying certificates from the airlines recognizing training that he provided. The network notes the apparent conflict of interest in Rubinstein doing private work for airlines he is tasked with overseeing.

It also airs footage from what it says is a webinar by Rubinstein on lessons the US learned from the September 11 attacks, during which he says the attacks “taught us that it is possible to hijack an aircraft without explosives, without weapons,” and that US authorities screen aircrew in advance, including through background checks conducted before departure.

“There is no such thing as passenger lists not being checked in advance,” Rubinstein says in the footage. “Today, aircrew as well… undergo security screening, including a background check, as well as physical screening prior to departure.”

At a Transportation Ministry briefing following the attack, Rubinstein reportedly said his department does not conduct intelligence background checks on foreign crews.

“We are not an intelligence agency that conducts intelligence background checks on crews. The security division is not the Shin Bet. We don’t have security personnel abroad,” he reportedly said, explaining that Israel relies on airlines, foreign governments and competent authorities in countries of origin.

Rubinstein and the Transportation Ministry both declined the network’s requests for comment.

Second Ireland-Israel soccer game kicks off; Irish players again bow heads for Israeli anthem, refuse to shake hands

Irish players bow their heads during Israeli national anthem before the UEFA Nations League soccer match between the Republic of Ireland and Israel in Backa Topola, Serbia, October 4, 2026. (AP/ Darko Vojinovic)

The second UEFA Nations League game between Ireland and Israel kicks off at the TSC Arena in Bačka Topola, Serbia. Ireland is the “home” team, but moved the game to Serbia for security reasons.

As with last week’s first game, which Ireland won 3-0, there are none of the customary handshakes between the teams, at Ireland’s insistence. And the Irish players and coaches all bow their heads as Israel’s national anthem plays.

The Irish captain Caoimhin Kelleher also refuses to shake hands with Israel’s Dor Peretz when the referee flips a coin to decide which team will play in which direction.

Israel’s players are wearing black armbands to mark the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre. Ireland’s players wore black armbands at last week’s game “in recognition of all lives lost in the [Gaza] conflict,” and are wearing them again tonight.

Gunfire pierces the air as Ra’am’s Segalovich speaks in Rahat

Gunfire was heard in the southern Bedouin city of Rahat this evening as Ra’am’s Jewish candidate Yoav Segalovich spoke to locals, apparently as part of a conflict between rival gangs.

שימו לב לזה, הערב ברהט: ירי בלתי פוסק במהלך חוג בית שקיים יואב סגלוביץ (רע״מ) בעיר. סגלוביץ שהיה פרוייקטור המגזר הערבי בממשלת בנט, המשיך לדבר תוך כדי הירי pic.twitter.com/ogaW51PiK0

— almog boker (@bokeralmog) October 4, 2026

Segalovich, a former top police officer who has campaigned on restoring security to the Arab public amid soaring violent crime, said afterward: “The inconceivable thing is that here in the city, this has almost become routine. Just yesterday, bursts of gunfire were heard continuously for eight hours. Something like this must not become routine. This is a serious failure by the government, which has abandoned citizens’ personal security.”

‘You’ve left us halved’: Hundreds gather to remember Oct. 7 hero Aner Shapira

Shira Shapira, mother of fallen Nova hero Aner Shapira, speaks at a memorial on October 4, 2026. (Jessica Steinberg/ Times of Israel)

Several hundred people gathered today to remember Aner Shapira, the off-duty soldier who saved lives inside a crowded roadside bomb shelter near the Nova desert rave by catching and throwing back seven Hamas grenades.

His parents, Moshe Shapira and newly minted Yashar party candidate Shira Shapira, were surrounded by their six surviving children and members of their extended family at the event at Hansen House, Jerusalem’s historic former leper hospital, whose 2013 restoration involved Moshe Shapira’s work as a preservation architect.

The evening included music, with a trio and singer performing beloved songs. Aner’s song, “Chetzi” (Half), a rap piece produced posthumously, was played for the audience.

“His words are the best way to remember him,” said Yemima Ben-Menahem, Shapira’s maternal grandmother, an Israel Prize winner for her academic work on the philosophy of science and modern physics.

Shira Shapira shakily quoted a line from “Chetzi,” sung by Aner from original recordings, in which he sang, “Everything is temporary except for music.”

“Music is forever, and it allows us to continue hearing your voice,” said Shapira, her voice thick with tears. “You’ve left us halved; we’ve been happy and sad, with you and without you.”

Shapira joined Zionist Home Chili Tropper’s party that merged with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party; she is 10th on the party slate.

Transportation Ministry said to tighten rules on foreign aircrews after years of lax regulations

The Transportation Ministry has tightened rules for foreign airlines flying to Israel, following the terror attack by the Omani copilot on flydubai Flight 1073 last week, barring crew members who hold citizenship in countries without formal diplomatic relations with Israel from operating or traveling aboard Israel-bound flights, Channel 12 reports, noting that, until now, it had failed to effectively enforce such regulations.

Pilots and other aircrew holding citizenship from countries including Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Pakistan have been easily able to fly into Israel in recent years, according to the network.

In recordings of a conversation between senior officials in the transportation and interior ministries aired by Channel 12, an Interior Ministry official tells a Transport ministry official that they routinely receive the passenger and flight crew lists from the country where the flight originates for security review — “but, in fact, [these lists arrive] only after the plane has taken off.”

