Theme: Middle East

Disagreements inside the United States government over the next steps regarding Iran intensified following the midterm congressional elections, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a text republished by TASS. Some officials are urging Donald Trump to launch new strikes against Iran and then try to secure peace, while others believe he should stop and scale back the military operation; Trump said he would end the war whenever he wants, but that this must be done right.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials about a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank and the “moral disgrace” of settler violence, according to the Times of Israel, which says it obtained the letter. The letter was also sent to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and says that IDF commanders, police officers and Shin Bet personnel report “limited tools and a shortage of manpower”. Herzog warned that a flare-up on the ground is liable to carry “severe and far-reaching consequences” for Israel's security, its functioning as a sovereign state, its international standing, Diaspora Jewry and the Israeli economy. He called for the perpetrators to be treated as members of a criminal organization and for a plan with a mass deployment of security forces, widespread arrests, administrative detentions and the dismantling of the groups. Settler violence has surged in recent months, with near-daily attacks and harassment and few perpetrators charged or convicted.

A Yemeni government military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 13 military recruits were killed and 65 others wounded in a ballistic missile attack on a military training center in Qatabah district, northern Al-Dhalea, in southern Yemen, during morning exercises, and blamed the attack on the Houthis. A ballistic missile hit Hayfan in Taiz governorate and killed four Yemenis from the same family, including three children, on Wednesday, according to Middle East Eye. Houthi-run al-Masirah TV blamed the killing of three children and a woman, with four other children wounded in the same district, on a Saudi airstrike. On November 3, Yemeni Interior Minister Ibrahim Ali Haidan accused Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of sending military instructors to command Houthi combat operations, develop missile and drone programs and coordinate attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to TASS. Hezbollah denied the allegations and said the Yemeni authorities' statements about support for the Houthi offensive, military training and rearmament are “completely baseless”, adding that “the Yemeni people have sufficient capabilities, resources, and experience to defend their country without external support.”

Iranian lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki, a former foreign minister and member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the chamber would vote unanimously to reconsider Iran’s continued membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the supreme leader asked, according to the Mehr news agency. Mottaki said lawmakers receive around 200 text messages a day urging withdrawal and that he believes the time has come to discuss leaving the treaty, stressing that the decision rests with the supreme leader. The Paydari Front, led by former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, issued a statement calling for Iran’s withdrawal from the treaty, arguing that recent wars show the country needs nuclear weapons for deterrence. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on October 31 that Iran’s future as a party to the treaty was uncertain. On November 1, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran is a member of the NPT and upholds its commitments under the treaty.

Two explosive drones hit a Komala base in the Alana valley of Balisan, approximately 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil, at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Rudaw. Komala said the attack caused material damage but no casualties, and that Iran has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, using drones and missiles. In a separate incident, a strike damaged a house in Tawella, in Halabja province, early in the morning on November 3.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh on an official visit on Wednesday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Ministers and senior officials from both countries attended the meeting. It is al-Sharaa’s sixth visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office in January 2025. The talks addressed bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Resistance Front commanders had received the message of borderless confrontation with the enemy and put it into practice. According to him, Resistance Front fighters demonstrated the unity of the various fronts by issuing a written declaration of full allegiance, referring to a recent message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on confronting the enemy without geographical boundaries.

The Houthi siege on Taiz has now lasted 30 days and has affected the 1.5 million people living in Taiz City, plus about 180,000 displaced people trapped by ongoing clashes along the main road connecting Lahj and Taiz, according to Al Jazeera. The blockade began with the seizure of al-Turbah, a town in the far southwest of the governorate, cutting the city’s main artery to Aden and the outside world. The United Nations (UN) has repeatedly warned of a catastrophe inside the city, where supplies of food and medicine are becoming increasingly scarce. According to Reuters, in a report republished by The Jerusalem Post, the advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since the early months of the war in 2015.

A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Arab Center for Contemporary Syria Studies found that 61 percent of respondents named Israel as the main threat to Syria, against 20 percent who named Iran, 6 percent Turkey and 5 percent the United States; the results were published on Monday. Some 97 percent said Israel threatens the security and stability of the Middle East, up from 78 percent a year earlier. Almost 80 percent oppose recognizing Israel, up from 74 percent in 2025, and 74 percent oppose any agreement that does not return the occupied Golan Heights. On the US-Israel war on Iran, 80 percent said Iranian missile strikes on Israel were justified, and three-quarters said Washington had waged the war on Israel's behalf.

Donald Trump told Fox News that he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the $4 billion in annual aid to Israel, aid appropriated by Congress that he cannot end unilaterally, according to the broadcaster’s White House correspondent, saying that it was Netanyahu who proposed ending the aid, under the current agreement of $38 billion in military aid over ten years, through 2028, which surprised Israeli defense sources. Neither Netanyahu’s office nor Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the move, and the US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera.

The Saudi-led coalition launched four air strikes on the city of al-Bayda in central Yemen, according to Houthi-affiliated media. Shelling was also reported in the Ghamr district of the Saada governorate.

Israel provided the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran is considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, The New York Times reported, citing American and regional officials. Some senior U.S. officials received the intelligence with concern, while others expressed deep skepticism, viewing it as part of a pressure campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to resume large-scale fighting. Gulf officials questioned the Israeli assessments and said Israel had presented no evidence that Iran is making its chemical arsenal operational. Israel’s Home Front Command did not include chemical-weapons scenarios in this week’s exercises nor distribute protective guidance, and the Israeli military declined to comment. Tehran denies possessing chemical weapons and calls the accusations psychological warfare by Israel and Netanyahu.

Israel has shared with the United States intelligence asserting that Iran is considering the use of chemical weapons against its adversaries, information met with alarm by some American officials, according to The New York Times. According to JFeed, which reports the contents of the article, some US officials expressed deep skepticism about the information’s credibility, and some compared it to the flawed 2002 intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some American and Gulf officials suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to draw President Donald Trump back into military action against Iran. According to the newspaper, Trump said he would not order an attack before Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Israeli forces prevented all cooking gas shipments from entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday and sent the trucks back empty, according to the Palestinian outlet Palinfo. Gaza’s General Petroleum Authority said no cooking gas entered the territory throughout the day and that the trucks were sent back without delivering their supplies. On Tuesday, Israeli forces blocked the entry of commercial goods and humanitarian aid from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, cutting off a route that accounts for nearly one-fifth of the goods entering the besieged territory each day. Even when deliveries are permitted, the territory receives only four or five trucks of cooking gas per day, far below the more than 20 needed to meet daily demand.

A billboard towering over the busy Enghelab Square in Tehran reads “We will kill Trump”, depicting the US president behind bars with his head bowed. Another billboard nearby shows Trump alongside Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with bloodied faces and ragged suits against the background of worn-out Israeli and US flags. Since the war began on February 28, when US and Israeli strikes killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, new designs of billboards mocking Trump and vowing revenge have frequently been set up around Tehran.

Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States could go after Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex in Iran, if there is no deal — the operation could be done in one hour — and did not rule out resuming the war, but said there is a good chance of a deal. A senior Iranian official told Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post, that the two countries are far from an understanding to end the war and that Tehran will not accept Washington’s excessive demands, while Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address that the ball is now in the United States’ court to prevent war.

The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia was postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East, in a decision justified by the exceptional circumstances in the region, with logistical complexities and travel disruptions, according to the AFC organizing committee. The tournament, scheduled for January 7 to February 5, 2027, moves to December 23, 2027 to January 21, 2028, and other events in the country were canceled, among them the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition in Riyadh. In October, a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis against Riyadh airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing, with the aim of reaching new regional security arrangements without foreign military involvement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday in a post on X. Araqchi also said Iran harbors no hostility toward the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Devdiscourse.

Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government carried out air strikes against Houthi positions west of Taiz, while Houthi-affiliated media reported that a strike north of Taiz hit a plastic shoe factory, killing three people and injuring eight.

Israel has asked the Lebanese government to deploy troops to set up roadblocks in areas where Hezbollah operatives live, to prevent the group from joining a new war with Iran, according to an Israeli broadcaster cited by The Times of Israel. The request was relayed by US mediators, with the warning that fighting in Lebanon will flare up again if Hezbollah attacks Israel.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington has made progress in talks with Iran and that he and President Donald Trump feel optimistic about a negotiated settlement. Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, he said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.” Vance tied a deal to a firm and verifiable commitment that Iran does not rebuild its nuclear program. Trump said Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible and that it could happen.

Israeli forces advanced into the village of al-Asbah in rural southern Quneitra with five military vehicles, according to a Syria TV report published by Middle East Eye. According to Sijil, a Syrian initiative tracking Israeli violations in the country, Israeli forces committed seven violations on Monday before the latest incursion, including other incursions, checkpoints and aircraft overflights.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), created in 1978, has around 7,500 peacekeepers from 46 countries and a mandate until December 31, 2026, with personnel due to leave over the following year and their positions gradually handed over to the Lebanese army, according to RT. The decision to end the mission followed pressure from the United States and Israel, which accuse the force of failing to contain Hezbollah, and a resident of the south told RT that UNIFIL failed to protect local residents but he warned that the absence of peacekeepers would create a “security vacuum” that Israel would seek to exploit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a new wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter. In a weekend call, he pressed President Donald Trump to strike, and Trump would not commit to taking military action, according to a person briefed on the conversation. Sources told Axios that Netanyahu is pressing Trump to strike Iran immediately after the elections; for now, Trump wants to let negotiations play out — a strategy that concerns Netanyahu.

Yemen's Houthis from the Ansar Allah movement said they had carried out drone strikes on airports in the eastern Saudi city of Dammam and the southern city of Jazan. Houthi military spokesperson Yahia Saria said the rebels struck an early warning radar in Jazan and a military transport aircraft at the city's airport.

China will send its Middle East envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia later this month for shuttle diplomacy visits aimed at promoting peace talks and easing tensions, a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The announcement followed separate meetings in Beijing between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and between Wang Yi and Saudi national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.

Al Jazeera condemned the Israeli authorities' decision to extend a ban on its operations in Israel for another 90 days, including the suspension of its broadcasts, the closure of its offices and the restriction of access to its websites and digital platforms. The network says the extension was based on secret material that neither the network nor its lawyers could see or contest, and calls for the ban to be lifted immediately.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council head, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Iranian state media reported. Both sides stressed the importance of continuing strategic cooperation in accordance with the roadmap outlined by the two countries' leaders.

Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates criticized the ongoing Saudi airstrikes on civilian infrastructure and non-military facilities in the country and promised retaliation. In a statement late on Sunday, the ministry said “these constant crimes and attacks will not go unpunished, and will certainly draw painful responses that will hit the heart of Saudi Arabia, particularly the installations belonging to parties funding the aggression”. The statement added that “the incessant targeting of Yemeni civilian facilities will place all vital and critical installations inside Saudi Arabia in a databank of targets that Yemeni Armed Forces will pound in retaliation”.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said the kingdom would not be shaken by a deadly attack on a church in the western city of Karak last month. The attack, two weeks ago, hit an Orthodox church in Karak Province, in the west of the country, and left nine people dead and about 40 wounded.

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday, during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, that Damascus is considering joining the Mecca alliance, a mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Under the agreement, signed on August 7 in Mecca, an attack on one signatory is treated as an attack on all three, an arrangement similar in principle to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has 32 member states. Samy Akil, an analyst at Syria Report, told Middle East Eye the talks are at an early stage and that Syria is unlikely to become the pact's fourth member in the near term.

At the opening of parliament, Jordan's King Abdullah said that there would be no security in the Middle East until the Palestinians' right to their homeland is fulfilled. He said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues, as do the attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and that Israel's expansionist ambitions remain the greatest threat to the region's future and hopes.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties in the West Asia conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms and that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, according to The Hindu.

United States (US) President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday his threat to resume strikes against Iran, telling a campaign rally he may have to give Tehran “the hammer” at some unspecified time. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that signals that new military actions are planned against Iran cause alarm.

US President Donald Trump is weighing blaming his defense and military chiefs for the handling of the war on Iran, according to a Sunday report by The Atlantic, in a text republished by the Times of Israel, while considering resuming attacks after Tuesday’s midterm elections. In a conversation described by sources as tough and direct, Netanyahu pushed Trump to restart the campaign, while Trump wanted to allow more time for negotiations, according to Axios, in a text republished by the Times of Israel.

Israeli artillery shelling hit Sarbine, Al-Mansouri, Kafr Tibnit, Al-Qantara, Beit Yahoun, Bani Hayyan and Al-Qusair in southern Lebanon, according to field sources. Israeli forces also set off an explosion in the town of Ainatha, according to the Lebanese news agency.

Yamaha said it will not race in the Qatar Grand Prix next weekend over safety concerns in the Middle East, a decision that could expose the team to punishment. The team said it has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions on traveling to the Middle East, with the Japanese government advising its citizens against non-essential travel to the region. MotoGP said it does not believe the decision reflects “the extensive assurances provided to all championship stakeholders”.

Yemen’s army launched a new missile attack on positions of Saudi-backed forces in Lahj province, according to Yemeni media in a report carried by the Iranian agency Mehr News. The reports did not disclose the type of missiles used or possible damage and casualties.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump prefers to resolve the war with Iran diplomatically, without resorting to military force, amid reports that both sides are preparing for new strikes after the midterm elections. In parallel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump for new strikes against Iran after the elections, while Trump seeks a deal to restart negotiations with Tehran and keeps preparations underway for a possible return to major combat operations, according to the Times of India, citing Axios.

A tanker sailing through the Gulf was hit by two unidentified projectiles on its port side, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, cited by Middle East Eye. In parallel, Houthi media, citing an anonymous military official, repeated threats against Saudi oil giant Aramco and aviation in the kingdom, according to the Straits Times.

