Nov. 1: Yair Golan: Echoes of shots that killed Rabin ‘still resonate’ in government’s actions

Car in southern Lebanon reportedly struck by Israeli drone

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike against a car in the southern Lebanon town of Kfar Roummane, near Nabatieh.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Levin claims AG cannot be involved in legal proceedings relating to Sde Teiman video leak, says she tried to obstruct probe into leak

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, right, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attend a farewell ceremony for then-acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin has instructed Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that she cannot be involved in the legal proceedings regarding the Sde Teiman video leak affair, and that he will appoint a public official in consultation with the interim civil service commissioner to investigate the matter.

In a sharply worded letter to Baharav-Miara, Levin accuses her and her staff of having sought to obstruct investigative proceedings seeking to find the source of the leak, which Military Advocate Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, admitted on Thursday, had been her.

Levin argues that Baharav-Miara is therefore legally barred from participating in the proceedings against the former military advocate general.

He also cites submissions made to the High Court of Justice by the attorney general regarding the leak, in which she stated that exhaustive investigations into the incident found no signs of who the source might be.

“Since the source of the leak of the video was revealed by a basic investigation, it is clear that this notice to the High Court was not truthful,” writes Levin in his letter to Baharav-Miara, in reference to a police investigation announced last week, which prompted Tomer-Yerushalmi to first take a leave of absence and then resign.

Levin also essentially accuses Baharav-Miara of having been in lockstep with Tomer-Yerushalmi, as she wrote in a December 2024 submission to the High Court on the issue that the background surrounding the leak of the video was the “severe riots” against IDF personnel investigating abuse allegations against IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman military detention facility.

Levin notes that Tomer-Yerushalmi stated that she had leaked the video “to refute the false propaganda against IDF law enforcement officials,” and asks Baharav-Miara “how did you know to write in your response to the High Court the background to the leak of the video 10 months before the military advocate general announced what he motivation had been.”

“Your personal involvement in the investigation process and that of your subordinates must be examined. Did you meet with the outgoing military advocate general? Did you speak with her on the subject, did you order her and her immediate environment to be investigated or questioned, or did you refrain from doing so, and in general, what was your knowledge of the affair? It goes without saying that neither you nor your subordinates will be able to engage in examining these and other questions,” adds Levin.

The Democrats MK Gilad Kariv slams the justice minister, accusing him of “subverting the rule of law” and saying he has no authority to prevent her from being involved in the legal proceedings against Tomer-Yerushalmi.

Freed captive Gadi Mozes says ‘if Rabin were PM today, no one would have been left behind’

Released hostage Gadi Mozes speaks at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to commemorate 30 years since late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, November 1, 2025. (Ziv Barak)

Freed hostage Gadi Mozes delivers an emotional address at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, drawing parallels between the legacy of slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the trauma of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Speaking before the tens of thousands marking the 30th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination, Mozes — who was held in Gaza for 482 days — invokes Rabin’s 1995 speech at Kibbutz Tel Hai, adapting it “to these days and to our reality, thirty years later.”

“The story of Nir Oz and the Gaza border is the essence of our story,” Mozes says, recalling the massacre at his kibbutz and the heroism of its residents. “If there is no choice, if a sharp sword rests upon our neck… we go to battle, we go even to death. But I say: it is good to live for our country!”

Rejecting fatalism, Mozes urges renewed efforts toward peace.

“Death and bereavement are not a decree of fate,” he says. “We can — at the very least — try to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, with Syria, and with Lebanon. It is good to live for our country, and we must spare no effort to ensure our children and grandchildren will not know war.”

He also praises Rabin’s integrity and sense of responsibility, contrasting it with today’s leadership.

“If Yitzhak Rabin were prime minister today, no one would have been left behind,” he says. “He would not have given up on us, the hostages… He would not have slept until everyone was brought home.”

Concluding his remarks, Mozes vows to continue fighting for the return of the remaining slain hostages.

“I will not rest, I will not be silent, until the last hostage returns,” he says. “We have a wonderful nation, and a magnificent army… we must choose peace, because that is choosing the future of our children.”

Ex-hostage Eitan Horn vows struggle to continue until all slain hostages return: ‘A funeral and grave aren’t a privilege’

Freed captive Eitan Horn addresses a rally at Hostage Squares in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israelis held in Gaza by Hamas, November 1, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Speaking at Hostages Square, one of the last 20 living hostages to be released says that for 738 days in Hamas captivity, “even when it was very difficult and frustrating, even when I was starved, even when bombs fell right next to me, I believed that I would return to my brothers, my family, my nation — you.”

Flanked by his brothers Amos and Iair — the latter of whom was freed in February as part of a previous ceasefire — Eitan Horn says it is “not yet time to sum things up.”

“I’m unwilling to go back to day-to-day life as long as 11 of my brothers are not brought back home,” he says. “A funeral and a grave are not a privilege, and we can’t wait any longer. We must bring them all back now.”

