Sept. 29: After PM’s warning, Bennett says ‘mass draft evasion and IDF’s collapse’ are ‘the worst danger’

UAE slams Ben Gvir’s Temple Mount visit, days after hosting Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi

The United Arab Emirates says it “strongly condemned” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint Temple Mount compound yesterday.

Ben Gvir’s visit came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

The UAE Foreign Ministry “called on the Israeli government to assume full responsibility, condemn these hostile acts, and hold all those involved accountable, particularly ministers and officials within the Israeli government,” a statement reads.

“The UAE affirmed that the continued attacks and incitement to hatred and violence constitute a systematic extremist campaign that not only targets the brotherly Palestinian people but also threatens social peace, and risks further escalation,” it says.

“Furthermore, the UAE emphasized the need to respect the historical and legal status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque, ensure the protection of all holy sites, and uphold the custodial role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in overseeing the endowments and managing the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it says.

Jews are officially barred from praying at the mount, which was the location of the two Jewish holy temples in ancient times and is Judaism’s holiest site. Muslims revere the mount as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Israel maintains overall security at the site, while the Waqf, an Islamic body, administers religious activities.

But Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Police, has repeatedly declared that Jewish prayer is now allowed at the site, despite statements to the contrary from Netanyahu.

Trump says he doesn’t know if Iran will ‘give up yet,’ claims they’re doing ‘very poorly’

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, September 29, 2026, after meeting with top executives of AI firms. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he does not know if Iran is going to “give up yet” in its war with the United States, but he cast the country as doing “very poorly.”

Qatar’s PM says he got heads up from US half an hour before Iran strikes on Feb. 28

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani says he was informed by the White House of Israeli-US strikes on Iran “half an hour” before they began on February 28.

Asked by interviewer Piers Morgan what his reaction was, Al-Thani answers: “Is there anything that can be done to stop this from happening?”

Asked if he believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, Al-Thani responds: “Well, of course, what’s been committed in Gaza is war crimes. And whoever is responsible for this is a war criminal.”

Israel has denied accusations of genocide. It said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

“There is no question that October 7 was a massacre and should be condemned. And whoever is responsible for this should be held accountable,” he also says, but adds that nothing justified the scale of the Israeli response.

US State Department reissues vague response to West Bank settler riot

A burnt car is seen at one of the two Palestinian houses belonging to the Tubasi family, which were burned in the West Bank village of Jalud, September 29, 2026, following an overnight attack by Israeli settlers. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The US State Department reissues its previously employed vague statement in response to last night’s settler rampage in the Palestinian village of Jalud.

“We are aware of these reports and are in regular dialogue with partners about improving stability and security in the West Bank,” a US State Department spokesperson says.

“We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and support appropriate investigations, legal accountability and judicial processes for those responsible,” the spokesperson adds.

IDF: Siren in Gaza border community was false alarm

A siren that sounded a short while ago in the Gaza border community of Nahal Oz was a false alarm, the military says.

The IDF says the siren was triggered by a “false identification.”

Guy Kapulnik, Israeli actor and pilot, named as victim of light plane crash in California

Actor Guy Kapulnik attends the Sloan Cocktails For War Games event during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, on April 28, 2012, in New York City. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images/AFP)

Israeli actor and pilot Guy Kapulnik, 46, is named by his family as one of the fatalities in a light plane crash in California last week.

Kapulnik, from Moshav Karmei Yosef, was killed along with Taylor Laska, 33, in the crash near Hesperia Airport in the southern part of the US state, according to local media.

Sirens warn of rocket fire in Gaza border community

Sirens warning of rocket fire sound in the Gaza border community of Nahal Oz.

The IDF says it is investigating the cause.

El Al flight to Miami returns to Ben Gurion Airport after 4.5 hours in air due to technical issue

An El Al flight to Miami returned to Ben Gurion Airport this morning after flying for four and a half hours due to a technical problem.

After LY017 was already delayed four hours, from its scheduled departure at 12:15 a.m. to 4:12 a.m., it returned to Israel before being able to cross the Atlantic Ocean, passengers say.

According to the Calcalist news site, the flight returned to Tel Aviv instead of landing at a nearby airport, since it is easier for El Al to repair the aircraft in its hangar while also giving service to its customers.

Report: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Dahlan to run on joint list in Palestinian parliamentary elections

Then-Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, January 3, 2011. (AP Photo/ Majdi Mohammed, File)

Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to form a coalition that will participate in the parliamentary elections alongside former senior Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, who is close to the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian officials tell The Associated Press.

Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed the formation of the electoral alliance in an interview with AP in Istanbul yesterday.

According to al-Hindi, the alliance will support a “unified national list” that could be made up of independent figures rather than members of the groups themselves. However, it is unclear whether the Palestinian Authority will allow the list to participate in the elections.

According to AP, the list will include a bloc led by Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief who went into exile in 2010 following a bitter falling-out with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and who had previously been driven out of Gaza by Hamas. Dahlan has since cultivated close ties with the UAE, where he serves as an adviser to the country’s ruler. The report does not make clear whether Dahlan himself will run or who would represent his bloc on the list.

In an interview on September 26, Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said his movement would participate in the parliamentary elections as part of a “national coalition,” but did not elaborate.

Registration for lists seeking to participate in the elections opened several days ago. The Palestinian Central Elections Commission said six lists have already submitted applications to participate, some of them little-known and others representing factions within the PLO, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian National Initiative. One unusual list, Masar Jadid, is associated with Fatah figures who oppose the current policies of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The commission has yet to approve the lists’ participation.

In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority has not explicitly addressed whether Hamas will be allowed to run in the elections. However, Hamas did not participate as an organization in the local elections held several months ago, and the prevailing assessment is that the PA will not allow Hamas to run as an organization in the parliamentary elections either. It is possible, however, that the PA could approve a list in which Hamas is involved behind the scenes but which does not include figures openly identified with the group.

US sanctions 10 individuals and entitites it accuses of arming Iran

WASHINGTON — The United States has sanctioned 10 individuals and entities that allegedly procured weapons and weapons components for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the US Treasury Department’s website shows.

Mainstream Jewish groups offer mixed response to Mamdani antisemitism plan, criticizing disregard of anti-Zionism

Anti-Zionist protesters in New York City, January 8, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Mainstream Jewish groups praise some parts of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to combat antisemitism, but criticize the outline for neglecting anti-Zionism and hatred related to Israel.

The UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the American Jewish Committee’s office in New York and the New York Board of Rabbis — all leading mainstream groups in the city — say the plan “has a number of positive elements, including some increased security funding for Jewish institutions and expanding proven programs.”

The statement says, though, that the plan “fails to address a central issue that the Mayor himself has perpetuated: rhetoric that demonizes and delegitimizes Israel inevitably leads to the targeting of Jewish New Yorkers.”

Moshe Davis, the head of City Hall’s Office to Combat Antisemitism under the previous administration, says the plan’s security measures “will greatly help safeguard Jewish New Yorkers against attempted terror attacks carried out by those seeking to ‘globalize the intifada.'”

“The latest report seems to ignore anti-Israel protesters targeting synagogues and the hate being taught in our educational spaces,” Davis adds. “In doing this, it seems to make a conscious effort to erase the connection between the violence against Jews we are seeing in our city and the anti-Israel propaganda clearly fueling it.”

City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, a co-chair of the council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, says, “There is much to welcome in the Mayor’s strategy, particularly its focus on education, prevention, and ensuring Jewish New Yorkers can live openly and proudly in our city.”

“This strategy, however, misses an opportunity to confront the reality of the intersection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” Dinowitz says. “We cannot ignore that attacking or excluding ‘Zionists’ can and has become a convenient way to disguise antisemitism as political disagreement.”

Leftist Jewish groups praise the initiative.

“Mayor Mamdani’s strategy is rooted in an important recognition that confronting antisemitism is a critical part of the wider struggle against bigotry,” Jonathan Jacoby, the head of the Nexus Project, says in a statement. “Jews have always thrived in pluralistic democracies. When we defend one another and build a society where no group can be singled out for discrimination, we’re all safer and more secure.”

Bono compares Ben Gvir to Nazi SS chief Himmler over comments on Gaza

Bono poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Bono: Stories of Surrender' at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 17, 2025. (Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

Irish singer-songwriter Bono compared National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to SS chief Heinrich Himmler in an interview with Rolling Stone yesterday.

In the interview, Bono discussed a new song, described by Rolling Stone as: “Bono’s elliptical take on the thousands of years that led up to Gaza, with an empathetic look at the history of the Jewish people, all narrated simultaneously by the biblical David and the statue Michelangelo made of him.”

“It’s an attempt to try and grasp what’s going on in a world where we never needed the moral force of Judaism more than now,” Bono says, while repudiating the “unholy offense” of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre on Israel.

Bono adds, however, that he is horrified by the far-right Otzma Yehudit leader Ben Gvir’s comments on Gazans — specifically a comment in which the minister said that “there are people there who are not worthy of life” — and compared Ben Gvir to Himmler.

“As a person who has stood by Israel,” Bono goes on, “and standing by Israel — as I stand with the Palestinian people, by the way, that they have a Palestine — there’s all this semantic back and forth over genocide, and it’s a legal term, and the ICC and the ICJ will rule on it eventually. But here’s a guy, a minister in the government, and he’s not being locked up… and this guy Netanyahu says, ‘Well, I need him to keep my majority.’”

Bono adds: “So many of the people that have expanded my mind, changed my consciousness, made me laugh, broken my heart with their songs, lifted my spirits, are Jewish. And this guy’s putting their religion in the shade… It’s just outrageous.”

He urges Israel “to fix the situation. They have to put what happened at the Nakba right, by making some compromise that some of these people don’t wanna make, and do the just thing. Justice is at the heart of Judaism.” (Nakba is the Arabic term for the “catastrophe” surrounding the establishment of Israel and displacement of Palestinians.)

In response, Ben Gvir decries Bono, writing on X: “There is no limit to the hypocrisy of the world’s supporters of terrorism. Bono did not compare the Hamas murderers to Himmler – only those who defend the Jews from the next massacre.”

“I have news for him: the Jews are done apologizing for their right to live. We can do without your sympathy for dead Jews; we prefer to remain alive and face your criticism,” he says.

“If you truly care about the residents of Gaza, help them leave for Ireland. They are begging to emigrate from Gaza. They will have a wonderful future in Ireland,” he says.

There is no limit to the hypocrisy of the world’s supporters of terrorism. Bono did not compare the Hamas murderers to Himmler – only those who defend the Jews from the next massacre.

I have news for him: the Jews are done apologizing for their right to live. We can do without…

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 29, 2026

UK police say no IEDs found in probe of suspected plot to attack airbase

LONDON — Britain’s counter-terrorism police say that no improvised explosive devices had been found as part of an investigation into a suspected plot targeting a British airbase used by US forces to strike Iran.

Morocco’s king appoints first-ever female PM after party wins election

Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Moroccan minister and mayor of Marrakech, takes part in an electoral rally for Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) in Tangier, Morocco, September 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

RABAT, Morocco — The king of Morocco names Marrakesh Mayor Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first-ever woman prime minister, the royal cabinet said, after her party won last week’s parliamentary election.

El Mansouri, who has also served as the kingdom’s minister of habitat, was received by King Mohammed VI at the royal palace and was “tasked with forming the new government”, the cabinet said.

Bennett warns of ‘mass draft evasion and the collapse of the IDF’ at Tel Aviv presser

Former Prime Minister and B'Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett speaks to the media in Tel Aviv, September 26, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

B’Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett charges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is overseeing “mass draft evasion and the collapse of the IDF,” in a press conference at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

“Netanyahu warns of security dangers, but he himself leads the worst danger of all — mass draft evasion and the collapse of the IDF,” the former prime minister tells reporters, referring to the current government’s attempts to legislate draft exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students.

Bennett says nobody can deny that the “IDF is facing collapse.”

“Everyone who was part of the failure must end their job immediately,” Bennett also says, regarding those who were in leadership positions in the lead-up to the October 7, 2023, massacre.

Mamdani announces campaign to combat antisemitism, pledges millions for Jewish centers

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces his long-awaited campaign to combat antisemitism.

The Talmud teaches that anyone who sustains one soul, has sustained an entire world. For generations, Jewish New Yorkers have sustained our city. Today, we are launching the first-ever municipal Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.