Israeli electoral authorities say the election result will stand even if allegations of foreign interference are substantiated, which is contested by Likud — which says, without providing evidence, that Arab-led parties stole the election in which Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority, according to the Korea Herald. The joint position brings together the head of the elections committee, the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet.

At least seven people were wounded in aerial attacks by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, according to Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV, cited by Middle East Eye.

In a new turn in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Army said that any new war with the United States could last longer than the previous conflict, according to Arab News. Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said the American president would not dictate the timing or the conditions of its end, and a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson said that in a conflict with the United States there are no geographical limitations for inflicting damage upon the enemy, according to Iranian state television in a France 24 piece. In the same piece, Donald Trump said one or two sites still remained to be hit in Iran and that it would take 10 minutes, according to the same outlet.

Mohammad el Shami, a staff member of the UN human rights office in Yemen, had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities since June 6, 2024, and his family says he died more than a month ago, having been told only recently, UN News reported. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the Houthis to disclose all relevant medical and detention records and demanded independent scrutiny of any stated cause of death. Yemen’s prime minister condemned the death, held the Houthis fully responsible and called for those responsible to be held accountable; he said more than 70 UN employees and dozens of humanitarian workers remained detained. Yemen’s foreign minister also demanded accountability for the death of the UN worker in Houthi custody, Middle East Eye reported.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the war with Iran would end very soon, one way or the other — through a deal or further American action, according to Israel National News. “We’ve had such a victory and we’ll put it away very soon, one way or the other. Either they’ll make a deal or we’ll just end it,” he said. At a midterm campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday, he said he expected the conflict to end “very soon” and oil prices to fall sharply once the war is over, according to Fox News.

Iran says it could revise its nuclear doctrine but insists that no official decision has been taken. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that “so far, no official decision has been taken by the government or the Supreme National Security Council to change the nuclear doctrine”, according to Opera Mundi. Rezaei also confirmed that a new message, relayed by US intermediaries, reached Iran's Foreign Ministry, with a tone different from that of previous communications. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he hoped Washington would choose “diplomacy over other paths” and that Iran was ready for both defense and diplomacy, according to the Hindustan Times. The indirect talks are mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and cover Iran's nuclear program, sanctions imposed by Washington and the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Syria's special services said they exposed a terrorist plot against an oil refinery in the city of Homs, according to the TASS news agency. Suicide vests, makeshift explosive devices, electronic equipment for remote detonation and detailed maps of the facility were seized from the detainees.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Saturday about when and whether to ramp up combat operations against Iran, US media reported. Netanyahu pressed the president to launch strikes on Iran immediately after the US midterm elections, while Trump was eager to let negotiations play out. An Israeli source described the call as “tough” and an American source called it “direct,” according to Axios. Al Arabiya confirmed the Axios report on the call and the split between striking and negotiating. On Saturday, October 31, 2026, Trump told reporters that negotiations with Iran to end the war were “going fine” and that there were still one or two targets to “take care” of.

At least eight Palestinians, among them a child, were killed this Sunday in two Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip that hit the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, and Al-Thawra Street in Gaza City, according to Opera Mundi. The Palestinian agency WAFA reported that five people were killed in a drone strike on Al-Mawasi and that the victims were members of the Palestinian police, citing local medical sources.

Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that identifying new targets and planning operations across additional geographical areas had been placed on the Corps’ agenda, according to the Tehran Times. Iran warned that any renewed war with the United States could last longer than the previous round of fighting, after President Donald Trump said he still had to “take care” of more targets, according to Middle East Eye.

Israel’s defense establishment is implementing an unprecedented policy in the Gaza Strip that grants immunity to mayors and senior officials in Hamas’s governmental and municipal systems, according to the Jerusalem Post. Military sources told Walla that the decision not to target the heads of local Hamas authorities stems from concern that killing them could lead to the collapse of governing institutions in Gaza and to civilian chaos that Israel would ultimately have to deal with, the paper reported.

More than 300,000 people have been displaced in Yemen by the intensification of fighting in the west of the country, the vast majority over the past two months, according to the United Nations, as reported by Le Monde. The UN called on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and humanitarian workers and to guarantee safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, particularly in hard-to-reach areas of Taiz.

A senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Mohammad Mokhber, said in a post on X on Sunday that Iran is “rapidly” changing its defense doctrine and will no longer limit its retaliation to attacks on the aggressors’ regional assets, according to Mehr News. “The geography of the threat no longer determines the geography of the response,” he wrote in Farsi. Mehr News also reported that on Saturday Ayatollah Khamenei directed the country’s top military brass to prepare to deliver a swift and powerful response to any threat, “without any geographic limitations.”

The United Arab Emirates is hoping for a “breakthrough” that could end the conflict with Iran, its Al-Ain outlet reported, according to the Jerusalem Post. In the same report, Gargash said that “the security of the Gulf states is interconnected and what affects any of them affects the UAE”, and that “trust with Iran has been shaken”.

President Isaac Herzog on Sunday urged Israel’s party leaders to “stop climbing trees, and face the reality” of the election result, in an appeal recorded by the Times of Israel. The parties opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu won 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, against 53 for the prime minister’s right-wing and ultra-Orthodox bloc, according to the paper’s tally. The Israeli journalist Gideon Levy criticized the opposition parties’ resistance to forming a government with the participation of Arab parties, according to Opera Mundi.

Senior Arab Joint List leader Ahmad Tibi said the party is willing to support an opposition-led government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition, but will not join the cabinet, according to Times of India. Anti-Netanyahu parties won 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, of which 48 went to Zionist opposition parties and 19 to two Arab parties, according to Times of Israel. Netanyahu’s bloc took 53 seats.

Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators, Reuters reported, according to Mehr News. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed in an interview the previous night that his assistant had been sent to Doha for the talks, according to Mehr News. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday, October 31, 2026, that Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran, but would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically, according to The Hindu.

A Lebanese military court charged 13 people linked to Hezbollah with trafficking explosives, amid growing pressure on the Iran-backed group to disarm, according to Al Jazeera. The seized vehicle was carrying 780 kg (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250 kg (550 pounds) of TNT and 250 kg (550 pounds) of C-4, according to judicial officials. Hezbollah acknowledged owning the explosives and said they were intended for use against Israel, which continues to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon.

Eight people, including a child, were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to emergency services and local hospitals cited by Arab News. Five people were killed in Khan Younis and three in Gaza City, according to a statement from the territory’s civil defense service, which operates under the authority of the Hamas movement that runs Gaza.

Iranian Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi said the country is committed to strengthening combat readiness and to ensuring an immediate, effective and proportionate response to any threat, anywhere, without geographical limits. The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, warned that any attack on Iran will be met with devastating strikes, using new and modern weapons, and said Tehran remains open to diplomacy if its seven conditions are fulfilled.

President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington prepared to resume strikes on Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. The call took place after Trump discussed options for resuming military operations with senior commanders, including US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. Trump said “one or two sites” remain to be dealt with in Iran’s nuclear program, including Pickaxe Mountain, and that the US could do it “in ten minutes.” “We have a plan for it, and we can execute it very quickly,” he said. Asked about a new offensive, he neither confirmed nor ruled out the possibility, according to Brasil 247.