“I stand here today as a symbol of the abandonment and destruction of October 7,” he tells the crowd. “I am also standing here as a symbol of your crazy power and the success of a civil struggle, maybe one of the most important in history. A struggle that will shape the future of our country.”

Katz says he’ll meet Zamir tomorrow to discuss appointing new top IDF lawyer

Defense Minister Israel Katz says he will meet tomorrow with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to discuss appointing a new military advocate general.

This comes after Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi stepped down on Friday over her involvement in the leaking of a surveillance video from the Sde Teiman detention facility, which purported to show soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee last year.

Mother of slain hostage returned from Gaza calls to hold off on next phase of ceasefire until all bodies handed over

Yael Adar, whose son Tamir’s remains were returned by Hamas last week as part of the Gaza ceasefire, says Israel “must not proceed to the next phase of the agreement before the final hostage is returned.”

The remains of 11 deceased hostages are still held in Gaza, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war.

“That is the essence of not leaving anyone behind,” says Adar to the thousands of people gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.

Adar recalls her early criticism of the ceasefire deal for giving Hamas 72 hours to return the last 20 living hostages while not setting a firm deadline to hand over all the deceased captives.

“Too many ’72 hours’ have gone by and 11 hostages are still in Hamas captivity, robbed of any basic right to be buried with respect,” she says. “Hamas is playing with us — we left them an opening in the agreement and they’re taking advantage of it.”

“I swore to myself — Tamir will not have fallen in vain,” she says. “He is a sacrifice of social rehabilitation, which begins with the return of the final hostage.”

Obama calls Mamdani, praises his campaign, offers to serve as ‘sounding board’ if he wins NYC mayoral race

Former president Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Dec. 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

Former president Barack Obama yesterday called Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in the New York City mayoral race, to praise his campaign and to offer to serve as a “sounding board” for Mamdani if he wins, The New York Times reports.

“Your campaign has been impressive to watch,” Obama is said to have told Mamdai in the 30-minute conversation.

Mamdani told Obama that “he had drawn inspiration for his own recent speech on Islamophobia from Obama’s speech on race during his first presidential run,” the Times reports.

The two also tentatively discussed meeting face-to-face in Washington, the Times reports.

The Times notes that Obama has not formally endorsed Mamdani, “in keeping with his general practice of avoiding any intervention in municipal races since he left office,” but says the call marks “an important signal” of support while other Democratic Party leaders have “kept a palpable distance” from Mamdani.

Mamdani is a longtime anti-Israel activist who has said the Palestinian cause is central to his identity. His anti-Israel rhetoric has alarmed many Jews, sparking a series of warnings from Jewish leaders who say that his vilification of Israel could spur hatred against Jews. Jews in New York City are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group.

Mamdani is polling ahead of former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a pro-Israel centrist and his leading rival in the race, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. The election is on November 4.

Obama also called Mamdani after he won the mayoral primary in June.

Likud minister claims PM was kept in dark about effort to arrange plum WZO gig for his son Yair

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Likud MK Miki Zohar at a meeting of opposition parties in Netanyahu's right wing-religious bloc, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 14, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Culture Minister and head of the World Likud Miki Zohar claims it was his idea to nominate Yair Netanyahu for a sinecure in the World Zionist Organization (WZO), and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unaware of the effort to arrange the appointment for his son.

The Likud faction in the World Zionist Organization tapped Yair Netanyahu, a highly divisive figure in Israel, to head the WZO’s Diaspora and Information Department on Wednesday night, resulting in the collapse of a deal for new appointments in key Zionist institutions.

Speaking to several Hebrew media outlets, Zohar asserts he has been impressed by Yair Netanyahu’s “hasbara” or public diplomacy efforts and therefore tried to have him appointed as head of the department, which comes with similar remuneration and perks that a cabinet minister receives.

Zohar told Ynet that he had approached Yair himself and suggested the idea to him, and that after Yair was initially reticent, he agreed to the idea. Zohar also claims that when Netanyahu first heard of the proposal, he was opposed since he was concerned the appointment would create a backlash, but eventually agreed to the idea as well.

Ynet and other outlets have previously reported, however, that Zohar got Netanyahu’s support to head World Likud, to which he was recently elected, in return for agreeing to support Yair for the WZO job.

“This claim does not comport with the facts that Netanyahu didn’t know about this until two weeks ago,” Zohar says in response.

“It was my proposal, at no stage was the prime minister involved in my conversations with Yair Netanyahu.”

Zohar also insists that Likud will not withdraw Yair’s candidacy for the position, and that he has a “legitimate right” to be appointed to the post.

Yair Golan: Echoes of shots that killed Rabin ‘still resonate’ in government’s actions

The Democrats party leader Yair Golan speaks at a memorial rally marking the 30th anniversary of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, November 1, 2025. The banner reads “Yes to Peace. No to Violence!” (Lior Segev / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

The Democrats chair Yair Golan delivers a forceful address at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to roaring applause from a crowd that organizers say numbers 150,000, marking 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Golan, whose party is a merger of Rabin’s center-left Labor party and the left-wing Meretz, draws a direct link between Rabin’s murder and what he describes as ongoing “incitement and extremist nationalism” within Israel, warning that “the echoes of those three shots have not faded.”