Together, we will ensure Jewish New Yorkers are… pic.twitter.com/nUpTy7mFlT

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) September 29, 2026

The project, called the Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, includes funding for hate crime prevention, an interagency working group, and investments in Jewish institutions.

Jews make up around 10 percent of the city’s population and are targeted in half of all confirmed hate crimes in the city, according to NYPD data.

Mamdani says in a video statement that he has been meeting with Jewish New Yorkers for the past year.

“Time and again I’ve heard the same thing: antisemitism is real, and it is growing,” he says. “This is not only unacceptable; it’s something we all have an obligation to change, and City Hall will lead the way.”

Mamdani pledges a $26 million increase in hate crime prevention funding, calling it an 800% increase over last year, which he has announced before.

He says the city will set up an Interagency Security Infrastructure Working Group. He says the group was disbanded in 2024, although his predecessor, Eric Adams, set up a similar antisemitism task force that coordinated between an array of city agencies.

Mamdani also calls the plan the “first-ever municipal Strategy to Combat Antisemitism,” although Adams made a similar announcement when he launched his Office to Combat Antisemitism last year.

Mamdani says the city will invest millions in Jewish cultural centers and nonprofits, including $2 million for the Queens Holocaust Memorial Garden and $2.5 million for Brooklyn’s Center for New Jewish Culture.

“While these efforts are aimed at protecting our Jewish neighbors, they will benefit all New Yorkers. Our safety is bound up together. The Mishnah teaches us that “anyone who sustains one soul, it is as though they have sustained an entire world.’ For generations, Jewish New Yorkers have sustained our city,” he says. “Today, we hold a responsibility to sustain and protect our Jewish neighbors, a responsibility that belongs to each of us.”

Mamdani’s campaign was supposed to have been released on Rosh Hashanah. The reason for the delay was not clear.

The announcement follows a listening tour with the Jewish community led by the head of Mamdani’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, Phylisa Wisdom. Jewish community members reported positive meetings with Wisdom during the tour.

Mamdani did not make any mention of Israel or anti-Zionism in his announcement. He has shown himself willing to condemn classic antisemitism, such as swastika graffiti, but reluctant to speak out against anti-Zionist activity, as his anti-Israel activism has alarmed swaths of the Jewish community.

Three reportedly killed in strikes in Gaza over past hour

Palestinian media outlets in Gaza affiliated with Hamas report that two people were killed and at least six were wounded, including a child, in an IDF strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The age of the wounded child is not specified.

Additionally, Palestinian media reports that one person was killed in a drone strike in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.

The IDF says it targeted terrorists in both of the areas where strikes were reported.

اللحظات الأولى لاستهداف مجموعة من المواطنين في مخيم حلاوة بجباليا البلد شمال القطاع. pic.twitter.com/Zi4W9G9JNV

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) September 29, 2026

Herzliya-based firm closes $125 million fund for combat-proven military tech

Protego Ventures, a Herzliya-based defense venture capital firm founded by two Israeli women, closes $125 million in capital commitments for its debut fund targeting battle-tested Israeli military technologies.

Founded in 2024 by IDF intelligence unit veteran Lital Leshem and veteran fund manager Lee Moser, Protego invests in young Israeli startups developing modern defense technologies, from autonomous systems, drones and agentic AI to critical infrastructure sensing and contested-environment navigation.

“Protego was built on the conviction that many of the best defense companies in the world are being built right now, in Israel, under real operational demands, iterating according to real frontline conditions, for real customers,” says Leshem. “That feedback loop produces technologies that are faster, leaner, scalable and more flexible than almost anything developed through traditional channels.”

Lapid insists on meeting Netanyahu over alleged pre-election threat, after PM’s office says military aide would give update

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid again demands a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier’s warning of a pre-election attack plot.

Netanyahu’s office said that Lapid would be updated by his military secretary after the opposition leader’s initial request for the meeting.

Lapid doubles down on his request, writing on X, “The moment the prime minister of a democratic country publicly states that there is a threat that could disrupt the election, all involved parties must receive a full update if there is a problem and what steps are being taken to ensure the process proceeds in full.

“Therefore, I demand that Netanyahu promptly hold a four-way discussion with him and me together with the Shin Bet head and Central Elections Committee chairman,” Lapid writes.

Brother born to the late hostage Almog Sarusi

Bereaved father Yigal Sarusi, father of slain hostage Almog Sarusi, holds his newborn son on September 28, 2026. (Courtesy)

The parents of the late Almog Sarusi — taken hostage from the Nova desert rave on October 7, 2023, and killed in Hamas captivity — this week named their new son, Lavi, born from eggs they had frozen many years ago.

Chaim Broyde, the mayor of Ra’anana, the Sarusis’ hometown, writes about the baby in a Facebook post after attending the circumcision ceremony.

“At the circumcision ceremony, there was tremendous longing. Tears. Pain. And something else: a baby bringing a huge smile to a family for whom the meaning of the word ‘life’ is so profound,” writes Broyde.

He related that two years ago, as Nira and Yigal Sarusi mourned the loss of their son Almog, they remembered the eggs they had frozen 25 years earlier as part of a medical procedure.

The Sarusis, now in their 60s, located the eggs, discussed the idea with their surviving children, and found a surrogate.

It took several attempts, and the pregnancy was kept secret until the Monday afternoon ceremony in Ra’anana.

“A miracle happened to us,” stated the invitation, Broyde writes.

“Thanks to a wonderful surrogate, a son was born to us on Yom Kippur,” the invitation stated. “We will forever carry in our hearts the pain over Almog, may God avenge his blood, but we are filled with hope that alongside the pain, we will be able to rejoice in the gifts that God has given us.”

Netanyahu’s military secretary to give Lapid security update, PM’s office says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his military secretary will give Opposition Leader Yair Lapid a security update, his office says, after the premier warned of an unspecified pre-election attack plot earlier today.

After the warning, Lapid said he requested that Netanyahu provide him with an update.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regularly holds security briefing meetings with Opposition Leader Lapid, and the most recent one between them took place two weeks ago on September 14,” the Prime Minister’s Office also says in a statement.

Katz says Hamas leaders abroad in Israel’s ‘crosshairs,’ vows to hunt down all those with Oct. 7 role

Defense Minister Israel Katz attends a conference at Binyanei HaUma (Jerusalem International Convention Center) in Jerusalem, June 17, 2026. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Hamas’s leaders abroad are in Israel’s crosshairs, threatening to kill all those who took part in the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

“The IDF eliminated the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade overnight, as part of the ongoing series of operations against the terror leaders in Gaza,” says Katz in a video statement.