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has set out four conditions for forming a new government, including recognizing Hamas as a “terrorist” organization and committing to dismantling its military and governing capabilities in Gaza, according to Middle East Eye.

The foreign ministers of the US and Iran said that a diplomatic end to the war is still possible, with no direct US-Iran talks planned. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would decide whether talks are direct or indirect only after Washington accepted its conditions. The statements came after more than 12 hours of discussions between Iranian and Qatari envoys in Tehran on Friday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by CGTN.

The United Nations demanded an investigation into the death of Mohammad el-Shami, a staff member of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Yemen, in Houthi custody. El-Shami died more than a month ago, and his family was only recently informed, the UN said in a statement on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera. High Commissioner Volker Türk demanded “full transparency” from the Houthi authorities and an “urgent, independent and thorough investigation”, and said the family “deserves to know the truth”. El-Shami had been arbitrarily held since June 2024, when he and more than 60 people working with the UN and other NGOs were detained and accused of being part of an “American-Israeli spy network”. Türk said seven other OHCHR staff detained alongside him remain in custody and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Hezbollah is unlikely to join a war between the United States and Iran if the two countries resume military operations against each other, unless Iran’s leadership faces an existential threat, according to a report by the United Arab Emirates state-owned outlet The National cited by the Jerusalem Post. According to Lebanese security personnel briefed on the group’s activities, Hezbollah spent at least three months preparing for a resumption of hostilities with Israel after receiving an infusion of cash from Iran.

US President Donald Trump said American forces had knocked out much of Iran’s military. Washington still needs to “take care of” one or two remaining targets, including a suspected underground nuclear complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, according to TRT World. “We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump told reporters at his Florida residence. “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly.” According to TRT World, the Iranian government has repeatedly denied carrying out nuclear operations at the facility. Trump reiterated that Washington is in no hurry to resume strikes because it has decimated Iran’s armed forces and atomic program.

Around 2,000 people demonstrated on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv in support of a Jewish-Arab government, after opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a combined 67 of the Knesset's 120 seats in Tuesday's election, according to the Times of Israel. A smaller counterprotest attended by some 200 people demanded an investigation into claims of electoral fraud, after Netanyahu's Likud party accused Arab parties of “stealing the election” with support from hostile foreign governments. Arab parties won an unprecedented 19 seats, and without them no bloc holds a majority.

US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, after discussing with military commanders options for restarting major combat operations, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a Jerusalem Post report. In Atlanta, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump has not made a decision about fresh strikes on Iran, amid stalled peace talks.

Fertilizer shipments from West Asia fell to 994,000 tons in September from 3.41 million tons in the same month a year earlier, according to a senior manager of agriculture data at Kpler, cited by Press TV. J.P. Morgan says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has upended fertilizer supply chains during planting seasons for staple crops such as corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and vegetables. The World Trade Organization (WTO) reports that fertilizer shipments through the strait have reached a standstill.

Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday to urge the opposition to ally with Arab parties and oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), in a report published by Arab News. The Tel Aviv rally drew around 500 people and the Jerusalem one around 100. Jewish-majority parties opposed to Netanyahu won 48 seats, while the two Arab-majority parties, Raam and the Joint List, secured a combined 19, in an election that left neither bloc with a majority in the 120-seat parliament; an alliance between the two camps would give the anti-Netanyahu bloc 67 seats. Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has not decided whether to seek the coalition and reiterated that he would only form a Zionist government whose members commit to recognizing Israel as a Jewish, democratic and liberal state and to recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The Israeli military has completed preparations for a renewed military confrontation with Iran, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, in a report published by the Anadolu Agency. The chief of the United States (US) Central Command, Brad Cooper, presented President Donald Trump with options for resuming the attacks, and the decision to return to war remained with Trump as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continued. This week, ten US military transport aircraft arrived at Israeli Air Force bases as part of an airlift delivering military equipment to the region, according to Ynet.

Lawmaker Ahmad Tibi, No. 2 on the Joint List, said Saturday that his party was ready to support the anti-Netanyahu Zionist parties in forming a government to replace the outgoing coalition, but stressed that it did not want to be part of the government itself, according to the Times of Israel. The Joint List, made up of three Arab factions, won 11 seats in Tuesday’s election. Tibi indicated that the list will recommend to President Isaac Herzog that a candidate from the anti-Netanyahu parties be given the mandate to form a coalition.

Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone strikes damaged at least 274 structures at 24 US-linked military installations across the Middle East, according to the Tehran Times, citing a Wall Street Journal analysis based on satellite imagery and US officials. Estimated repair costs are as high as 15 billion dollars. The Pentagon has estimated the damage at a minimum of 5 billion dollars, while a separate assessment put the figure as high as 15 billion, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that rebuilding the damaged buildings alone would cost more than 4 billion dollars, the Tehran Times reported.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that discussions are under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance, according to Al Jazeera. The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Mecca in August and states that an attack on one country is to be considered an attack on all three. Arab News also heard from the Syrian foreign minister that Damascus was considering whether to join the defense alliance binding Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Jordanian border guards stopped 14 armed individuals trying to cross into northern Jordan from Syria, the armed forces said in a statement on Saturday. The group tried to infiltrate on Friday under heavy fire and direct engagement, causing numerous casualties among the armed group, while the remaining members fled back into Syria, according to the armed forces, in a Reuters text republished by Arab News.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday in Atlanta, at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, that President Donald Trump has not decided whether to strike Iran. “He hasn’t made a decision. I have no announcement to make in that regard today, nor do we take any of it lightly,” he told reporters.

Israeli attacks in Gaza on Saturday included shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp, and al-Awda Hospital confirmed the death of Palestinian teacher Diaa Abu al-Rous, according to Al Jazeera. The enclave’s Ministry of Health recorded at least six Palestinians killed over the past 48 hours, bringing the total since the October 2025 ceasefire to 1,580.

Iranian legislator Mahmoud Nabavian called on Saturday for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to change its nuclear doctrine, according to Al Jazeera, adding to similar demands from other lawmakers and public figures. Lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said 10 proposals to withdraw from the treaty had been registered in parliament and that withdrawal was under consideration, according to the Fars news agency.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered commanders to update the country’s target list to include “all types of tangible and intangible assets belonging to the American-Zionist enemy”, according to France 24. At the meeting with top military commanders, he said that “any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful and geographically unrestricted response.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a G20 press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, that Trump has not yet decided on new attacks: “We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn’t made a decision. I have no announcement in that regard with you today, and nor do we take any of it lightly.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “currently, there are no plans for meetings with American officials.”

Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, said on Saturday that Israel had carried out more than 1,000 attacks on his country in less than two years, killing dozens of people, according to Anadolu. His remarks came during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue 2026, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). He called for a return to the lines in place before Dec. 8, 2024, and for the implementation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, said on Saturday that Damascus is weighing whether to join the Makkah defense pact, which binds Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, according to Dawn; TRT World also reported his remarks. At the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, he said: “Discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Makkah alliance.” The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on Aug. 7, empowers the three members to consider an armed attack on one of them an attack on all.