“They still resonate today in every act of this government that works against its own people,” Golan says. “Every time patriots are called traitors, every time demonstrators fulfilling their civic duty are beaten, every time the media is silenced and the judiciary is trampled — those same shots still echo.”

He praises Rabin as “a man of truth and integrity, who time and again placed the good of the people above political and personal gain,” adding that Rabin “knew that peace is not weakness, but strength and power.”

Calling for a “renewed moral and democratic backbone,” Golan urges Israelis to reject complacency and fear. “True unity is not when we give up our values and unite around a lie,” he says. “It is when we stand together — strong for the truth, with a democratic, moral, and security backbone forged of steel.”

“We will not bow again before violence and hate,” he declares. “We will not flatter bullies or apologize to the corrupt. Our unity is one of shared democratic and liberal values — of a Jewish and democratic Israel.”

Golan concludes by calling for leaders who embody Rabin’s legacy of “clarity, determination, and humanity.”

“If we have the courage, determination, and vision that Rabin had,” he says, “we can complete the task he began — and grant Israel the secure future for which he gave his life.”

Settlers said to torch cars, structure used for poultry farming in West Bank village; no casualties reported

Palestinian media outlets report that settlers set fire to two cars and a structure used for raising poultry in the West Bank village of Far’ata.

No casualties are reported.

اللحظات الأولى بعد إحراق المستوطنين على لشاحنة وحافلة وتكسير زجاج منزل، في قرية فرعتا شرق قلقيلية. pic.twitter.com/cAB0uo8BKs

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 1, 2025

Citing Rabin’s legacy to an estimated 150,000 at memorial rally, Eisenkot calls for state inquiry into Oct. 7 failures, universal conscription

Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot calls for national accountability and unity at a rally in Tel Aviv marking 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, warning that “polarization and incitement” continue to endanger Israeli society.

“Rabin stood at the most pivotal crossroads in Israel’s history — a true Mr. Security, the kind of leader Israel yearns for today,” Eisenkot says, addressing an estimated 150,000 attendees in Rabin Square and the surrounding streets. “Those were different days, when leaders took responsibility — in words and in deeds. Responsibility — that’s what Israel yearns for today.”

Eisenkot urges the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 attack and to pass “a universal conscription law,” saying, “The soldiers have done and continue to do their duty. Now we must do ours.”

“Rabin’s assassination was the direct result of polarization and incitement,” he adds. “Thirty years later, the same warning light still flashes before us — a divisive discourse built on lies and self-serving interests.”

Concluding his remarks, Eisenkot says, “Our people know how to rise — and we will rise again. We will bring change, we will mend, and we will heal. It is possible, and it is in our hands.”

Rubio: Hamas depriving Gazans of desperately needed aid by looting humanitarian assistance

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks at the venue of a dinner event with President Donald Trump and business leaders before the event started in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Hamas has continued to seize humanitarian aid meant for needy civilians in Gaza since the ceasefire went into place last month.

Rubio shares drone footage released by US Central Command purportedly showing Hamas operatives taking control of a truck carrying aid to northern Gaza on Friday.

“Hamas continues to deprive the people of Gaza of the humanitarian aid they desperately need. This theft undermines international efforts in support of President Trump’s 20 Point Plan to deliver critical assistance to innocent civilians,” Rubio writes.

“Hamas is the impediment. They must lay down their arms and stop their looting so that Gaza can have a brighter future,” the top US diplomat adds.

At Rabin memorial, Lapid says ‘extremists’ in government ‘distorting Judaism into a politics of hatred and violence’

Speaking before some 80,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to mark 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid delivers a sharp rebuke of what he calls the growing distortion of Judaism by Israel’s far-right leaders.

“There are people who distort Judaism and turn it into a politics of hatred and violence,” Lapid says. “Those people today sit in the government.”

“Judaism does not belong to the extremists, the corrupt, or the shirkers [of mandatory military service.] It is not theirs to own,” he adds.

Lapid says Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, “murdered Rabin and tried to murder an idea as well — our duty is to ensure that the idea lives on: a Jewish, democratic, and peace-seeking state.”

He closes his speech by citing Rabin’s legacy: “On this day, in this place, we are not here only to mourn Rabin — but to draw strength from him. He taught us: when you see something dangerous, stand against it.”

Freed captive Matan Zangauker visits Hostages Square for first time since returning from Gaza

Freed captive Matan Zangauker arrives at a rally being held at Hostage Squares in Tel Aviv on November 1, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

For the first time since being freed from Hamas captivity last month, Matan Zangauker visits Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where a rally is being held this evening to call for the return of the remaining 11 deceased captives in Gaza.

Zangaukger is accompanied by his girlfriend Ilana Gritzewsky, who was also abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 2023 attack before being released during a ceasefire the next month, and his mother Einav Zangauker, who has been one of the most prominent protest leaders among the relatives of hostages.