The defense minister says that “the Hamas leaders abroad are also in the crosshairs.”

“None of these despicable murderers, who played a central role in the October 7 massacre, may be allowed to die peacefully,” he says.

Referring to Israel’s strike on Hamas’s leaders in Qatar last year, Katz says, “Once they escaped due to a malfunction. But the next time will come, and they too will be sent to the depths of hell.”

Lapid says he requested emergency security update from Netanyahu over alleged pre-election attack plot

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in his office on June 17, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/ GPO/ File)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says he requested an emergency security update from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the premier announced there are suspicions that “enemies” may attempt to attack Israel ahead of the October 27 election.

“I request to understand if the threats are real, and if so, how the prime minister is preparing this time to ensure the election will take place without disruptions,” Lapid writes on X.

Under heavy security, Zelensky marks 85 years since Babyn Yar massacre

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) attending a ceremony for the anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre, in Ukraine, September 29, 2026. (Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine)

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a ceremony marking 85 years since tens of thousands of Jews were gunned down by Nazis and their collaborators in a two-day rampage at Babyn Yar, in Kyiv.

According to organizers, protective measures at the event included a “special air-defense system deployed to protect the president and numerous snipers positioned amid concerns over a possible attack, including by Russian drones.”

“We must remember the terrible things that happened here many years ago, and now they are happening again — this time at the hands of the Russians,” says Zelensky.

Around 50 foreign ambassadors attended, including Israel’s Ambassador Roi Rosenblit, and the envoys from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.

The body of Daniel Umansky, a 14-year-old Israeli citizen killed by a Russian drone in Kyiv last week, will be flown from Moldova to Israel tomorrow, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.

Ireland soccer coach says team yet to decide what to do at second Israel match

Ireland's soccer players bow their heads as the Israeli national anthem plays before their UEFA Nations League match in Debrecen, Hungary, September 27, 2026. (Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland has yet to decide how it will approach its second Nations League match against Israel, coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says in comments reported by Irish media today.

The remarks emerge two days after Ireland beat Israel 3-0 in Hungary following a turbulent build-up in which the squad voted to fulfill the fixture despite unease among players over the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“We haven’t decided what we will do 100 percent,” Hallgrimsson says when asked about the return fixture, according to Irish media.

“When we get home tonight, we’ll give them a day off tomorrow to go home, and share a day with their families and friends and loved ones, and then we’ll come back and prepare for the Austria game.

“Hopefully we can finish that one and take a discussion.”

Hallgrimsson says that there were differing views within his squad.

“All I can say is I think we are all uncomfortable, number one,” he says.

“Number two, we have different opinions, and we should allow people to have different opinions. It’s not one opinion that’s right, and all the others are wrong.”

Qatar: We are passing messages between the US and Iran

Qatar is continuing to mediate and pass messages between the US and Iran “to build common ground that brings viewpoints closer and leads to a peaceful solution,” says Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Anjed Al-Ansari.

He stresses that Qatar is working for “de-escalation and restoring full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Qatar condemns the targeting of infrastructure, energy facilities, and ships, as this threatens the interests of peoples and violates the principles of international law and good neighborliness,” says Ansari. “The continuation of the crisis and instability in the region affects energy, food, and industrial supplies and increases pressure on the global economy.”

Hamas confirms death of Northern Gaza Brigade commander in Israeli strike

Palestinians carry the bodies of Hamas terrorists Mohannad Abu Foul and Izz al-Din al-Bik, during their funeral after they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, September 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Hamas confirms the death of Izz al-Din al-Bik, the commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade in the terror group’s military wing, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City overnight.

The terror group says al-Bik was previously chief of intelligence in the brigade, making him “one of the commanders” of the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

When former Northern Gaza Brigade commander Ahmed Ghandour was killed by Israel on November 10, 2023, al-Bik assumed command of the unit, leading the fighting against Israeli troops throughout the war, Hamas says.

Eisenkot’s Yashar party tells PM to update Lapid on potential threat to election to ensure it isn’t ‘political maneuver’

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must update Opposition Leader Yair Lapid if there are security threats ahead of the upcoming election, in response to the premier’s warning today.

“If Netanyahu’s statements regarding the security threats are correct, this requires an immediate update to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid,” the party says on X, adding that such a meeting is needed “to ensure that it is indeed a genuine threat and not a political maneuver intended to harm the election.”

Ship struck in Hormuz, but crew safe and fire put out — monitor

An “unknown projectile” struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire on board that has been extinguished, a British maritime agency reports.

The ship was hit on Monday evening but the crew is since confirmed safe, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) says.

“The fire has since been extinguished and the vessel is underway,” the agency says. “There has been no reported environmental impact or damage assessment.”

Iranian rial hits record low as economic warfare takes toll

Iran’s currency has fallen to a new record low, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the US dollar in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.

The latest decline comes just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.

US President Donald Trump and his top aides are insistent that Iran’s economy cannot sustain a conflict much longer and have expressed confidence that Tehran will be forced to capitulate.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Monday appearance on Fox News said Iran was heading toward an economic “cataclysm.” Administration officials say that a combination of new sanctions and a US naval blockade aimed at preventing Iranian oil from going to market has imperiled Tehran.

“And so when you’re denying them money through oil sales and sanctions, you’re not just punishing them,” Rubio said. “You are preventing them from getting access to money that they will use to try and kill Americans and others around the world and their own people and build weapons and threaten the world and ultimately break out to a nuclear weapon program.”

Man shot, moderately wounded in Hafia

A 31-year-old man was shot in Haifa’s Wadi Nisnas neighborhood a short while ago, according to first responders.

The man was rushed to the city’s Rambam Medical Center in moderate condition, medics say.

Officers are scanning the area for suspects, police say, adding that the shooting is “likely criminal” in nature, rather than nationalist.

Army reportedly failed to coordinate Jalud return with police, Shin Bet, leaving soldiers outmanned

Police and Shin Bet sources cited by Hebrew media accuse the IDF of failing to notify them of its plan to enable a displaced Palestinian family to return home in the Nablus-area West Bank village of Jalud overnight.