Only in the last few hours, the report says, has the ministry sent a notice to foreign carriers, including US airlines, stating that citizens of 27 countries are not only barred from piloting planes to or from Israel, but are also barred from being on board flights to and from Israel. The 27 countries covered in the notice include Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, according to an image of the notice shared by the network.

The notice also says that crew members holding single or dual citizenship from any of these countries who have already been assigned to an Israel flight should contact their airline’s crew scheduling department as soon as possible.

Iran tells US there is no military solution to Middle East war

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 25, 2026. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

Iran’s top diplomat insists that there will be no military solution to the United States’ war against the Islamic Republic, with talks on ending the conflict apparently at an impasse.

A campaign of heavy bombardment failed to bring a decisive close to the war launched by the US and Israel in late February, and Washington in recent weeks has dialed back military operations in favor of economic pressure.

The main point of contention remains Iran’s attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Gulf oil and gas where a UK maritime agency reported today that another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile.

“If our enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, our response will be stronger than before, and we will defend ourselves with even more force,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says at a gathering of foreign ambassadors.

“There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions,” he continues, adding that “only negotiations based on justice and fairness” can end the conflict.

The two sides agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that spelled out a framework for a permanent resolution, but Iranian attacks on vessels in the Hormuz prompted a return to US military operations. Iran has sought to impose its control over the vital shipping lane since the start of the war, striking vessels that attempt to transit without its authorization.

The US has imposed its own counterblockade of Iranian ports, and has also struck vessels it accuses of violating it.

New footage shows Israeli passengers filming aftermath of flydubai attack for fear of arrest in Saudi Arabia

New footage from aboard flydubai Flight 1073 shows Israeli passengers who subdued the Omani terrorist worrying that they could be arrested and blamed for the violence upon landing in Saudi Arabia, Channel 12 reports, airing clips from several videos taken on the flight.

זווית חדשה מתוך תא הטייס: תיעוד בלעדי מטיסת ״פליי דובאי״https://t.co/PJVLs5oNey | @yollancohen pic.twitter.com/4jkdZwB0iO

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) October 4, 2026

In the footage, which was filmed after the passengers subdued the terrorist and were tending to the wounded pilot ahead of the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Shota Musayev, one of the Israeli passengers who helped overpower the attacker, urges the others to document what happened, fearing Saudi authorities would not believe their account when they landed, particularly as their clothes were covered in blood.

Another Israeli passenger who helped rescue the plane, Yaniv Hayoun, reassures the group, saying, “No, no, brother, there are cameras… Everything’s okay. Calm down.”

IDF says Hamas commander killed in Israeli strike in southern Gaza

A Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.

The IDF says the strike in Khan Younis killed Muad Gamal Abu Nuseira, a commander in Hamas’s military wing.

A separate strike yesterday killed Mahmoud Ibrahim Dib Alyan, identified by the IDF as a commander in Hamas’s surveillance unit.

Both operatives were killed to “remove a threat,” the army says.

Report: Transportation Ministry’s security chief, charged with flight security, has 2nd job

The Transportation Ministry’s security chief, Avri Cohen, works a second job, Haaretz reports, amid scrutiny of the ministry’s conduct after the near-disaster of flydubai Flight 1073, whose Omani copilot attempted to crash it into the ground last week.

The report says Cohen, whose position includes oversight of foreign air crews, has his attention divided, as he sometimes moonlights as a “reserve security officer” for Israeli airlines at a foreign airport.

The paper notes that the work is entirely separate from Cohen’s work at the ministry and he is paid for it separately.

The revelations raises questions about Cohen’s focus on his job, which recent days have shown is critical for Israelis’ security.

US execution survivor critically ill, on ventilator, lawyer says

This photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Correction shows Christa Pike on January 12, 2023. (TDOC via AP)

The woman who survived a botched execution attempt in a US prison is still hospitalized in critical condition and on a ventilator, her lawyer says as he calls for her death sentence to be commuted to life in prison.

Tennessee’s prison chief resigned Saturday after convicted murderer Christa Pike, 50, survived two lethal injections of pentobarbital, a drug that suppresses nervous system activity.

The case gained national attention and raised questions about capital punishment in the United States and the methods used to carry it out.

“She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill,” Pike’s attorney Stephen Ferrell says on CNN. “We don’t really know the prognosis yet, and may not know for several days.”

Ferrell, who has been unable to see his client, says doctors are still trying to rid her body of the drug while she remains under guard at the hospital.

He urges Governor Bill Lee to show leniency.

“I think, at the very least, the governor should commute Ms. Pike’s death sentence to a life sentence,” Ferrell says. “We don’t know what her physical state will be, but it is clear that she has endured a torturous attempt at executing her.”

Pike’s case sparked debate over the death penalty for young offenders, as she was 18 when she and her boyfriend beat and killed 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer at a job training camp in 1995.

At conference 3 years after Oct. 7, IDF chief says military drawing lessons from disaster

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a military conference at the Glilot Base, October 4, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir convenes senior officers for a conference on the lessons learned from the October 7 onslaught, three years after Hamas’s massacre.

During the conference, Zamir presents a certificate of appreciation to Chief Warrant Officer “Vav,” a member of the signals intelligence Unit 8200, who warned before October 7, 2023, that Hamas had a clear plan in place to attack Israel. Senior intelligence officers dismissed her warnings.

At the conference, Zamir says that the army is concluding its investigations into October 7, “out of an understanding of the magnitude of the disaster, alongside the understanding that we must not become mired in them, but rather learn, draw lessons, implement them and move forward.”