לצלילי "שיר לשלום": שורד השבי מתן צנגאוקר ביקר הערב בכיכר החטופים, עם אימו עינב וחברתו שורדת השבי אילנה גריצווסקי, לראשונה מאז שחרורו@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/l2Sfvigk2S

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 1, 2025

Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to mark 30 years since Rabin’s assassination

A crowd gathers at the Tel Aviv ceremony commemorating 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, November 1, 2025. (Stav Levaton/Times of Israel)

Thousands fill Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square and the surrounding streets to commemorate 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Attendees are seen holding signs reading “Rabin was right,” a slogan that has gained popularity amid Israel’s war in Gaza and the deep internal divisions in the country, evoking Rabin’s warnings that peace and security cannot be achieved through force alone. Many are also waving Israeli flags and wearing regalia from the left-wing Yesh Atid and The Democrats parties.

The rally, organized by the “Returning to the Square” movement in coordination with the Tel Aviv Municipality and Israel Police, is the first in five years. Organizers said previous events were canceled due to construction at Rabin Square and because of security and logistical difficulties related to the war.

Speakers will include Opposition Leader and Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, Democrats chair Yair Golan, former foreign minister Tzipi Livni and freed hostage Gadi Mozes.

Hamas says delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya met Turkish FM for talks on Gaza ceasefire

Hamas announces that a delegation headed by the terror group’s leader of Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, who is currently outside the Strip, met today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul.

According to the Hamas statement, during the meeting, Hamas representatives gave a document to Turkish officials detailing alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire since it began last month.

It’s also reported that al-Hayya stressed Hamas’s commitment to the ceasefire and, within that framework, to returning bodies of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

???? خبر صحفي صادر عن حركة المُقاومة الإسلامية "حماس"

وفد قيادي من حماس يلتقي وزير الخارجية التركي

التقى وفد من قيادة حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس برئاسة د. خليل الحية رئيس الحركة في قطاع غزة مع وزير الخارجية التركي هاكان فيدان، اليوم السبت 1 نوفمبر تشرين ثاني 2025 في اسطنبول. pic.twitter.com/dKJXYtvqPm

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 1, 2025

Katz says he discussed Hamas disarmament with top American general

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine (left) meets with Defense Minister Israel Katz. at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, November 1, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, who arrived in Israel on Thursday night, met today with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“We discussed the close strategic and operational cooperation between the IDF and the US military, a partnership that is shaping the new reality in the Middle East,” Katz says in a statement.

“We discussed the challenges in the near and distant arenas, foremost among them the Gaza Strip, and our commitment to the release of all the hostages, the demilitarization of Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas,” he adds.

On Friday, Caine met with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other military officials for an assessment focused on “regional challenges, focusing primarily on the situation in the Gaza Strip and future challenges in both nearby and distant arenas,” according to the IDF.

IDF says Nahal troops working to destroy tunnel in Rafah area, uncover Hamas weapons

A rocket launcher found by troops in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on November 1, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Since the start of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip earlier this month, the IDF says troops stationed in the Rafah area have been working to demolish a large tunnel network and have also located a rocket launcher.

The Nahal Brigade, operating under the Gaza Division, has been stationed in Rafah, which is on the eastern side of the “Yellow Line” demarcating the IDF’s pullback in Gaza.

The IDF says the Nahal troops located a multiple rocket launcher with 15 barrels, along with other military equipment belonging to Hamas.

The troops “are continuing to destroy the remaining underground tunnel network in the area, which allows terrorists from the terror organizations to reside and operate against IDF troops,” the military says.

During their operations in the area, several times Hamas operatives have emerged from tunnels and exchanged fire with troops, according to the IDF. In two such incidents in recent weeks, three soldiers were killed.

Sa’ar warns German FM that Hezbollah efforts to rearm have ‘serious implications’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says he hosted his German counterpart for talks on Johann Wadephul Gaza, Lebanon and other regional hotspots.

“I emphasized Hezbollah’s rearmament in Lebanon and its severe implications for the security of Israel and the future of Lebanon,” Sa’ar writes on X. “Terror states have established themselves in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen over the past few decades. Uprooting them is necessary for the stability and security of the region.”

He adds that he’ll keep pushing to “strengthen our relations with Germany.”

Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa to resume Iran flights after suspending them amid Israel-Iran war

VIENNA — Austrian Airlines will resume flights to the Iranian capital Tehran tomorrow, the carrier says, after a near five-month suspension triggered by the Israel-Iran war.

German airline Lufthansa also says it intends to resume flights to Tehran from December, but adds that a precise restart date will be announced closer to the time.

Austrian Airlines said its first flight to Tehran will depart Sunday evening local time.

The carrier’s security team is continuing to “closely assess developments throughout the region,” it says in a statement.

“The safety of our crews and passengers is always our top priority.”

Both Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa suspended their flights in June after the outbreak of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

They were among a host of carriers who put services to Iran on hold due to the conflict.

Austrian Airlines is part of the wider Lufthansa Group, which also includes Eurowings, Swiss and Brussels Airlines.