Mojtaba Khamenei met with senior commanders of Iran's armed forces and issued what his office described as “important and strategic orders”, according to the Middle East Eye. He also ordered the army to prepare “an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response” should its enemies resume attacks, and said that Iran will set the “timing and terms for ending any new conflicts,” according to the Jerusalem Post. The order also directs the Revolutionary Guard to update its target list to place “all tangible and intangible assets” of the US and Israel within reach of the armed forces, according to the newspaper.

A Lebanese military court has charged 13 people it says are linked to Hezbollah with trafficking in explosives. The individuals were charged with offenses including possessing weapons, undermining state security and forming illegal associations, Lebanese state media reported. The vehicle seized at the Dahr al-Baydar checkpoint had been carrying 780kg (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250kg (550 pounds) of TNT and 250kg (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials. Hezbollah later acknowledged that the explosives belonged to the group and said they were intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, according to Arab News.

An Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed the Palestinian Diaa Abu al-Rous, according to the Quds News Network (QNN), cited by Middle East Eye. Another Palestinian, Arafat al-Ar’eer, died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, south of Gaza City, according to the same network.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday it had intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone launched by the Houthi group over the “Riyadh region”, Middle East Eye reported. On Friday, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the kingdom’s southern region, as well as a drone over Riyadh, according to Arab News.

Oman rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, while Iran reported that three oil tankers were halted while crossing, according to The Hindu. Oman's Maritime Security Centre evacuated the people aboard the RITI, a Panamanian-flagged vessel that tracking website MarineTraffic identified as a crude oil tanker. In a separate statement, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a third tanker, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire while attempting to pass through an unauthorised route.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, criticized German Chancellor Merz for backing Israeli and US strikes on Iran and warned of a devastating response to anyone who dares harm the Iranian people, according to Mehr News. In a post on his X account late on Friday, Araghchi wrote that Merz hailed the Israeli and US bombings of Iran when they began last year.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc lost its parliamentary majority, The Hindu reported, and results released early Friday showed 53 seats for his bloc, 48 for the main opposition bloc and 19 for Arab-led parties in Tuesday’s election, a historic showing, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by the Daily Democrat. In his first public comment on the result, on Friday, Netanyahu posted on X that it is forbidden to form a coalition with Arab parties.

Qatari mediators held more than 12 hours of talks in Tehran on Friday to restart direct negotiations between the United States (US) and Iran, Hindustan Times reported. The negotiations are to continue in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday as regional powers seek a diplomatic breakthrough. An official briefed on the talks told Reuters that Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains 70 percent below pre-conflict levels, according to a weekly assessment by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The body recorded 277 vessel transits in the seven days to October 28, 155 inbound and 122 outbound. Since the conflict began on February 28, UKMTO counts 88 incidents in the strait, with at least 35 attacks on shipping in October — the worst month for attacks since the conflict started.

The US military is conducting nightly missions over the Strait of Hormuz to enforce a blockade on Iranian ports along the waterway and protect commercial vessels, according to the Jerusalem Post. The frequency of flight operations has put a strain on aircraft, crew members and the mechanics responsible for maintaining fighter jets, according to officers cited by the Wall Street Journal. The US has 50,000 troops and 20 ships deployed in the Middle East, at a cost of $2 billion to $3 billion a month on munitions, fuel and supplies.

The United States may resume strikes on Iran the day after the midterm elections for Congress, according to the MS NOW network, cited by the Russian agency TASS. According to the sources cited by the network, the US administration informed several Persian Gulf countries that they should prepare for “a short, intense round of strikes as soon as November 4.”

Almost 5,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israel’s military siege on the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to Al Jazeera. The number of people removed from their homes stands at 4,969, including 441 elderly people, 336 infants under two years old and 312 patients with chronic diseases. The siege began on October 23, after two Palestinians shot dead two Israeli soldiers in Hebron and wounded three others, before the army killed the two attackers.

Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader, Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, described calls to review Iran’s nuclear doctrine as a growing national demand rooted in the Iranian people’s experience of Western conduct and in the need to strengthen the country’s deterrence, according to the Tehran Times. He cited previous surveys in which more than 70 percent of respondents supported reviewing the doctrine. The cleric said the final decision rests with the Leader and urged universities and experts to prepare studies and proposals.

The Iranian Navy’s deputy coordinator said the navy targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with a strategic cruise missile during the 40-day Ramadan War, according to the Tehran Times. According to him, the vessel halted flight operations for three days after the strike before moving farther away from Iran’s coastline.

Israeli troops have intensified attacks in southern Lebanon, blowing up homes and other structures while carrying out artillery shelling and machine-gun fire in several areas, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), cited by TRT World. Israeli forces carried out extensive machine-gun fire over the towns of Khiam and Qantara and set homes on fire in Qantara, according to the NNA. On Wednesday, Israeli forces bulldozed, shelled and demolished homes across southern Lebanon, with drones over Beirut and its southern suburbs, in the latest violation of a US-mediated framework agreement, according to the NNA, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

At least 14 Palestinians, including children, were injured on Friday when an Israeli drone struck a phone-charging point in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Middle East Eye. According to the WAFA agency, at least 12 Palestinians, including a man, his wife and their children, were injured in the drone strike in the al-Maslakh area west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it intercepted a drone launched by the Houthis toward Saudi Arabia’s Mecca region, according to Al Jazeera. A Houthi spokesperson denied targeting the Muslim holy city or the surrounding region, reiterating that the group’s cross-border attacks remain focused on Saudi energy and military infrastructure. Middle East Eye reported the coalition’s accounts of drones over Mecca and Medina, which the Houthis denied.

A spokesperson for the Yemeni government’s armed forces said on Friday that the Houthis had attacked Aden airport and the Maashiq presidential palace complex, according to Middle East Eye. A police official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the Houthis had targeted the presidential palace with two missiles, Middle East Eye reported.

The United Nations (UN) human rights office warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza continue to raise concerns of ethnic cleansing, with Palestinians displaced repeatedly, according to Al Jazeera. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) cautioned that the Israeli military is destroying the remaining civilian infrastructure and attacking displacement sites while pursuing its stated aim of expanding its military deployment area to 70 percent of Gaza’s territory.

US Vice President JD Vance sent a personal letter last week to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in which he expressed willingness to meet with him personally to discuss ending the war through negotiations, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to officials cited by Foreign Policy, the letter stressed that the central US interest “is in ensuring Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon” and described Iran's interest as “rebuilding [its] war- and sanctions-ravaged economy” and “preserving its national sovereignty.” If the two sides agree to meet, Istanbul or the Qatari capital, Doha, would be the most likely locations.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it had intercepted and destroyed a drone near Riyadh as well as a missile fired by Yemen's Houthis toward Saudi Arabia's southern region, according to Middle East Eye. Earlier on Friday, the coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi drone in the Mecca region, with the group denying it targeted Islam's holiest city.