“One of our greatest lessons from October 7 is the need to expand the security margin. We need to build the IDF’s force structure to meet challenges and threats across multiple arenas. The size of the IDF is our strategic depth,” he says.

Zamir also says that the military is building its strategy “with our reference scenario being readiness for a surprise war, including thwarting severe threats while they are taking shape.”

The conference at the Glilot Base in central Israel is attended by officers ranked brigadier general and above, from all branches, directorates, and commands of the military.

The IDF’s October 7 investigations “were summarized and the main lessons that emerged from them were presented,” the military says, adding that top officers “presented the processes for implementing the lessons and the mechanisms for monitoring their implementation.”

The military says the conference also constitutes the first stage in a series of investigations into the entire war, including probes into the recent war with Iran.

Those probes will be split into various subjects and investigated by different teams, similar to the October 7 investigations. In the coming months, meetings on the investigation process will be held by Zamir.

Lessons from the entire war are being divided into four main topics: systemic-strategic preparedness for surprise attacks, operational readiness based on updated reference scenarios, force buildup across the entire military, and intelligence.

Elections panel orders PM to take down social media speeches for violating propaganda laws

Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg arrives for a hearing at the Central Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Central Election Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg rules that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu violated laws against election propaganda on five occasions in recent months, and must therefore remove or partially remove videos of speeches he made using public resources from official and political social media channels.

Petitions were filed against six such incidents by government watchdog groups, in which Netanyahu gave speeches including election content for his campaign, either on state property such as the press room in the Prime Minister’s Office, or during IDF ceremonies or situation assessments with the military.

Sohlberg rules in two cases that all content from the speeches be removed from official social media accounts and from Netanyahu’s personal accounts.

In three cases, Netanyahu must remove all or part of the content from official accounts, Sohlberg rules, and in one case Sohlberg determines that the speech is not propaganda and so declines to order the content removed.

Sohlberg orders that Netanyahu personally pay NIS 29,000 ($9,500) in total expenses to the three watchdog groups that filed the petitions, and to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office.

Netanyahu: Israel to become ‘world leader’ in naval warfare as maritime threats grow

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a navy base in Ashdod, October 4, 2026. (Omer Miron/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will expand its naval capabilities, warning that threats to the country’s maritime domain have increased, during a visit to Israel’s navy base in Ashdod.

The maritime domain has become “an international battlefield,” Netanyahu says in a Hebrew-language video released by his office, pointing to the recent threats in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb by Iran and the Houthis, respectively.

“Our enemies want to threaten our maritime domain in the Mediterranean Sea, our seaports and maritime traffic. Of course, we will not allow that to happen,” says Netanyahu, after touring the base alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Security officials are seeking additional submarines, vessels and other capabilities, he continues, saying “a sixth submarine has arrived in Israel; they want more — more vessels and other capabilities that I do not intend to detail here,” adding he intends for Israel to become “one of the world leaders” in both surface and undersea warfare.

Israel’s navy has often been described as something of a forgotten service in the IDF, less central than the ground or air forces to Israeli security. Turning Israel into a leading naval force would represent a revolution in Israeli military thinking.

Netanyahu, Smotrich announce another NIS 0.5 reduction in gas tax

A man fills up his vehicle at a gas station in central Israel, October 1, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich say they have agreed on an executive order to lower the price of gas by NIS 0.50 by reducing the excise tax on fuel.

The order will take effect tonight, lowering the cost of a liter of 95 octane gasoline from NIS 8.27 to NIS 7.77.

It joins a previous temporary order that had reduced the cost of fuel by NIS 0.52. That reduction was swallowed up in recent days after soaring prices worldwide forced the Energy Ministry to raise the price of gas, from NIS 7.75 to NIS 8.27.

The first tax reduction is set to expire at the end of October. It is unknown at this point whether it will be extended further.

Gas prices have climbed worldwide since the beginning of the Iran war in late February, as Tehran’s obstruction of the Strait of Hormuz has choked off a key pathway for the global supply of oil and gas. Ongoing tensions between the US and Iran over control of the strait have also fueled uncertainty in the oil market.

Israeli team to wear black ‘7.10’ armbands at tonight’s 2nd match against Ireland

Israel’s national soccer team will wear black armbands with the date “7.10” written on them at tonight’s match against Ireland, the Israel Football Association (IFA) says in a statement.

The move is a reaction to the Irish team’s behavior during the last match between the two, on September 27. The Irish team wore black armbands to honor “all lives lost in the conflict” in Gaza, refused to shake hands with the Israelis and bowed their heads during the playing of Israel’s national anthem, sparking outrage in Israel.

Israel’s captain Manor Solomon said after the game that some of the Irish players had said unpleasant things to their Israeli opponents during the game. “I don’t want to talk about [the Irish players]. If I say what I think of them, I’d likely be suspended for a few matches… Obviously they hate us. We don’t like them.”

On X, the IFA says: “UEFA has approved the Israel Football Association’s request for the national team to wear black armbands in tonight’s match against in memory of those murdered in the October 7 massacre. May their memory be a blessing.”

@UEFA has approved the Israel Football Association’s request for the national team to wear black armbands in tonight’s match against @IrelandFootball in memory of those murdered in the October 7 massacre.

May their memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/nWyl32B4oP

— ISRAEL FA (@ISRAELFA) October 4, 2026

Report: UAE wants flydubai’s terrorist pilot to face death penalty

Hamam al-Hammami, the copilot who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel in a terrorist attack on September 30, 2026, in an undated image from his deleted LinkedIn profile.