The family’s return was thwarted when over 100 settler extremists staged a riot in the village, attacking Palestinians and troops and setting fire to homes and other property.

Because of the lack of coordination, just 12 Border Police officers were on call to provide backup for soldiers escorting the family, Haaretz reports.

“The IDF failed massively in one of the most important tests and acted of its own accord with a small force,” the newspaper quotes a senior law enforcement official as saying.

Sources cited by Channel 12 say the small force that was securing the operation sheltered with the Palestinian family on the second floor of the home they were attempting to return to. Troops fired rubber bullets at the rioting settlers to keep them at bay until reinforcements began to arrive from the police and Shin Bet, the report says.

French far-right leader dismisses antisemitism allegations as political hit job

Jordan Bardella, a key ally of French far-right presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, dismisses allegations that he made antisemitic comments in 2013, calling the accusation part of a “total war” against their party ahead of elections next year.

“We are seeing the beginnings of a total war, an attempt to destabilize the presidential campaign,” National Rally (RN) leader Bardella, flanked by Le Pen, tells party deputies.

On Monday, investigative website Mediapart published a report based on a review of dozens of private messages from Bardella from 2013 to 2015 that it said showed a pattern of antisemitic and conspiratorial rhetoric.

Mediapart cited one message in which it said Bardella claimed, “All the banks are owned by Jews.”

Bardella has denied the report. He denounces the allegations as a bid to “kill my political career.”

Le Pen says she has “total confidence” in Bardella, 31, who is tipped to become prime minister if she wins the presidency after he made a meteoric rise through party ranks over the last decade.

“Our opponents will do absolutely anything — including the most disgusting things — to try to derail this momentum” ahead of the 2027 election for a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, she alleges.

“I think it’s Mediapart that needs to be told to put on its Kevlar vest, because there will obviously be a response to the way they are behaving,” she adds.

Powerful son of Libyan strongman rumored to have met Netanyahu in Abu Dhabi

Deputy Commander of the Libyan National Army, Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar, right, shakes hands with Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in Athens, on June 15, 2026. (AP/Petros Giannakouris)

The plane of the deputy commander of the faction controlling eastern Libya landed in Abu Dhabi some 20 minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage touched down on Sunday, fueling speculation of a covert meeting between the two.

Netanyahu flew secretly to the UAE with senior advisers to meet with Emirati President Mohamed Bin Zayed.

A short time later, according to flight data, a private Airbus jet with registration number P4-KH5I9 landed as well. According to the Italian Il Foglio daily, the jet is regularly used by Saddam Haftar, son of Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls eastern Libya.

The outlet cites Mohamed Buisier, an erstwhile Haftar adviser who broke with the warlord, claiming that “Saddam met Netanyahu to secure political support for his bid for the Libyan presidency.”

A US-backed power-sharing deal meant to unify Libya, which is split between Khalifa Haftar’s strongman rule and opposing forces based in Tripoli, would have Saddam installed as Libya’s president.

The elder Haftar, who launched an offensive aimed at capturing Tripoli in 2019, has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, while the Tripoli-based militias opposed to his rule have been aided by Qatar, Italy and Turkey.

The younger Haftar has been reported to have held meetings with Israeli officials in the past. In 2021, he reportedly landed in Israel for a secret meeting in which he offered to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries in return for Israeli support, according to Haaretz.

According to Israel Hayom, one of Haftar’s sons signed a contract in 2021 with an Israeli PR firm registered in the UAE ahead of since-delayed presidential elections.

Russia says Iran needs to remain in nonproliferation pact

Russia does not want Iran to quit the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and counts on it remaining a party to the agreement, the Kremlin says.

Iranian lawmakers have threatened to consider withdrawing from the pact in response to pressure aimed at shuttering the country’s nuclear program. Reports on Monday suggested that the threat was leveled again by Iranian deputy parliament speaker Ali Nikzad.

“This statement requires further clarification. We would not want Iran to withdraw from the NPT,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says.

The treaty commits Tehran not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons. Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, raising questions about its intentions.

Russia and Iran have close ties under a strategic cooperation treaty between the two countries.

Settler leader urges law enforcement action to rein in violent extremists

Israel Ganz, chair of the Binyamin Regional Council, attends a press conference on the current security situation outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, August 22, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Settlement leader Yisrael Ganz says Israel should be using law enforcement tools it has to put an end to settler violence, marking a rare instance of criticism of the phenomenon coming from inside the movement.

Reacting to a mass settler riot after midnight in which over 100 extremists attacked Palestinians, torched homes and clashed with troops in the West Bank village of Jalud, Ganz says “incidents like what happened overnight can and must be prevented.”

“The state has powers and tools to stop this phenomenon, and it needs to use them,” says Ganz, who heads the Binyamin Regional Council in the central West Bank and also leads the non-governmental Yesha settlement umbrella group.

Like other government figures offering condemnations in the wake of the attack, Gantz urges the prosecution of those responsible, even as he appears to point a finger at law enforcement for failing to do so.

“The law must be enforced in [the West Bank] exactly like it is enforced in Tel Aviv or Kfar Saba,” he says.

Citing death threats, Democrats petition High Court for Shin Bet to guard Golan

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, attends an election campaign event in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, ahead of the upcoming Israeli general elections, August 19, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)

The Democrats party petitions the High Court of Justice to order the Shin Bet to provide security for party leader Yair Golan, citing what it says are dozens of concrete death threats against the former general less than a month before the election.

“The writing is on the wall in blood, they are threatening to hang him in the town square,” the party says in a statement. “We will not sit idly by while the next political assassination is being planned. We demand that the High Court intervene immediately, before it is too late.”

The petition, filed against Shin Bet chief David Zini and the government, notes that even though the police have assessed Golan’s threat level at four out of six — the same level as Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot — security protection has been approved only for Eisenkot.

Among the threats cited in the petition are calls for Golan to receive “a bullet in the head” and to “die in terrible agony,” as well as messages telling him, “We’ll gouge out your eyes,” “You and your family will be wiped out,” and “A person like that shouldn’t be in politics – only a noose.”

“A candidate who cannot appear in public without risking his life is constrained in conducting his election campaign compared with candidates who do not face a similar threat,” the petition says, arguing that an attack on a candidate over his political views during an election campaign would constitute “an attack on the electoral process itself.”