With more than 99 percent of Tuesday's ballots tallied, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc held 53 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot held 48, Israeli outlet Haaretz reported, according to Al Jazeera. The Arab list parties held a combined 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset. Neither bloc reached the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority, CNN reported.

A judge at a Lebanese military court charged 13 people over a truck carrying explosives belonging to Hezbollah that authorities seized earlier this month, state media reported. Two of the defendants were arrested when the shipment was seized and are in custody. The others remain at large and were charged in absentia, five of them listed only by nicknames. The truck was stopped at a checkpoint on the main highway linking Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley and was carrying 780 kilograms of explosives, including 250 kilograms of TNT and 250 kilograms of C-4, according to judicial officials.

Al-Ain media in the United Arab Emirates reported that dozens of government troops and Houthis were killed and wounded on Friday in fierce battles in Al-Maqatra district of Lahj, following a large-scale attack by the Houthis, according to the Jerusalem Post, which cited the outlet.

Israel demolished on Friday the homes of the assailants who killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron last week, Reuters reported in a text published by Al-Monitor. In a statement announcing the demolitions, Israel’s military said it would “continue to operate proactively and offensively” to thwart attacks in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would “destroy” the neighborhood where the two attackers came from and that Israel was ready for “extensive action” in the occupied West Bank, the BBC reported.

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said in an official statement that the investigation into suspected voter fraud was “targeted and limited”, Middle East Eye reported. Dean Livne, acting director general of the Central Elections Committee, said separately there was “no basis for allegations of systematic violations of election integrity”. Ra’am and the Joint List, which contested the election on two separate slates, won 19 seats, potentially giving them a decisive role in coalition negotiations.

Hussein al-Ezzi, a member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah movement, said resolving the conflict with Saudi Arabia requires stopping the aggression, lifting the siege and paying compensation, according to Mehr News. He said the confrontation would continue without the three conditions being met.

Senator Chris Murphy said he was briefed on the United States (US) plan to restart the war on Iran and called the proposal “insane,” saying it would lead to a “devastating escalation,” according to Middle East Eye. Murphy said the plan developed will lead, in his view, to a prolongation and an escalation of the war that will be devastating for the country’s security interests.

United States (US) President Donald Trump said in an interview with KCMO radio that the conflict between the US and Iran will end very soon, according to Chinese state agency Xinhua. Trump said in the same interview that there must be a guarantee that there will never be a nuclear weapon, according to Al Arabiya.

Gulf states will have to reconfigure their trillion-dollar defenses given the damage to their economies and the questionable value of US bases in the face of Iranian attack, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported by the Guardian. The report cites 4,670 Iranian one-way attack drones and more than 1,400 Iranian ballistic missiles against 12 regional states in the weeks before the April 8 ceasefire, and an estimate cited in the study puts damage to energy infrastructure at as much as US$58 billion.

Deep rifts over the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are likely to derail unified actions and statements at the two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies in Atlanta, according to Reuters, in a text republished by US News. The US has not invited South Africa to the ministerial, which takes place from October 30 to 31.

More than 25 dockworkers’ unions across at least 110 ports in 22 countries went on strike on Friday (October 30), according to Al Jazeera. The stoppage is part of an international campaign against arms shipments and for better working conditions, the unions said. Unions in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Morocco issued a joint call for an end to the wars in the Middle East, including the war in Gaza.

The head of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, briefed President Donald Trump on Thursday on options for renewed attacks on Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, according to Al Jazeera. The US and Israel have drawn up joint plans to attack Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, The New York Times reported, according to the same Al Jazeera report.

With neither political bloc securing a clear majority in the 120-seat Knesset, leaders of the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu held meetings on Thursday in several configurations, some involving the Ra'am Party, after Tuesday's election. Yashar Party chairman Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud of attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Israel's election results, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Israel's Border Police and military seized a weapons cache in the West Bank village of Hable, near Kalkilya, on Thursday night: three handguns, one of them an airsoft pistol, an M-4 assault rifle, components for several M-16 rifles, more than 2,300 rounds of assorted ammunition and 67 magazines, according to police, who announced the raid on Friday morning and arrested two suspects. Also on Thursday night, Israeli soldiers arrested four people in the area around Jenin. In Nablus, Israeli forces stormed Joseph's Tomb in the eastern part of the city at dawn and raided homes in nearby villages, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, cited by Middle East Eye.

Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels near Mecca, Islam's holiest city, a claim the Houthis deny. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree dismissed the coalition's account as false in a post on X, saying the group had not carried out any operation against Saudi territory and that its operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases, according to Reuters.

A letter from US Vice President JD Vance to the head of Iran’s National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, was sent in a bid to revive peace negotiations, according to Reuters, in an article published by CGTN, which cited the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. President Donald Trump told reporters the matter was “help with medical supplies and various things” and that Vance asked him what he thought, and he answered: “if you want to do that, that’s okay”.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said six attacks hit vital commercial and military infrastructure from Saudi Arabia's east coast to its west coast, reaching Riyadh and the southern region of Najran, in a statement posted on X, according to Al Jazeera. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the Houthis in the Mecca region, according to the Times of Israel. The Houthis deny targeting Mecca and Medina and have rejected previous coalition accusations that they launched drones towards the two holy cities of Islam, according to the Jerusalem Post.

United States Vice President JD Vance said Donald Trump will not let the conflict with Iran become a “forever war” and that the US has been involved with Iran “in some form for seven months,” dealing with the country for 47 years. Vance rejected fears of an endless war and said Trump will finish the mission.

10 United States Air Force transport aircraft arrived at Israeli bases in southern Israel as part of a larger Middle East air convoy, according to KAN News, in a text published by The Jerusalem Post. The aircraft came from Fort Bliss in Texas and would carry air defense systems to protect regional assets, according to KAN, and United States Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper briefed Trump on military options for Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a text published by The Jerusalem Post. An Israeli source told KAN the United States and Israel are coordinating closely and preparing for whatever decision Trump makes, with no decision yet made.

Iranian Parliament speaker and negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said progress in negotiations with the United States depends on Washington accepting Tehran’s seven conditions, rejecting the carrot-and-stick approach. According to Middle East Eye, he said the conditions “have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators” and that progress can only be achieved once Iran’s seven conditions have been agreed upon.

Israel began requiring airlines to submit crew information 48 hours before departure, among other steps to bolster security. According to the Times of India, the requirements apply to inbound and outbound flights by Israeli and foreign carriers and were ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu after a security review. The change follows the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight carrying Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when Omani copilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar and tried to seize control of the aircraft.

US envoy Tom Barrack told CNN the sides are “very close” to an agreement on a process aimed at securing a temporary pause in hostilities with Iran, Middle East Eye reported. Qatar, Pakistan and other US allies had brought the sides to that point, and President Donald Trump and his administration were seriously considering “kinetic action”; asked about a possible “short, sharp” military operation against Iran, Barrack said the option remains on the table. Saudi Arabia has asked the Trump administration to “give diplomacy a chance” before a final decision on a strike, two regional sources told the Jerusalem Post, and Riyadh fears the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could retaliate against Saudi water, electricity and oil and energy infrastructure.