The Ynet news site quotes a senior Emirati source as saying the copilot who tried to crash a flydubai flight to Israel is expected to face the death penalty.

The report says Abu Dhabi wants to impose the harshest possible penalty on Hamam al-Hammami, the terrorist who tried to kill all on board the aircraft.

It also says Israel intelligence officials are now in the United Arab Emirates to take part in the investigation of Hammami.

Up to 500 French schools to be totally or partly closed Monday due to protests

A student puts trashes into a fire as protesting students carry out blockading action near place de la Nation, in Paris, on October 2, 2026. (Thomas SAMSON/AFP)

Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday due to the protests by teenage students that have shaken the country, the education minister says.

Lessons will be “totally or partly suspended” in some “400-500” high schools as the security conditions “have not been fulfilled,” says Education Minister Edouard Geffray, adding that 24 schools have been “burned or ransacked” since the start of the movement.

The teens at French high schools, known as lycees, say that their studies are being ruined by high teacher absences, overlong school days and dilapidated facilities, as well as other grievances.

Geffray says the number of schools affected tomorrow will be comparable to the figure from Friday but vows there will be a “partial, progressive return to lessons.”

The movement began at a Paris school on September 17 but grew last week into nationwide protests marked in places by outbursts of violence involving teenagers and security forces, which sometimes used tear gas and batons to disperse the children.

Regev doubles down on denial of responsibility for flydubai security failures, hits back at Lapid

Transportation Minister Miri Regev attends a Likud party conference ahead of the party’s primary elections in the northern city of Haifa, August 4, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev doubles down on her denial of responsibility for the security failures surrounding last week’s near-disastrous flydubai flight, as she lashes Opposition Leader Yair Lapid for accusing her ministry of failing to prevent the attack.

“The Transportation Ministry is not an intelligence agency. It does not conduct checks, is not supposed to conduct checks, and has no access whatsoever to the data,” Regev says, arguing that only intelligence agencies have access to such information. She accuses Lapid of being “shallow, superficial and dishonest,” and says he “doesn’t understand anything about aviation.”

Her comments follow reports that senior Israeli bodies have warned for years that the Transportation Ministry has failed to fulfill its responsibilities for security checks on foreign airlines flying to Israel, including overseeing foreign airlines’ vetting of pilots flying to Israel.

Regev was responding to Lapid, now the No. 2 candidate on Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad slate, who seized on comments made Saturday night by a Transportation Ministry representative acknowledging that the ministry does not conduct background checks on foreign pilots and cannot guarantee another such incident will not occur.

“Imagine that you have to board a flight with a baby and a four-year-old, and you hear a government representative say about the flydubai flight, ‘There is no 100% guarantee that this won’t happen again,'” Lapid said. “What you and your children need is a team of doers who will take responsibility for all our lives. Only B’Yachad.”

Initial Israeli investigation indicates flydubai pilot was likely a lone wolf — report

Hamam al-Hammami, the copilot who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel in a terrorist attack on September 30, 2026, in an undated image from his deleted LinkedIn profile.

An initial investigation by Israel shows that Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani copilot who attacked his flydubai captain on Wednesday in an apparent bid to bring down the Tel Aviv-bound flight, likely acted alone, CBS reports.

The outlet says all avenues are still under investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” and Israeli officials have said they were looking into links with terrorist organizations and enemy states.

Bereaved and hostage families share messages from Oct. 7 in bid to highlight government failures

Ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, bereaved family members and other victims are sharing the text messages they received on October 7, 2023, as part of a social media campaign highlighting the government’s failures.

Those participating call on all Israeli citizens to take part, even if they were not directly harmed in the October 7 massacre.

“We are all October 7; we are all victims of the failure, directly or indirectly,” say the families in a statement.

Shir Mathias, the daughter of Shachar and Shlomi Mathias, who were murdered in Kibbutz Holit while their teenage son was saved, shows the exchange from her family WhatsApp group:

“Mom and dad r dead sorry.”

כולנו 710

״אבא ואמא מתים״.
בבוקר הטבח, כך נראתה קבוצת הווטסאפ המשפחתית שלנו.

אני קורא לכל אחת ואחד מכם, גם אם לא נפגעתם ישירות בטבח, לכו אחורה בהתכתבויות שלכם מאותו יום ארור. אנא העלו גם אתם התכתבויות שלכם מהשבעה באוקטובר.#כולנו710 pic.twitter.com/jJqUrJApYD

— שיר מתיאס הבת של שחר ושלומי (@MathiasShir) October 4, 2026

Viki Cohen, mother of former hostage Sgt. First Class Nimrod Cohen, shares the messages she sent after receiving images and videos of Nimrod’s abduction from a tank near the Gaza border, as she tried to reach anyone she can find in the IDF:

“Why isn’t anyone getting back to us?”

Eyal Eshel, father of surveillance soldier Sgt. Roni Eshel who was killed at the Nahal Oz army base, posts the last message received from his daughter:

“Mom, I’m okay, don’t worry about me. I love you too.”

Einav Zangauker, mother of former hostage Matan Zangauker, shares her final exchange with Matan before he was abducted to Gaza:

“They’re speaking Arabic, they’re right by the door. There’s screaming everywhere here. I love you. Don’t cry.”

Houthis cut vital supply road to Yemen’s Taiz, security sources say

Smoke rises following strikes during ongoing fighting between Houthi and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces along the frontlines in al-Kadha, west of Taiz in western Yemen, on September 16, 2026. (Ahmad AL-BASHA/AFP)

Yemen’s Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden — the interim capital of the internationally recognized Yemeni government — according to four security sources.