The Democrats have been demanding protection for Golan for months and warned last week that they would petition the court if he was not granted protection by September 27, accusing the government’s Advisory Committee for Personal Security, which must approve the request, of dragging its feet and being politically motivated.

Neither Golan nor Eisenkot is currently an MK and therefore neither automatically receives the security protection afforded to elected officials.

18 hurt in 8-car pileup on Route 6

An eight-car collision on Route 6 in northern Israel briefly halts northbound traffic on the country’s main transnational tollway, authorities say, jamming up already heavy holiday traffic.

Police say 18 people are lightly wounded in the pileup, which took place between the Iron and Ein Tut junctions in the Lower Galilee. First responders are treating victims at the scene.

18 פצועים קל בתאונת דרכים בין 8 כלי רכב בכביש 6 לצפון סמוך למחלף עירון, הכביש נחסם לתנועה@Yael_Hadad97 pic.twitter.com/4fN5olwZXP

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 29, 2026

Police shut the highway following the crash, but have since opened two of the three lanes.

Iran threatens to strike Mideast ‘infrastructure’ if country attacked

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, at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, September 28, 2026. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatens that if his country’s security was not guaranteed, no infrastructure in the region will be safe from attack, state media reports.

“In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe,” says Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker, according to video released by state TV.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says US President Donald Trump is a “big liar,” citing his statements on nuclear weapons and other issues.

“The American people need to be told the truth,” Hossein Mohebbi says, adding that the US had failed in its military campaign against Iran and should leave the region.

Katz accuses ‘handful of rioters’ in West Bank of harming anti-terror efforts

Defense Minister Israel Katz joins a chorus of condemnation against what he says were the “handful of rioters” who attacked Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank village of Jalud overnight, preventing a Palestinian family from returning to their home.

Katz says he is currently in the West Bank with Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth to observe Israeli counterterrorism activities, accusing the rioters of undermining the soldiers’ mission.

“Precisely here, in the face of this important security activity, the severity of the actions of a handful of rioters… who attacked security forces and set fire to Palestinian homes and property stands out,” he says.

Katz says the violent settlers are “hindering efforts to thwart Palestinian terrorism, diverting forces from their missions, and seriously harming security efforts, the settlement [enterprise], and the State of Israel.”

“I strongly condemn these criminal acts. This handful of rioters does not represent the settler community, and decisive action must be taken against them, and those responsible must be brought to justice,” he adds.

Israeli leaders have frequently blamed the increasing number of settler attacks against Palestinians on a “handful of extremists.” Last night’s violence in Jalud involved over 100 rioters, according to the IDF.

Netanyahu calls for book to be thrown at Jalud rioters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns overnight violence by Jewish extremists in the West Bank overnight, calling for the perpetrators to be persecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The small number of rioters does not represent the law-abiding settler community in Judea and Samaria,” he says in a statement released by his office, referring to the West Bank. “They do it a grave injustice and interfere with our forces as they carry out their mission.”

Netanyahu has regularly downplayed settler violence as a marginal concern, claiming that nearly all incidents are the work of a few hundred wayward youths.

“I stand behind the IDF and Border Police personnel who are working to thwart terrorism and protect security,” he continues, “and I call on law enforcement authorities to prosecute the rioters to the fullest extent of the law.”

Army confirms killing Hamas commander in Gaza strike

The IDF and Shin Bet confirm killing the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade in a strike in Gaza City overnight.

Izz al-Din al-Bik had been in the role since the previous Northern Gaza Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, was killed by Israel on November 10, 2023, according to the military.

The joint statement says that al-Bik was responsible for managing the activities of the brigade’s operatives, including directing them to carry out attacks on Israeli troops and civilians. The commander was also involved in restoring the brigade’s capabilities, “which suffered a fatal blow throughout the war,” the army says.

Al-Bik was killed “in a precise aerial strike” in Gaza City overnight, because he “posed an immediate threat to IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the military and Shin Bet add.

צה"ל ושב"כ חיסלו את מפקד חטיבת צפון הרצועה של ארגון הטרור חמאס

צה"ל ושב"כ תקפו בצפון רצועת עזה הלילה וחיסלו את המחבל עז אלדין ביכ, מפקד חטיבת צפון הרצועה בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.

עז אלדין ביכ מכהן בתפקידו מאז חיסולו של אחמד ע'נדור, ואחרי ששירת כקצין המודיעין בחטיבה.… pic.twitter.com/EoRSpLDyWr

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 29, 2026

Price at pump set to hit record high of NIS 8.27 per liter

A Paz gas station in Tel Aviv, November 28, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A limited reprieve from sky-high gas prices will come to a close Thursday, with  fuel costs set to hit a record NIS 8.27 per liter for October, the Energy Ministry announces.

The price, equivalent to $10.17 per gallon, is NIS 0.52 higher per liter than September, even with a half-shekel discount on a fuel tax surcharge remaining in place.

The discount, which dropped the price at the pump to NIS 7.75 for most of September, is set to expire in November.

In a statement, the Energy Ministry says the rise is largely due to instability in world energy markets sending prices skyward, with oil breaking the $100 per barrel benchmark. It does not mention the war with Iran started by Israel and the US as the cause for the higher prices.

The shekel’s strength against the dollar is also a factor, it says.

The previous high was NIS 8.25/liter, set in September 2012. It was briefly matched in early September this year before the tax discount took effect.

Fuel prices in Israel are controlled by the government, which updates the maximum gas stations may charge once a month.

Sa’ar blasts Jalud riot as ‘serious and abhorrent’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemns the overnight violence against troops and Palestinians in the West Bank village of Jalud, calling it “serious and abhorrent.”

“Anyone who commits these criminal offenses and assaults Border Police fighters and IDF soldiers, and even harms them, are criminals who must be dealt with to the full severity of the law,” says Sa’ar on X.

“They harm our values. They harm Jewish settlement. They harm Israel,” he writes.

Herzog condemns Jalud riot as ‘moral stain’

President Isaac Herzog says law enforcement authorities must act “decisively” against settlement extremists who rioted overnight in the West Bank village of Jalud, torching property, clashing with troops and preventing a Palestinian family from returning to the home they were violently evicted from.

Writing on X, Herzog says the violence, “of utmost severity,” is a “moral stain [and] an attack on the rule of law and our most basic values as a nation.”