Settlers reportedly set fire to Bedouin property north of Jerusalem

Palestinian media outlets report that settlers set fire to property belonging to Bedouins living near the village of Jaba in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem. No injuries are reported.

Settlers were also reported to have set fire to Bedouin property in the area yesterday morning.

عصابات المستوطنون تحت حماية قوات الاحتلال يضرمون النار في ممتلكات الأهالي في التجمع البدوي معازي شرق بلدة جبع شمال شرق القدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/aD2ddsyJSQ

— ????????جَ (@za3tarpalestine) November 1, 2025

US military publishes drone video of suspected Hamas operatives looting aid truck in Gaza

Screenshots of video released by US Central Command shows suspected Hamas operatives looting a truck transporting humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on October 31, 2025. (X screenshots)

The US Central Command publishes a drone video showing what it says are suspected Hamas operatives looting an aid truck in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday.

In a statement, CENTCOM says the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) — which is based in Kiryat Gat — “observed suspected Hamas operatives looting an aid truck traveling as part of a humanitarian convoy delivering needed assistance from international partners to Gazans in northern Khan Younis.”

The CMCC was alerted to the incident through video surveillance from an American MQ-9 drone flying over Gaza as part of monitoring of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“Operatives attacked the driver and stole the aid and truck after moving the driver to the road’s median. The driver’s current status is unknown,” CENTCOM says.

US Drone Observes Aid Truck Looted by Hamas in Gaza

TAMPA, Fla. – On Oct. 31, the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) observed suspected Hamas operatives looting an aid truck traveling as part of a humanitarian convoy delivering needed assistance from… pic.twitter.com/BFa2BPwk2a

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 1, 2025

US envoy says Syrian leader Sharaa expected to visit Washington

Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

MANAMA, Bahrain — United States Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington.

During the visit, Syria will “hopefully” join the US-led coalition to defeat Islamic State, Barrack tells reporters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, an annual global security and geopolitical conference.

US envoy: Everything West has done in Mideast since Ottoman Empire’s fall ‘has been a mistake’

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack also declares at the Manama security dialogue that “since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, everything the West has done [in the Middle East] has been a mistake.”

“What works is benevolent monarchies,” he says.

US envoy: Hezbollah still has thousands of rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, September 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Syria says Israel is continuing to carry out strikes in southern Lebanon because Hezbollah still possesses “thousands of rockets and missiles that are threatening it.”

“They’re trying, but they’re dinosaurs,” Tom Barrack says during a security conference in Bahrain about Lebanese leaders in reference to their efforts to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which he urges them to accelerate.

Concerning Jerusalem-Beirut ties, Barrack says that Israel “is sitting ready to make border and boundary agreements with all its neighbors, and it owes America a favor,” citing the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program that he states led to “an incredibly reshaping of the region.”

Barrack, who also serves as US ambassador to Turkey, predicts that despite hostile relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, the two countries could soon reach a trade deal.

“Turkey and Israel will not be at war with each other,” continues Barrack. “You’re going to get alignment from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.”

Afghan man suspected of ties to ISIS offshoot arrested in France

Illustrative: A French police officer stands in front of the Louvre Museum after a robbery, in Paris on October 19, 2025. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

PARIS, France — A 20-year-old man from Afghanistan suspected of having links to an offshoot of the Islamic State group has been arrested in France, anti-terrorism prosecutors say.

The man was charged with participating in a criminal terrorist organisation and financing a terrorist enterprise, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) say.

The suspect, who was arrested in Lyon last week, was placed in pre-trial detention.

“Clearly adhering to jihadist ideology, he is suspected of having been in contact with IS-K (Islamic State in Khorasan),” the anti-terrorism unit says.

The man is suspected of “sending funds” and helping translate and relay “the propaganda of this terrorist organization,” PNAT adds.

The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the jihadist group’s branch in Afghanistan, also operates in Pakistan and former Soviet countries in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan.

The group has been responsible for deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Russia, including an attack on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024 that killed 150 people.

According to French daily Le Parisien, the Afghan, who arrived in France several years ago, was arrested by officers from the DGSI domestic intelligence agency when he was already in an administrative detention center in Lyon.

Le Parisien says that the suspect, already under investigation for glorifying terrorism, was editing and disseminating jihadist propaganda on TikTok and Snapchat social networks.

France has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist attackers over the past decade, often by individuals inspired by Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.

Iran’s FM: We have ‘no desire’ for talks with US, ‘cannot stop uranium enrichment’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses foreign ambassadors to Iran, in Tehran on October 5, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has no desire for direct talks with the US over its nuclear or missile program, insisting that the Islamic Republic would not give up its ability to enrich uranium.

“We will never negotiate our missile program, and no rational actor would disarm. We cannot stop uranium enrichment, and what cannot be achieved by war cannot be achieved through politics. We have no desire for direct talks with Washington, but can reach an agreement for indirect negotiations,” he tells the Qatari Al Jazeera outlet.