Israel renewed until April 2027 the exclusion order that bars Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, a Palestinian preacher and head of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem, from praying or delivering sermons at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Al Jazeera reported. The latest order, issued on October 20, is the fifth against Sabri, who has been kept away from the site for more than two years. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, a Palestinian human rights monitoring group, says Israeli authorities have issued more than 1,000 exclusion orders barring Palestinians from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City since the beginning of 2026, including against religious figures and Islamic Waqf employees.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that there had been no progress on the central issues in talks with Israel — a ceasefire, withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), border demarcation in southern Lebanon and prisoner releases — a week after the latest round of US-mediated talks, according to the Times of Israel.

Syria said on Wednesday that a French jihadist was killed in a shootout with security forces in the country's northwest, the latest violence involving foreign fighters since Syria's new authorities took power, according to The Hindu.

The Saudi-led coalition says its air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), in a report by the Middle East Eye.

A soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been indicted for providing information to Iran, the Shin Bet, the Israel Police and the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a joint statement. According to the Jerusalem Post, the information he allegedly provided included the locations and coordinates of military bases, along with photographs of interceptor missiles, military vehicles and the US refueling aircraft stationed at an Israeli airport. The Times of Israel reported that the soldier was charged with spying for Iran in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Trump met at the White House on Thursday with the top US military commander to review options for attacking Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal, in reporting by G1. Senator Chris Murphy said he had been briefed on the US plan to restart the war on Iran and called the proposal insane, saying it would lead to a devastating escalation, according to the Middle East Eye. He spoke after US media reported on Wednesday that the United States had warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, a senior planner on the Joint Staff, on Thursday over accusations that he leaked classified information to the public, according to officials cited by Reuters, in a text republished by the Italian outlet Internazionale. Sylvia led the Joint Staff’s Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, known inside the military as J5, a key position that helps advise the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, told Sputnik that the ouster may have come from differences between Sylvia’s position on the war with Iran and that of Secretary Pete Hegseth, rather than from the alleged leak.

Iran received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance and has not yet responded to it, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Thursday, according to Middle East Eye. The letter was sent to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei, as The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, in a bid to revive peace negotiations. Tehran insists that its seven conditions be met by the United States and says that “any position that contradicts this framework is unacceptable,” the agency added.

The intelligence department of Sistan and Baluchestan province said it dismantled four terrorist cells and arrested 16 people in the center and south of the province, some of whom came from abroad, according to Mehr News. Security forces seized nine Kalashnikov rifles, two US-made M4 rifles and seven pistols with ammunition.

Fighting has escalated on several fronts south of Taiz, in southwestern Yemen, with media affiliated with government forces reporting a surge in hostilities with the Houthis, according to Al Jazeera. More than 281,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August, according to the UN humanitarian agency cited by the broadcaster.

A Kremlin spokesperson told Al Jazeera that Moscow is ready to mediate between Iran and the United States if requested, according to Middle East Eye. The same spokesperson said Russia is willing to receive Iran's enriched uranium if the material remains a sticking point in negotiations.

Israel has asked the United States for permission to strike previously untargeted energy facilities in Iran if the military campaign against Tehran resumes, according to state broadcaster Kan, cited by TASS. On Wednesday, Donald Trump told Republican supporters in Ohio, ahead of the US midterm congressional elections, that he intended to end the war against Iran very quickly.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received a report of a vessel ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, 9 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, according to Middle East Eye, and the master of a third vessel reported sighting another vessel on fire 17 km north of Khasab, with the status of the crew unknown, according to Mehr News.

US forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch major military operations against Iran within 96 hours of receiving an order from President Donald Trump, according to two officials cited by CNN, and one official said it “will be a big effort”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, the 14th downed, in an announcement carried by IRNA opposite Sirik and under the integrated air defense network.

Donald Trump said he intends to rename the Strait of Hormuz the Trump Strait, at a Republican rally in Ohio, in the United States, ahead of the midterms, according to TASS. He compared the idea to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and said the new name would come “at some point”.

Israeli attacks killed five Palestinians and wounded 32 in the Gaza Strip, in Palestine, on Tuesday, according to medical sources cited by Anadolu, while a six-year-old girl and a man succumbed to wounds sustained in earlier attacks. The girl died on Tuesday morning after being shot by Israeli forces in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the WAFA news agency.

US officials told Middle East countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military action against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections — as well as for the possibility that Iran will attempt to retaliate against them, according to two diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke to the AP. Donald Trump has not made a final decision on whether to carry out new strikes, but has repeatedly said he is weighing ordering new military action once the elections are over. The allies were also urged to take precautionary measures in anticipation that Iran's response will include retaliatory strikes on energy facilities and other crucial infrastructure.

The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis from Yemen towards the kingdom's eastern region early on Thursday, according to the Jerusalem Post. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense issued two alerts warning of potential danger in Najran and in the Eastern Province, before saying minutes later that the danger had passed in both areas. On the previous Saturday, the Civil Defense said it had intercepted two Houthi missiles launched toward the Mecca and Medina regions, with debris falling in Jeddah, Taif and Rabigh.

Israel’s Central Elections Committee has announced that the counting of “double-envelope” votes has now begun, according to the Times of Israel. Israel began counting more than 500,000 double-envelope ballots, with the potential to affect the final distribution of parliamentary seats, according to Anadolu.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he remains in close and permanent contact with intermediaries to examine proposals that could implement the Seven-Day Plan, under which Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the necessary conditions are met, including a ceasefire across the Middle East, with a Qatari delegation in Tehran on Sunday to discuss the talks, Hormuz and energy supply.

Yemen’s Health Ministry warned on Wednesday of a growing health and humanitarian crisis in Taiz and called for lifting the Houthi siege, saying 246,711 people have lost access to essential health services, including more than 186,000 children under five and about 23,000 pregnant women, according to Yemen's Health Ministry.

With over 90% of ballots counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats against 48 for Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc, with the remaining 19 going to the Joint List and Ra’am, with 12 and seven seats respectively, far short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset — and Netanyahu told his far-right allies that they are staying together, according to the Times of Israel via Channel 14. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed Eisenkot and Yashar as better suited to lead the country and said Netanyahu is “on the wrong side of history”, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Iran will remain in close contact with mediators to examine ideas that could facilitate the implementation of the seven-day plan, even within a period shorter than one week, Araghchi said, according to Mehr News.

The United States warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by Middle East Eye. US forces have been restocking their munitions in the region, and bomber aircraft and jet fighters are preparing for attacks, officials told the newspaper.

With 85% of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies were on track to win 53 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, according to the BBC. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said he expected to receive the official results next week, after which he would begin discussions with every faction: “We must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections.”