“We were informed that the Houthis had taken control of the al-Safiya area, where they cut the main road and took control of the police station,” a police source in the area says.

Three sources with the Yemeni military confirm Houthi control over the area and supply route, with the group effectively encircling Taiz city.

The military sources add that the Houthis had also halted traffic on the main road linking Taiz to Aden, with fighting in the area ongoing.

The Houthi surge follows days of heavy fighting in and around Taiz between the group and government forces.

The city itself remains under the control of government forces but has long been besieged from the north, east and west by Houthi fighters and remains one of the main fronts in Yemen’s civil war.

Following several years of relative calm, Yemen’s war reignited in July against the backdrop of the widening Middle East war.

The country is one of the poorest in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis.

Transportation Ministry: Flydubai told us it had carried out checks on flight crew, we didn’t have access to list

A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft prepares for landing at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on September 30, 2026. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Amid recriminations over security failures that led to the attack by a flydubai copilot on his captain last week as the flight headed toward Tel Aviv, the Transportation Ministry says that the airline said it had vetted the crew, while the ministry doesn’t have access to flight lists.

“Flydubai received explicit instructions, committed to carrying out the required background checks on its crews and announced in writing that it had implemented the national restrictions on flights to Israel in the crew assignment system,” the ministry says in a response to an Army Radio report that it was not meeting its legal obligations to perform security checks.

“The list of crew members for flight FZ1073 was not received by the Transportation Ministry, and the Security Division does not have access to the flight lists,” it says.

Army Radio reported that the ministry and its security division were given the task by the security cabinet, and later by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of overseeing security checks for foreign flights coming into Israel.

However, regional officials say that authorities in the United Arab Emirates shared with Israel a list of passengers and crew ahead of the FlyDubai flight. And the Israel Tax Authority — which under a 2023 law houses the center tasked with screening travelers to Israel — confirms to Haaretz that it received the list from flydubai.

It remains unclear whether that list reached the Transportation Ministry.

“The incident is under investigation by security officials,” says the ministry. “To the extent that a deviation from the instructions is found, it will be handled accordingly.”

London mayor on 90th anniversary of Battle of Cable Street: ‘Hate and antisemitism had no place then, and it has no place here now’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during London Tech Week, June 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Robert Stevens)

London Mayor Sadiq Khan issues a statement to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, when Jews, Irish dockers, trade unionists, socialists and communists prevented Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists from marching through the city’s main Jewish neighborhood.

“90 years ago today, Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts attempted to march through and intimidate a predominantly Jewish area of the East End,” Khan says.

“Men, women and children, alongside local residents, trade unionists and anti-fascist protesters, came together to defend the community in what became known as the Battle of Cable Street,” he says.

“They taught us an important lesson: communities can resist fascism by joining together,” says the London mayor. “Hate and antisemitism had no place in London then, and it has no place here now.”

The statement comes amid accusations that both the pivotal role of the Jewish community in the event and the issue of antisemitism, which was the hallmark of Mosley’s politics, are being erased from the narrative.

Read more: 90 years on, why are British Jews being erased from the heroic Battle of Cable Street?

Former airport worker: Air crew members holding Lebanese, Syrian passports flew to Israel

People disembark from a flydubai carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another flight that came under an attempted terror attack, Ben Gurion Airport, September 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Air crew from foreign airlines holding dual citizenship from countries including Lebanon and Syria have arrived in Israel in the past, an unnamed former worker at Ben Gurion Airport tells Channel 12 news.

The former worker says that some of them tried to actually enter Israel, but were refused when the system flagged their second passports from enemy or hostile states.

“I personally saw air crew — pilots and flight attendants — with Lebanese, Syrian and other passports at the counter,” she says. “This happened with all airlines, not just with the Emirati [ones].”

“Even then, we didn’t understand how pilots from hostile countries could fly to Israel,” she says.

The claim comes amid reports that pilots from unfriendly or hostile states have repeatedly landed planes in Israel in recent years.

Last week, flydubai copilot Hamam al-Hammami stabbed the pilot and allegedly sought to crash the plane with its 180 passengers, almost all of them Israeli, and crew. Israeli and Emirati officials have said the incident was a terror attack.

Woman killed in Jerusalem hit-and-run; suspect arrested

Police and rescue forces at the scene where a truck hit and killed a female pedestrian before allegedly fleeing the scene, in Jerusalem, October 4, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police announce the arrest of the driver of a truck who allegedly fled after he hit and killed a woman in Jerusalem this morning.

The woman, about 70 years old, was declared dead at the scene in the city center, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

Police identify the suspect as a resident of East Jerusalem in his 20s. He has been taken in for interrogation, police say.

Tanker in Strait of Hormuz struck by projectile but crew reportedly safe, British maritime agency says

A projectile struck a tanker on the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center says.

It is not immediately clear who launched the attack, nor is it clear when it was carried out. The UKMTO says the crew is reportedly safe.

Overall ship traffic remains below prewar levels in the Strait of Hormuz, as do shipments of energy products, even though Iran has lost its near-complete chokehold over the crucial waterway due to the US Navy’s efforts to shepherd oil tankers through the strait. That, along with various pipelines, has allowed Gulf countries to restore oil exports to nearly prewar levels.

Iran FM: There is no military solution to conflict with US

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that there is no military solution to his country’s conflict with the United States, with talks on ending the war apparently at an impasse.