“We are ready to negotiate to remove concerns about our nuclear program and are confident in its peaceful nature. Reaching a fair agreement is possible, but Washington has proposed unacceptable and impossible conditions,” he says.

“Nuclear materials remained under the rubble of the attacked nuclear facilities and were not transferred elsewhere. The technology exists, despite the losses,” he says, referring to attacks by Israel and the US in June on the country’s nuclear program.

“Tehran is prepared for all possibilities and expects any aggressive behavior from Israel,” he states.

‘I hope you leave Melbourne soon’: Israeli woman rejected from job, accused of complicity in ‘genocide’

An Israeli woman, 24, was rejected from a job at a plant nursery in Melbourne while being accused of complicity in “genocide” by its co-owner, the Herald Sun daily reports. 

The woman applied for a job at The Garden of Eden nursery in the suburb of Albert Park, when its co-owner, Brett Dahan, sent her a text message rejecting the application, writing, “Unfortunately, the position has been filled by someone with an (sic) semblance of humanity and who cares for plants, animals, and the environment.”

“Good luck on your journey and I hope you leave Melbourne soon! Free Palestine and end genocide NOW. You’re complicit in IT,” he wrote, according to the text shared with the daily.

The woman, who remained anonymous, says she was “shocked and deeply disappointed.”

“I came to Australia believing it was a fair and welcoming country but reading those words – so full of hostility – was heartbreaking,” she tells the Herald Sun. “I was judged, not as a person, but as an Israeli.”

The daily contacted Dahan over the matter, who said he “did not know” why he sent the message, and failed to answer questions from the outlet.

Oman urges US and Iran to return to nuclear talks

This picture shows a magazine front page at a kiosk in Tehran on April 19, 2025, featuring the Iran-US talks on the Iranian nuclear program set to begin in Rome on the same day. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

MANAMA, Bahrain — Oman, which hosted several rounds of US-Iran nuclear talks that were derailed by the Israel-Iran war in June, urges the countries to go back to the negotiating table.

“We want to return to the negotiations between Iran (and) the United States,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi says during a panel at the IISS Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.

Oman, Iran’s traditional intermediary, hosted five rounds of US-Iran talks this year.

However, “just three days before the sixth and possibly decisive round of talks, Israel unleashed its bombs and missiles in an illegal and deadly act of sabotage,” Albusaidi says, referring to Israel’s operation aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The talks had aimed for a new agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.

Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, though it enriches uranium to levels that have no use for civilian purposes.

Albusaidi calls for fellow Gulf nations to favour dialogue with Iran and others long seen as foes and rivals in the region.

“Over the years, the GCC has at best sat back and permitted the isolation of Iran,” he says, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council regional bloc.

“I believe this needs to change,” Albusaidi adds.

“Oman has long hoped for a more comprehensive mechanism for dialogue with all states in the region, including Iran, Iraq, and Yemen,” he says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Orthodox Jewish man says London bus driver flung antisemitic insults at him, withheld bank card for an hour

An Orthodox Jewish man says a London bus driver hurled antisemitic insults while withholding his bank card in the vehicle for around an hour on Monday.

David Abraham, 52, tells the BBC that he dropped his bank card inside the driver’s cab after boarding. The driver then refused to open to door to allow him to retrieve his property.

“He said ‘get out, I don’t like Jewish people you look like a Mossad agent’. I said ‘why you say that?’ So I was shocked,” Abraham says.

The driver initially refused to open the cab even after police arrived, Abraham says. “The driver said, ‘no, no, no. I don’t want to give you the card. If you want to take that card, open this door, take that card. But me, I will not give you the card.’ So the officer opened the door. They (the police officer) just take the card.”

Abraham says he feels “scared” to go out again due to the incident.

A spokesperson for the London Metropolitan Police confirms to the BBC that officers came to the scene. While no crime was reported, the following day, Abraham reported the incident as a hate crime, the spokesperson adds.

An Arriva London Bus company spokesperson says the driver was suspended pending an investigation, adding the firm does not tolerate abuse, “and we will always deal with any incidents swiftly and robustly.”

A Jewish man from London dropped his credit card into the driver’s section of a public bus.

Rather than returning it, the driver made ignored the passenger, who was trapped on the bus for hours trying to retrieve his property.

The driver reportedly said that he doesn’t like… pic.twitter.com/dH1E76ZUEa

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 30, 2025

Israel-Saudi deal ‘virtually impossible’ by year’s end, commentator close to Saudi leadership tells NYT

US President Donald Trump arrives with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the group photo with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders during the GCC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Despite US President Donald Trump’s optimism, an Israel-Saudi normalization deal is “virtually impossible” by the year’s end and would require a “miraculous change” in Jerusalem, a Saudi commentator close to the kingdom’s leadership tells The New York Times.

The comment comes ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reported upcoming trip to Washington, DC, this month, when Trump will likely push the issue.

Ali Shihabi, the Saudi commentator, says a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is “virtually impossible” by the end of the year, “unless a miraculous change took place in Israel.”