The rioters, he says, have “caused harm to the holiday of Sukkot, to the settling of the land and to the nation as a whole.”

“The violence is deeply contradictory to the values of Judaism,” Herzog states.

Iran expecting answer today from US on Hormuz offer — top diplomat

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he expects a formal answer from the United States today to Tehran’s proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, state media reports.

Qatari intermediaries “presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us,” Araghchi said late Monday, according to the report.

“The Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow,” Iran’s top diplomat, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, is quoted as saying.

Senior Hamas commander killed in Gaza strike, Netanyahu and Katz say

The commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City overnight, according to Palestinian media and Israeli leaders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz say in a joint announcement that Izz al-Din al-Bik was targeted in the IDF strike, accusing the Northern Gaza Brigade commander of being involved in advancing attacks against Israeli forces and recruiting new terrorists.

مصادر محلية: استشهاد عز الدين البيك (أبو حمزة) "عشماوي"، قائد لواء شمال قطاع غزة في كتائب القسام، إثر الغارة الإسرائيلية فجراً على شقة في حي النصر غربي مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/3ksY8O51Yb

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 29, 2026

“We will continue to hunt down and pursue all of the organization’s terrorists, from its commanders to its last operative, wherever they hide, until there is no Hamas in Gaza,” the statement reads.

According to Palestinian media, al-Bik was killed in a strike that hit an apartment in the al-Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City.

عاجل | طيران الاحتلال يشن 3 غارات تستهدف شارع النصر بمدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/Rc6QRceKl2

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 29, 2026

The IDF has not yet commented on the strike.

Al-Bik’s killing marks the third Hamas brigade commander killed by Israel in recent weeks, after the commander of the Rafah Brigade was killed on September 15 and the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade was killed on September 11.

Third Israeli arrested over Jalud rampage

Balaclavas, a club, and cellphones found inside a car belonging to an Israeli suspected of participating in an attack in the West Bank village of Jalud, September 29, 2026. (Israel Police)

A third Israeli has been detained on suspicion of participating in the overnight violence against troops and Palestinians in the West Bank village of Jalud, police say.

Earlier, two Israeli settlers from the northern and central West Bank, aged 15 and 17, were detained by IDF troops in Jalud and handed over to the police for questioning.

Police say that during searches for suspects who participated in the rioting and arson in the village, officers inspected a suspicious vehicle in the area, which was found to contain balaclavas and a club.

The vehicle also contained “findings” apparently linked to a suspect, an 18-year-old resident of Jerusalem, who was arrested, police say.

The suspect’s vehicle was seized, along with another car belonging to an Israeli found in the area, which police say is suspected to have been used by the assailants.

Police and Shin Bet investigators are preparing to enter Jalud later, under IDF escort, to collect evidence and take testimony for the investigation.

Palestinian blocked by rioters from Jalud return says home burned down

The Palestinian homeowner whose return to his property was blocked by settlers overnight says his home was burned to the ground by the violent mob.

Mahmoud Tubasi tells The Times of Israel that rioters also torched the car he and his family arrived in, and they only escaped without injury because IDF troops pulled them to safety and moved them into a military vehicle.

Tubasi and his family had been attempting to return home under IDF escort after the High Court ruled earlier this month that Israeli authorities must remove settlers who had taken over three Palestinian homes and allow the return of their owners.

Tubasi says he got a call from the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration around midnight telling the family they could go back home, before their return was violently thwarted.

Footage published by Palestinian media shows an attempt to set the house on fire, though it was unclear how extensive the blaze was.

???? متابعة شهاب | مستوطنون يضرمون النيران في منازل عائلة الطوباسي بقرية جالود جنوب شرق نابلس، ويطردون الأهالي مجددًا من المنطقة، فجر اليوم. pic.twitter.com/RvOJCuYLDf

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 29, 2026

Footage also showed extensive damage inside the house, including smashed stairs, after settlers had stayed there for several weeks.

حرق منزل الطوباسي في بلده جالود من قبل المستوطنين pic.twitter.com/rG5fmKZazy

— ????????????????منير الجاغوب ???????????????? (@MonirAljaghoub) September 29, 2026

Driver killed in collision with horse

Paramedics declare a motorist dead after his vehicle collided with a horse on Route 65 near the Galilee town of Eilabun.

The victim, identified as a man in his 30s, is found with extensive injuries and no pulse, the Magen David Adom rescue service says.

Police have opened an investigation into the fatal wreck, Hebrew media outlets report.

The victim is the 337th road death this year to date, on par with the past two years, which have seen a significant spike in both the number of fatal accidents and victims, according to the National Road Safety Administration.

Israeli strike in Gaza reportedly kills woman and husband; IDF says it targeted terrorist

Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians and wounded several others on Monday in two separate attacks in the Gaza Strip, health officials in the enclave said.

A woman was killed and her husband and others were wounded in one Israeli strike on the rooftop of their building in Gaza City, medics said. Another strike killed a woman and wounded others in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, they added.

The Israeli military says it struck a terrorist in Nuseirat, without giving further details. It does not immediately comment on the reported strike in Gaza City.

In latest overnight attack, settlers reportedly fire-bomb Palestinian home with family inside

Palestinian media reports another settler attack overnight in the West Bank, with the latest targeting the village of al-Mughayyir.

A Molotov cocktail was hurled through the window of a family’s home while they were reportedly sleeping inside.

BREAKING: Dozens of Israeli settler terrorists attacked the village of Al-Mughayyir in the West Bank, setting homes and vehicles on fire.

They threw a Molotov cocktail into a house in an attempt to burn a family alive. pic.twitter.com/0UP23ajmqg

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) September 29, 2026

Footage shows members of the family trying to put out the fire. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Other clips show parked cars that were also torched in the attack.

???? مشاهد متداولة لمستوطنين إسرائيليين يضرمون النيران في منزل وعدد من المركبات خلال هجومهم على أحد المنازل في قرية المغير، شمال شرق رام الله pic.twitter.com/kboI36UCAT

— Sputnik Arabic (@sputnik_ar) September 29, 2026

Rubio says ‘foreign actor’ involved in plot to attack UK airbase used by US

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there was a foreign actor involved in an apparent plot to attack an airbase used by the United States in the UK.