“If our enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, our response will be stronger than before, and we will defend ourselves with even more force,” Araghchi says at a gathering of foreign ambassadors. “There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions.”

Iran’s parliament speaker says Strait of Hormuz won’t reopen until Tehran’s 7 conditions met

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, pictured on Iranian state TV, May 31, 2026. (Screenshot)

The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the US are met, Nournews reports Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf as saying, a few days after Tehran received Washington’s reply to its diplomatic proposal.

“The Americans, who say something different in the media, have recently put forward proposals through a mediator. But they must understand that the period of dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands is over,” Ghalibaf is quoted as saying.

“The position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is completely clear and firm, and the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until our seven conditions, based on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, are met.”

Reports: 1 killed in strike on vehicle in central Gaza

Palestinian media outlets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip report that one person was killed in an IDF strike on a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.

Several others were wounded.

The IDF has yet to comment.

📷 صور | من موقع استهداف الاحتلال مركبةً في محيط منطقة الحاووز جنوبي مدينة دير البلح وسط قطاع غزة، ما أدى إلى استشهاد مواطن وإصابة 9 آخرين. pic.twitter.com/CP3DwB9Pxt

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) October 4, 2026

Crossings into West Bank and Gaza to be closed, ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

An Israeli officer looks on as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid delivered from Jordan cross into Gaza on the border between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, through the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing on October 21, 2024. (Jack GUEZ/AFP)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has ordered the closure of crossings into the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the days marking the October 7, 2023, massacre.

Katz says that, following recommendations by the military, a general closure will be imposed on both the West Bank and Gaza Strip on October 5 and October 7.

The move does not affect Israelis using West Bank checkpoints.

Katz says that Palestinian “essential workers in the healthcare sector” will be permitted to cross West Bank checkpoints, as will other Palestinians in cases where there are “commitments by the state to the High Court of Justice.”

Additional exceptions for Palestinians seeking to enter Israel from the West Bank may be granted, subject to the approval of COGAT, he adds.

Aid will not enter the Strip on those days, but COGAT says that the collection of aid on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom Crossing “will continue as usual.”

“It should be emphasized that the closure of the crossings on these dates is not expected to have any impact on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” COGAT adds.

Reports: Settlers torch vehicle in West Bank; no injuries

Palestinian media report that settlers set fire to a vehicle overnight in the village of Samu, in the Hebron area of the southern West Bank.

Footage from the scene also shows graffiti reading “Nova revenge,” apparently referring to the Nova music festival, one of the sites of the October 7 massacre, whose Hebrew-calendar anniversary — the Simchat Torah holiday — was marked yesterday.

No injuries are reported.

#متابعة | مستوطنون يحرقون مركبة ويخطّون شعارات معادية خلال هجومهم على أحد المنازل في منطقة وادي جحيش ببلدة السموع، جنوب الخليل pic.twitter.com/ML4N01S5X9

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) October 4, 2026

Ex-Transportation Ministry chief, B’Yachad No. 3 Terner: Regev responsible for flydubai failure

Keren Terner attends an Israel Hayom conference in Jerusalem, July 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former Transportation Ministry director-general Keren Terner, who is No. 3 on Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad slate, directly rejects Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s claim that her ministry is not responsible for security vetting of foreign airlines, amid mounting questions over the failures preceding last week’s attack on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv.

The government, including Regev and her ministry, have denied responsibility for any security breach preceding the terror incident, saying it lacks the ability to conduct background checks on foreign pilots.

Directly addressing Regev, Terner, who served as Transportation Ministry director-general from 2016 to 2020, including during Regev’s tenure, rejects the minister’s claim: “You are responsible for the security regarding foreign airlines. Not the Shin Bet, not the Mossad. You.”

Terner notes that the Civil Aviation Authority has reported directly to the transportation minister since 2008 and points to a classified state comptroller report published in May 2024 that she says identified shortcomings in the preparedness of the ministry’s security division during Regev’s tenure.

“You were alerted; yet, you took no action,” Terner charges, adding that Regev subsequently chose to keep responsibility for the security division within the ministry.

“Three years later, we must not let the October 7 government whitewash yet another failure,” she adds.

Separately, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, No. 2 on Bennett’s B’Yachad slate, says that “the prime minister, the transportation minister, the Shin Bet and the Mossad owe the public a rigorous accounting for one of the greatest failures we have seen,” and accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of rushing to “claim credit for the heroism of Israeli citizens” before falling silent as questions emerged over the incident.

Father of Nova victim slams Simchat Torah celebration at site: ‘Even the German Nazis don’t dance at Auschwitz’

The father of a woman murdered at Nova on October 7, 2023, slams revelers who danced and sang in a Simchat Torah celebration at the festival site yesterday.

“It was one of my regular visits to the compound. I saw a group there dancing and partying,” Eran Litman, whose daughter Oriya was killed, tells Radio 103FM.

“There was an agreement that they would be in the far parking lots and not there. I demanded that they stop. I told them that my daughter danced her last dance there, and that the ground was saturated with the blood of our children, that even the German Nazis don’t dance at Auschwitz.”

“They ignored it, and continued to jump like deer. I grabbed their table and threw it, and then they panicked, some of them tried to push me. I didn’t flinch. The police came, someone from the JNF also came and promised that it wouldn’t happen, the police also promised that they would be removed, and I left,” he says.

According to Channel 12 news, police and the JNF, which manages the site, had prohibited the celebration from going ahead, but organizers said in a public statement on Thursday that the event had not been canceled.