Shihabi says that MBS is insisting that Israel take an “irrevocable, major step toward a Palestinian state” before normalization — a measure unlikely due to the current right-wing government’s opposition to a two-state solution.

A normalization deal is Riyadh’s only leverage left to use on behalf of the Palestinians, and “the kingdom wants to use that card to try and solve the problem once and for all for the benefit of the long elusive regional stability,” he tells The Times.

During his visit, MBS will be focused on signing a mutual defense pact, a US official and another person familiar with the trip tell The Times.

The agreement would be similar to a recent deal signed with Qatar, the officials say.

The Saudis also want to try to acquire F-35s, America’s most advanced fighter jet, while advancing a deal that would allow it to build a civilian nuclear program, the officials say.

Hamas claims Israel asked to examine unidentified bodies, refused samples to check if they were hostages

Red Cross vehicles carrying the bodies of two people believed to be deceased hostages handed over by Hamas make their way toward the Kissufim border crossing with Israel, to be transferred to Israeli authorities, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, October 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Hamas terror group’s military wing confirms it handed over the remains of three bodies to Israel last night via the Red Cross.

The remains, however, were not identified as any of the dead hostages by Israeli forensic experts.

According to the Al-Qassam Brigades, it had offered samples of the unidentified bodies it found, but “the enemy refused to receive the samples and requested to receive the bodies for examination.”

Hamas says it handed over the remains “to counter the enemy’s claims.”

There has been no comment from Israel on the transfer last night, but it has previously charged that the terror group knows the location of the vast majority of the remaining bodies of hostages, and is purposely stalling.

Hamas, in its statement, says that its teams are ready to continue to work on “extracting the bodies of enemy captives inside the Yellow Line,” referring to areas of the Strip under IDF control.

“The Al-Qassam Brigades demand that the intermediaries and the International Committee of the Red Cross provide and prepare the equipment and teams necessary to recover all the bodies simultaneously,” the terror group adds.

Mass killings likely persist in Sudan’s El-Fasher days after fall to RSF, researchers say

This handout satellite image by Vantor taken on October 30, 2025 and made available on October 31, 2025, shows a general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher. (Handout / Satellite image ©2025 Vantor / AFP)

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — New satellite imagery suggests that mass killings are likely continuing in and around the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, Yale researchers say, days after it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

At war with the regular army since April 2023, the RSF seized El-Fasher on Sunday, pushing the army out of its last stronghold in the western Darfur region after a grinding 18-month siege.

Since the city’s fall, reports have emerged of summary executions, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting, and abductions, while communications remain largely cut off.

A report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab released yesterday says fresh images gave them reason to believe much of the population may be “dead, captured, or in hiding.”

The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects consistent with human bodies between Monday and Friday, across neighbourhoods, university grounds, and military sites.

“Indicators that mass killing is continuing are clearly visible,” the lab says.

Settlers assault Palestinian olive harvesters in West Bank village — report

Settlers attack Palestinian olive harvesters in the West Bank village of Burin, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reports, citing local sources.

According to the report, the settlers were accompanied by a guard from the settlement of Yitzhar and assaulted some of the olive harvesters.

The Palestinians were forced to leave the area and scatter the olives they picked, the report says.

Jordan and Germany say Gaza stabilization force should have UN mandate

This picture taken from a position at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shows destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory on October 30, 2025 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

MANAMA, Bahrain — Jordan and Germany say that an international force expected to support a future Palestinian police presence in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s postwar governance plan should have a UN mandate.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations is expected to deploy forces in the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by the war that the terror group sparked on October 7, 2023, with its massacre in southern Israeli communities.

The so-called international stabilization force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan, as well as secure border areas and prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.

“We all agree that in order for that stabilization force to be able to be effective in getting the job done, it has to have a Security Council mandate,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says.

Jordan, however, will not be sending its own forces to the Strip.

“We’re too close to the issue and we cannot deploy troops in Gaza,” Safadi says, adding his country was nonetheless ready to cooperate with the international force.

Safadi speaks at the IISS Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, who also supports a UN mandate for the force, saying it would “need a clear basis in international law.”

“We understand that this is of utmost importance to those countries who might be willing to send troops to Gaza and for the Palestinians. Germany would also want to see a clear mandate for this mission,” Wadephul says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Drone strike killed elite Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon yesterday, IDF says

A Hezbollah operative was killed in a second Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon yesterday, the IDF announces.

The military says the strike in the Nabatieh area killed a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force who was involved in “advancing many terror attacks against the State of Israel and operated to restore Hezbollah military infrastructure.”

“The terrorist’s activities constituted a threat to the State of Israel and its civilians, and a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF adds.

Yesterday, the IDF said it killed a “Hezbollah maintenance officer” in a strike in the southern Lebanon town of Kounine.