The World Bank projects a 23 percent rise in global commodity prices by the end of 2026, with energy prices at four-year highs because of the war on Iran, according to TRT World. Food prices are expected to rise 10 percent in 2026 and another 7 percent next year, because of conflict-affected grain supply lines, the effects of an extreme El Niño phenomenon, and high fuel and fertilizer prices. Reuters reported the 23 percent projection for 2026 attributed to the Middle East war and other supply shocks.

US President Donald Trump wants an Israeli government without ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, American sources told the Walla news site, in a report published by the Jerusalem Post. According to the same sources, Trump believes settler violence is undermining his regional vision and making it harder to implement. Israel's President Isaac Herzog called for everything possible to be done to avoid another round of elections, according to The Hindu. With more than 85% of ballots counted, Netanyahu's bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority, the newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party accused Arab parties of allegedly stealing the Knesset election through widespread electoral fraud, bribery, intimidation, and ballot manipulation, according to the Jerusalem Post. The report itself notes that the allegations have not been independently verified and that no evidence of systematic manipulation has been made public. Talal al-Krenawi called the accusations “disgusting” and “lies and falsehoods”. “This is incitement against the Bedouins,” he said, according to the newspaper.

Yemen's Houthi armed forces called for the immediate evacuation of Aden airport, citing the presence of a Saudi military cargo plane they said was carrying weapons, in a statement carried by Mehr News. A Houthi missile later hit “the area under the control of Saudi forces inside the perimeter of Aden airport”, according to a police officer cited by AFP in a G1 report. Al-Masirah, a TV channel linked to the Houthis, said a Saudi strike on Hazm, the capital of Al-Jawf province, killed 16 people and wounded 10, including women and children.

Iran's economic planners are weighing a scenario of $130 a barrel in the budget for the next Iranian year, which starts in March 2027, according to Iranian media cited by OilPrice. As of early October, the US blockade in the Gulf of Oman had already stranded at least 50 Iranian tankers laden with oil inside the Persian Gulf near Iran's coastline, the same report said.

With almost five million votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc fell to 53 seats and the opposition took 48, the Central Elections Committee announced on Wednesday morning. Likud is projected at 26 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar at 21. Arab parties hold 19. The parties seeking to remove Netanyahu from power reach a combined 67 seats, leaving the prime minister's bloc eight seats short of a parliamentary majority, according to projections published by Middle East Eye.

The United States is moving a Patriot air and missile defense system from Texas to the Middle East as Washington and Israel prepare for a possible new round of heavy combat operations against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by The Jerusalem Post. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Washington had warned several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short, intense military campaign against Iran after the midterms, according to people briefed on the conversations.

With more than 76 percent of votes counted as of 09:30 GMT, Netanyahu’s bloc had 54 seats and Eisenkot’s 47, according to tallies published by Israeli media and cited by Al Jazeera. With 70 percent counted, both Jewish blocs were below the 61 Knesset seats needed for a majority government, according to The Guardian. Arab-Israeli parties were heading for a record result of 16 to 19 seats, and forming a government would require a pact with them, new elections or a unity government, the newspaper said.

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war with the US and Israel, and Tehran is expected to send a response by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations said on Wednesday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Al Arabiya English. The draft sets a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran’s and Washington’s concerns and lays out daily confidence-building steps that each side must take, the official said.

With more than 66% of the votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud was projected to win 28 of the 120 seats in the Knesset and his bloc stands at about 56, short of the 61 needed for a majority, according to El País. The anti-Netanyahu bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, stands at 48 seats, and the two Arab lists would hold a combined 16, indispensable for forming a government. Yair Golan called on the opposition to form a government of change “in partnership with Israel’s Arab citizens.”

Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, held separate phone calls on Tuesday with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, and with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, the Egyptian ministry said on Wednesday. The Egyptian and Saudi ministers agreed to continue coordination through the four-way mechanism, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, according to the ministry.

Jordan and Syria agreed on Tuesday to set up a joint security committee to investigate Jordanian airstrikes in southern Syria and step up coordination, according to TRT World. Seven people were killed and three injured in Monday’s strikes, according to Al Ekhbariya TV citing Daraa’s health directorate, and Jordan’s army said the targets belonged to groups tied to Friday’s attack on worshippers at a church in Hamoud, in Karak province.

Israeli attacks killed two Palestinians and wounded five others across Gaza on Tuesday, according to TRT World, citing medical sources. In northern Gaza, Israeli troops shot dead Mahmoud Samih al-Harsh, 28, on al-Hawja Street in the Jabalia refugee camp, medical sources told Anadolu. In Khan Younis, six-year-old Tahani Mohammed Saeed Shalalfeh died from wounds sustained in an Israeli attack in al-Mawasi the previous day.

The United States has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the midterm elections, according to people briefed on the conversations, the Hindustan Times reported. The newspaper also cited new signs that the American and Israeli militaries are preparing a potential wave of strikes to muscle Tehran to the negotiating table.

Netanyahu and Eisenkot offered competing claims to lead Israel after Tuesday's vote, according to Reuters, in a text published by Al-Monitor. Israel's three major networks updated their exit polls and gave Eisenkot's bloc a two-seat edge over the Likud-led camp, at 52-50; turnout was 77.7%, the highest in more than two decades and around 7 points above 2022, according to the central elections committee cited by France 24. The initial exit polls had left the blocs deadlocked.

The US military has already spent over US$47 billion on the war in Iran, more than 25 percent above the July estimate, according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher said the Holy See will continue to firmly support a two-state solution in the Middle East, according to TRT World, saying the formula retains substantial international backing, although its immediate implementation is unlikely.

A private geospatial-intelligence firm examined 40 missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia by Houthis and Iraqi militias between July 1 and Oct. 19, according to the Associated Press (AP), which points to a match with Russian spy-satellite activity. The Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy told the AP that Iran and the Houthis receive intelligence from elements in Russia and China.

Arab parties are projected to win 18 seats in the Knesset, a record, after a surge in Palestinian voting in Israel, according to Al Jazeera, with overall turnout at a historic 77.7 percent, the highest since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee.

Avigdor Lieberman called on Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and urged Likud to remove him, saying that without Netanyahu it will be possible to rebuild the national camp, according to the Middle East Eye, citing Israel's Channel 12, while also voicing doubt about the exit polls.

Bezalel Smotrich said he will not let Palestinian citizens of Israel celebrate the projected electoral gains and promised that Jewish settlements will be established in Gaza, according to the Middle East Eye, also claiming that Palestinian parties will not reverse settlement expansion.

Gadi Eisenkot said Israel had chosen change and that he would seek to form a new government, according to the Middle East Eye, and promised — according to the Times of Israel — to do everything in his power to form a Zionist government that drafts everyone, with conscription for all, saying Benjamin Netanyahu should accept the verdict and leave political life.

Parliamentary leaders from the BRICS nations expressed “deep concern” about the escalating tension and hostilities in West Asia and slammed the “unilateral coercive measures” and “unilateral economic sanctions” imposed in the region as contrary to international law, according to The Hindu. The joint declaration called for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and asserted the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, freedom and an independent, sovereign state.