Video from the scene shows the sea of red sculptural anemones, created to memorialize those killed, just meters from the dancing group.

מתחם הנובה עכשיו pic.twitter.com/1FvOzV5jE9

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) October 3, 2026

Australia launches terror probe into flydubai copilot after revelation he studied in country

Hamam al-Hammami, the copilot who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel in a terrorist attack on September 30, 2026, in an undated image from his deleted LinkedIn profile.

Australian security agencies have launched an investigation after it was revealed that the terrorist who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel had studied in Australia, reports say.

“The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (VIC JCTT), comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, can confirm it is investigating the man’s links to Australia,” an Austrailian Federal Police spokesperson tells The Guardian.

“An update will be provided at an appropriate time,” they say.

Sources tell ABC news that copilot Hamam al-Hammami was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, at which point he left the country.

The outlet says al-Hammami’s student visa was canceled in 2019 because he was not enrolled in any courses, and that the Joint Counter Terrorism Team probe will examine whether the pilot was radicalized in Australia.

CNN reported yesterday that a since-deleted LinkedIn page with the name Hamam al-Hammami showed he studied remotely at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK. The report quoted a source at the university telling CNN that he studied at the school for three years, graduating in 2023 with a degree in aviation management.

Germany’s Merz, defense company CEOs arrive in Kyiv in show of support

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives in Kyiv, accompanied by CEOs from German defense companies, in a show of support for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy amid escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Merz will announce a package of measures that includes the release €1 billion in military aid and €350 million for repairs in the energy sector, German government officials say. The visit is also expected to finalize a deal for joint production of various kinds of drones.

“I travelled to Kyiv today because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks,” Merz says, saying that Russian forces were bombing towns, residential buildings and heating plants. “If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us.”

Cornell president calls alleged gang rape ‘deeply disturbing,’ pledges greater transparency

People walk on the campus at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, October 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Cornell’s president calls the alleged gang rape of a student at a fraternity house in 2024 “deeply disturbing,” says it will weigh on the university for years to come and pledges greater transparency amid mounting outrage over the school’s handling of the case.

In an eight-minute video message to the Cornell community, Michael Kotlikoff describes the past week as one of the most difficult in the university’s history and acknowledges troubling questions about the investigations that followed the allegations.

“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff says. “It raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”

Kotlikoff reaffirms his commitment to supporting an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the case called for by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and says the school’s Board of Trustees will announce details next week. He also expresses support for Hochul’s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to the state attorney general.

“I want to acknowledge something that can be difficult for an institution to say,” Kotlikoff says. “We don’t have all the answers, but we are committed to investigating and finding the answers our community deserves.”

Scrutiny has mounted in recent days over Cornell’s response to allegations that the woman was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in 2024. The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, has sued the university and seven former students.

During a student assembly hearing Thursday that gave students an opportunity to voice concerns and discuss proposals to improve Cornell’s response to sexual assault, several speakers called for Kotlikoff’s resignation.

1,318 security personnel have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023 — Defense Ministry

Family and friends of Capt. Maoz Israel Recanati attend his funeral at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on May 17, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Marking three years since Hamas’s devastating onslaught on October 7, 2023, the Defense Ministry has released updated figures on the country’s fallen security personnel.

Since the outbreak of the war, 1,318 personnel have been killed. The figures include all soldiers, police officers, Shin Bet agents, firefighters, prison warders, and civilian security officers who died on and since October 7, 2023, whether in the line of duty or as a result of an accident, illness, or suicide.

Most were killed during fighting in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and the West Bank.

The conflict has added more than 7,150 family members to Israel’s circle of bereavement, including 2,143 parents, 355 widows, 880 children, and 3,772 siblings, according to the ministry.

2 soldiers hurt, including 1 severely, from accidental grenade explosion in Lebanon

IDF troops operate at the Litani River in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo published by the military on May 12, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

A soldier was severely wounded and an officer was moderately hurt by an accidental grenade explosion in southern Lebanon over the weekend, the military says.

The “operational accident” took place during army activity on Friday in southern Lebanon.

The IDF says the wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital for treatment and that their families were notified.

The circumstances that led to the grenade injuring the troops are under further investigation by the army.

Yoseph Haddad, Arab candidate in Ofer Winter’s party, disavows earlier support for Palestinian state

People of Israel party member Yoseph Haddad speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, September 2, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Yoseph Haddad, an Arab pro-Israel activist and the number-two candidate in Ofer Winter’s right-wing People of Israel party, disavows his earlier support for Palestinian statehood after an old video resurfaces in which he calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

In the video circulating on Saturday night, from an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya channel, Haddad said, “The ultimate solution is the State of Israel alongside a State of Palestine.”

But in a lengthy post on X, Haddad says the interview in question aired more than five years ago, and that he has since changed his mind. He writes that he now opposes Palestinian statehood, just like his party.

He traces his shift back to the 2021 Israel-Hamas conflict, dubbed Operation Guardian of the Walls by the IDF, which also saw Arab-Israeli riots in cities across the country.

“When it comes to a Palestinian state, I have already said in the past that during Guardian of the Walls, when I saw the unity between the Palestinians and Arabs within, who were igniting mixed cities, I changed my mind and understood that this is not the solution,” he writes. “On October 7, I believe that the last people who hadn’t yet understood this — now understood who the Palestinians really are.”

He continues, “A Palestinian state will not be established, and in our party’s principles we made sure to explain that in a clear way: ‘A Palestinian state will not be established on the territory of the State of Israel.'”