Authorities assess partial remains handed over by Hamas do not belong to hostages

The 11 deceased hostages whose bodies were still held in Gaza as of October 30, 2025: (Top row from left) Meny Godard, Ran Gvili, Dror Or; (Second row) Itay Chen, Asaf Hamami, Oz Daniel, Hadar Goldin; (Bottom row) Sudthisak Rinthalak, Lior Rudaeff, Omer Neutra, Joshua Mollel. (Collage by Times of Israel; Photos: Courtesy)

The partial remains of three bodies that Hamas handed over to Israel last night via the Red Cross are assessed by Israeli authorities as not belonging to any hostages, The Times of Israel has learned.

The assessment is made following the completion of identification efforts at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv.

There was no comment from Israel or Hamas on the transfer of the remains.

Tanzanian president wins 97.66% of vote in election marred by violence

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan casts her vote during the general elections at Chamwino polling station in Dodoma, Tanzania, October 29, 2025. (AP Photo)

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won a landslide election victory, official results show, after key candidates were jailed or barred from a vote that has triggered days of violent protests.

The final result shows Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, dominating every constituency, the electoral commission announced on state television.

A quick swearing-in ceremony would take place today, state TV says.

The main opposition party, Chadema, says hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since protests broke out on election day on Wednesday.

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.

She has faced opposition from parts of the army and Magufuli’s allies, and sought to cement her position with an emphatic win, analysts say.

Rights groups say she oversaw a “wave of terror” in the east African nation ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.

Chadema was barred from taking part in the election, and its leader put on trial for treason.

US tariffs on heavy trucks, buses come into effect

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled 'Make America Wealthy Again,' at the White House in Washington, on April 2, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Fresh US tariffs on imports of medium- and heavy-duty trucks took effect today, although with partial relief for vehicles entering the country under a key North America trade agreement.

The 25-percent tariff on trucks, alongside a 10% duty on buses, comes into place after US President Donald Trump’s government launched a Section 232 probe into such imports to gauge their implications on national security.

The president has tapped such investigations, under the authority of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, to impose tariffs on various categories of goods in efforts to boost domestic manufacturing and punish countries deemed to be taking advantage of the United States.

The steel and aluminum sectors have also been hit — with 50% tariffs — as were autos with a 25% duty.

However, the latest truck tariffs will not stack on existing duties applying to steel, aluminum, copper, autos, and lumber, the White House said in October.

Trucks will be spared from separate “reciprocal” duties, setting out rates varying by trading partner, too.

Residents of West Bank settlement given all clear after suspected terror infiltration

After some six hours, the IDF’s Home Front Command gives residents of Mevo Horon the all clear to leave their homes after telling them to shelter in place due to a suspected terror infiltration in the West Bank settlement.

2/3 of Israelis think US currently calling shots on IDF operations in Gaza — poll

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat on October 29, 2025, meeting IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) and CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper (left). (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Two-thirds (67%) of Israelis believe that the United States is currently making decisions regarding IDF operations in Gaza, according to an Israeli television survey.

Twenty-four percent of respondents to the Channel 12 news poll say Israel is the one calling the shots, while the remaining nine percent don’t know.

The poll also asks if respondents believe Israel has become a “client state” of the US — a notion Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior US officials have pushed back on, with 69% saying agreeing, 25% disagreeing and the remaining six percent not knowing.

Flights temporarily suspended at Berlin airport after unidentified drone sightings

Flights have been suspended for almost two hours at Berlin Brandenburg Airport due to sightings of unidentified drones, the latest in a series of similar scares across Europe, an airport spokesman tells AFP.

IDF says troops scanning settlement after infiltration siren triggered

The IDF says it is conducting scans in the West Bank settlement of Mevo Horon after it received reports of three suspects in the community.

“The details are under investigation,” the army says.

Sirens had sounded in the settlement.

Cuomo campaigns with Republican Jewish lawmaker, who broke with party to endorse him

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is trailing the far-left anti-Israel activist Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral race, campaigns with Inna Vernikov, one of the city’s leading Republicans.

Vernikov is a Jewish lawmaker on the city council and is originally from Ukraine. She represents an area in South Brooklyn that is conservative and home to many Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union.

Her pairing with Cuomo is significant because Vernikov broke with her party to endorse Cuomo over the Republican Curtis Sliwa, citing the threat from Mamdani.

She is also a voice for Cuomo in the conservative area that mostly voted for US President Donald Trump in last year’s election.

Cuomo lost the Democratic party race to Mamdani and is running as an independent, but is a lifelong Democrat.

Had a great meeting with Councilwoman @InnaVernikov today at Ocean View Cafe in Brooklyn: the heart of a proud Russian-speaking community, many of whom came to New York after escaping Soviet Russia.

Inna has been a fearless voice against antisemitism and for public safety,… pic.twitter.com/d3xF52oa2u

— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) October 31, 2025

Vernikov is one of the city’s most recognizable Republican lawmakers and an outspoken supporter of Israel.

“Inna has been a fearless voice against antisemitism and for public safety, accountability, and common sense in city government. We may come from different parties, but we share the same goal: protecting New York’s values and future,” Cuomo says.

“She said something powerful: that many in this community feel everything they once escaped would now be coming to New York if Mamdani is elected,” Cuomo says, tying Mamdani’s far-left socialism to the Soviet Union.