“What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the UK over the weekend is a very serious situation. It’s one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor. I won’t get into great detail about that yet,” Rubio says on the Fox News network’s “Hannity” program late on Monday.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House earlier that the incident “might be” connected to Iran, adding that he would not have released the suspects on bail. “I wouldn’t have done that,” he said.

British police said on Monday they had released on bail five British men who were arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses near an airbase used by the US, although they remain under investigation, as counterterror detectives probed whether the alleged attempted attack was linked to Iran.

Jewish man filmed apparently trying to urinate on Jerusalem monastery frequently targeted by spitters

A Jewish man apparently attempts to urinate on the outer wall of the St. James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City on September 28, 2026. (Screen capture/X)

A Jewish man was filmed on Monday apparently trying to urinate on the outer wall of the St. James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Security camera footage shows a security guard at the monastery rushing to stop the man and directing him to leave the area.

BREAKING: Israeli Jewish man was caught trying to urinate on St. James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem.

The Armenian guard promptly confronted him. pic.twitter.com/Fu9HzoiRH3

— Kegham Balian (@kbalian90) September 28, 2026

The monastery has been frequently targeted by Jewish extremists who spit in its direction as they walk by.

Hours before the incident at St. James, an Orthodox Jewish man was filmed spitting on the ground as he walked by Christian pilgrims at the nearby Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Law enforcement in Israel has been struggling to stop harassment and attacks against Christian clergy and church property in the Old City, including frequent incidents of people, mostly young Orthodox Jews, spitting on the ground in front of clergy and other Christians — an act that may be prosecuted in Israel as a hate crime.

Today on Sukkot, a religious Jewish man spat next to Christian pilgrims praying outside the Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, at Station IV of the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus meets His Mother. pic.twitter.com/BrgDu7jZa7

— Kegham Balian (@kbalian90) September 28, 2026

Emirati VP to visit Saudi Arabia for first face-to-face meet since Yemen rift

UAE Vice President Mansour bin Zayed has accepted an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s defense minister to visit the kingdom on Tuesday for the first face-to-face meeting since a rift over Yemen.

In July, top officials and ministers in both countries posted about friendship and unity on social media, signalling a rapprochement months after a public fall-out between the two countries.

“His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defence, extended an invitation to his brother, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the sisterly United Arab Emirates, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Presidential Court, to visit the Kingdom tomorrow, Tuesday,” the defence ministry says in a statement on X.

The UAE’s official news agency WAM says Sheikh Mansour had accepted the invitation and would travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a “brotherly visit.”

During the July detente, Saudi General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh posted a picture of bin Salman alongside Sheikh Mansour that he said was taken a few days ago.

The Saudi olive branch came as the kingdom reels from weeks of Houthi attacks on its tankers, oil facilities, airports and even its capital, with the group taking control of the Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed government forces.

Palestinian woman wounded in reported settler raid of northern West Bank village.

Palestinian media reports that Israeli settlers raided the northern West Bank village of Qaryut, during which they assaulted an elderly woman.

Footage shows the woman being placed into an ambulance on a stretcher due to a head injury.

متابعة| الطواقم الطبية تنقل مواطنة فلسطينية إلى المستشفى عقب الاعتداء عليها خلال هجوم المستوطنين على قرية قريوت جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/kRIlDn9SSC

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) September 29, 2026

There are no reports of arrests, which are rare in instances of settler violence, even though they take place on a near-daily basis across the West Bank.

Earlier Monday, Palestinian news sites aired several clips of what they said were Israeli settlers stealing olives from groves belonging to Palestinians, days before the start of the harvest.

Israeli settlers are stealing the olive harvest from privately owned Palestinian land in Hebron, while Israeli soldiers stand by and do nothing. pic.twitter.com/gPvX6zlreT

— Issa Amro عيسى عمرو ???????? (@Issaamro) September 28, 2026

Israeli settlers have already started stealing Palestinian olives as the olive harvest season approaches next week. pic.twitter.com/tdx0yLznvE

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) September 28, 2026

Settlers said to torch Palestinian homes during major overnight clash with Israeli troops

Homes on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Jalud that were reportedly torched by settlers on September 29, 2026. (Screen capture/X)

Clashes have broken out overnight between roughly 100 settler extremists and Israeli security forces who arrived at the central West Bank village of Jalud in order to enforce a High Court of Justice order requiring the removal of settlers who took over three Palestinian homes on the outskirts of the town in July, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The IDF and Border Police are trying to secure the area so the evicted Palestinian families can return to their homes, but are still struggling to do so.

مصادر محلية: هجوم واسع للمستوطنين يستهدف بلدة جالود جنوبي نابلس من عدة جهات pic.twitter.com/iQGaSXRuz2

— إذاعة صوت الغد (@sawtelghad) September 28, 2026

Kan says two of the settler rioters have been arrested.

قرية جالود
نابلس
مستوطنون يدمرون منزل عائلة الطوباسي بعد احتلاله لعدة اسابيع pic.twitter.com/UwGX6GGzvI

— سم????ح 313 (@samah_0000) September 28, 2026

Footage published on Palestinian media shows extensive damage done to one of the homes by settlers before they left.

Another clip shows two of the Palestinian homes set on fire, allegedly by settlers during the overnight clash.

???? متابعة | مستوطنون يقدمون على إحراق منزل عائلة الطوباسي في قرية جالود جنوب نابلس. pic.twitter.com/rZZPNg0HaP

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) September 28, 2026

Ynet says the large group of Israelis arrived in Jalud after an alert was posted in a number of WhatsApp groups for extremist settlers, calling on them to rush to the village in order to prevent security forces from escorting the evicted Palestinians back to their homes.

In July, Palestinians living in three homes on the outskirts of Jalud were violently expelled by extremist settlers who set up an illegal outpost close to the village and besieged the petitioners’ homes.

On September 6, the High Court ordered Israeli forces to ensure the return of the evicted Palestinian in a ruling that blasted the IDF, police and Defense Minister Israel Katz for failing to tackle rampant settler violence.

Authorities were supposed to have escorted the evicted Palestinians back to their homes by September 20, according to the ruling.

Trump denies report that he’s considering offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for nuke concessions

Trump denies a report on Axios and Channel 12 revealing that he is considering offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for concessions on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING!” Trump writes on Truth Social.