He adds, “To the contrary, we will work to return lands to the Land of Israel.”

Trump taps intelligence chief as AI czar, set to deliver report in 120 days — WSJ

Jay Clayton testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing to be the next director of national intelligence on Capitol Hill, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

The White House has created a task force to examine AI’s risks and opportunities and recommend what role the federal government should play in overseeing the technology, with a report due within 120 days, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing the head of the task force, Jay Clayton.

Clayton, who heads the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said he would lead the group, known as the “Super Intelligence Force,” effectively serving as US President Donald Trump’s AI czar, the report says, citing a senior White House official.

Hegseth says US blockade of Strait of Hormuz ‘ironclad’

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, July 21, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “ironclad” and that US President Donald Trump has “all the options he needs on the table” if Iran continues to “play games” with the strait.

“Iran wants to play games with things like the Strait of Hormuz. They don’t control it, we do,” Hegseth tells reporters. “They have literally gotten nothing through. Our blockade has been ironclad and we’re running almost at prewar levels every single night through that, you see that as far as the throughput.”

He adds: “So we feel like we’re in a very strong position. Iran ought make the right choice. If they don’t, the president is going to have all the options he needs on the table. But he is not going to let these things extend unnecessarily. He understands what the mission is and we can get it done when called upon.”

Hegseth also says that Trump is “hellbent” on Iran not having a nuclear weapon.

“The message is very simple: Iran will never ever ever have a nuclear weapon. President Trump is hell-bent and determined to ensure that they do not; they will not,” Hegseth says.

Yemen’s Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reports Saudi attack on Sanaa

Yemen’s Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reports an attack carried out by Saudi Arabia on the capital, Sanaa.

There is no immediate Saudi confirmation.

2 members of Iranian UN delegation ‘kicked out’ of US, State Department says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with reporters in Barranquilla, Colombia, September 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, Pool)

The United States has “kicked out” two members of the Iranian delegation who attended the recent UN General Assembly after they ignored an order to leave the country, the US State Department says.

“Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in [New York] long after the United Nations General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the US,” a US official tells AFP, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “means business.”

US media reports the State Department had told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation to leave the country Monday, and resorted to expelling the two members after learning from the Iranian mission to the UN that they remained in the country on Friday.

One member of the delegation left Friday night, while the second departed Saturday morning, according to Axios.

US and Iranian officials had met the week prior in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

US President Donald Trump had rejected a proposal from Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but told US media he expected talks to resume in the coming days.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that Tehran had no more direct talks scheduled with Washington.

Transportation Ministry: Can’t say that flights are 100% safe, we don’t do background checks on foreign pilots

Transportation Minister Miri Regev holds a press conference in Tel Aviv, June 19, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

As questions mount over what the Israeli government could have done to prevent the near-disaster on flydubai Flight 1073, the Transportation Ministry says it does not perform background checks on pilots who fly into Israel, adding that it can’t promise those flights will be “100 percent” safe.

The statements, made in a briefing to reporters on Saturday night, come after multiple reports that pilots from hostile states have repeatedly flown planes into Israel despite regulations meant to prohibit them from doing so. The perpetrator of the terror attack on the flydubai flight, Hamam al-Hammami, was a citizen of Oman, which does not have relations with Israel.

In the briefing, according to reports in Hebrew media, the Transportation Ministry’s security division denies that it got the names of pilots and crew in advance, or that it has the ability to perform background checks on foreign pilots flying into Israel.

“We are not an intelligence body that checks the intelligence background of foreigners,” a representative of the division says in a statement, according to Ynet. “We have no forces abroad. We have no staff that checks every person there.”

The division also says it cannot specify how many pilots from hostile states have landed in Israel, and that it cannot promise that flights on foreign airlines will be completely secure. The division says it outsources background checks to the airlines themselves.

“Nothing is 100% when it comes to security,” the division’s representative says, according to Ynet.

Channel 12 quotes the representative as saying that the ministry can’t promise “100% that this won’t happen again,” and that the only foolproof way to stop such threats is to bar foreign airlines from landing in Israel entirely.

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Transportation Minister Miri Regev says determining the security of air travel is the responsibility of Israel’s security establishment.

“Those who are supposed to say what the threat level is, and whether you can travel to a given destination, are security officials,” she says.

Drunkard who shoved officers arrested; dozens protest, thinking he was nabbed for draft-dodging — police

Police say they detained a drunken man who shoved officers in the Haredi West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, as dozens of locals tried to thwart the arrest because they were under the false impression that the man was being booked for draft-dodging.

The suspect, 20, attacked officers as they were responding to a report about another drunk man who was disrupting public order and assaulting passersby, police say.

The man who allegedly attacked police has been taken to a police station for investigation and officers were able to disperse the crowd, police say, adding that they will later determine whether to seek an extension of the suspect’s detention.

Haredi media says the arrest took place at the Min HaHar yeshiva in Beitar Illit, and that the person arrested is a student in the yeshiva. Ynet reports that the detainee has, in fact, evaded the draft, though that isn’t why he was arrested.

The JDN news site reports protesters set fire to a trash can and slashed a police vehicle’s tires. Footage from the scene shows Haredi men jeering and crowding around a police vehicle. A police officer can be seen in the footage shoving a protester.

הערינג: הבאלגן כעת בישיבת מן ההר בביתר עילית בעקבות מעצר השיכור pic.twitter.com/Vvwfv4axxr

— הערינג (@NewsHerring) October 3, 2026