UAE opens probe into whether flydubai attack had terror motive, was preplanned

IDF says it will reveal ‘unprecedented number’ of slain Gaza journalists who were members of terror groups

This graphic published by the IDF on October 1, 2026, shows a list of slain Palestinian journalists identified as terror operatives. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it will reveal “an unprecedented number” of Palestinian journalists killed during the war in the Gaza Strip who were actually members of terror groups.

“Following extensive research, the IDF is now revealing the identities of Gazans killed during the war who were presented around the world as innocent journalists and media personnel, but who also held roles in the military wings of terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,” the military says.

The first ten cases of such individuals are published by the IDF on a dedicated website. Each case includes the name and role of the journalist/terror operative, along with their civil and military ID numbers.

“In the next few hours, the IDF will reveal a large number of additional cases in which individuals who were presented as innocent journalists operated as military operatives. Their names will be published alongside intelligence information, documents, photographs, and additional evidence exposing their terrorist affiliations and the roles they held within the military wings of terrorist organizations,” the IDF says.

A Times of Israel investigation published in June identified multiple Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives previously reported as slain journalists. Another study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center published last year asserted that a majority of Gaza-based journalists killed since the outbreak of the current war were operatives in, or closely affiliated with, terrorist organizations.

Man charged with assault for tossing salt shakers at Bennett during Bnei Brak election event

Police announce they have filed an indictment against 26-year-old Bnei Brak resident Eliya Azard, who allegedly hurled two glass salt shakers at former prime minister Naftali Bennett when the B’Yachad party chief spoke with voters in the Haredi city last Thursday.

Azard, who has been in custody since the incident, is charged with simple assault and conduct that could disrupt public order, police say, adding that they have requested the suspect be kept under house arrest until the end of the legal proceedings.

According to police, the first salt shaker Azard tossed hit two women on Bennett’s staff, while the second salt shaker fell short. The B’Yachad party has said one of the women was treated by medics on the scene.

Omani pilot to be handed over to UAE after Saudi investigation completed

The initial investigation into the Omani pilot who tried to crash flydubai flight 1073 yesterday will be carried out by Saudi Arabia, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

Once the Saudi investigation is done, he will be handed over to the UAE for its investigation.

Israel is expecting more significant findings from the Emirati investigation, according to the official.

Israeli tourist dies in apparent kayaking accident in western Norway

A 24-year-old Israeli man from Jerusalem died yesterday during a kayaking incident on Lake Vangsvatnet in western Norway, the Foreign Ministry says, confirming reports on the matter.

“The Israeli embassy in Oslo and the Department for Israelis in Distress Abroad have been handling the case with the local authorities since the report was received. They are in contact with the family and are supporting them during this difficult time,” the ministry says.

According to a Norwegian police report, search and rescue operations for two men whose kayak had been overturned began around 2 p.m. and lasted for around two hours. A friend of the Israeli man, who had been with him during the outing, was rescued from the water conscious and taken to a local hospital for medical treatment, the report says. It’s unclear where and when the deceased Israeli man was confirmed dead.

Norwegian media reported that there was no indication of criminal activity, that both men were wearing lifejackets, and that an investigation has been opened to determine the cause of death.

UN chief ‘relieved’ that tragedy was averted on flydubai flight to Tel Aviv

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” but “relieved that tragedy was averted” on the flydubai flight to Tel Aviv yesterday after the pilot was stabbed by his first officer in an apparent attempt to crash the plane.

Guterres “strongly condemns any act that places civilian lives and the safety of civil aviation at risk” and “is grateful to all the authorities concerned for ensuring the safety of all passengers and for conducting their investigation,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric says.

El Al says first repatriation flight from Dubai expected tomorrow; tickets to cost $249

Israel’s flagship carrier El Al says it expects the first repatriation flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv to depart on Friday to help stranded Israelis return home.

Following the cancellation of all flydubai flights to and from Israel, El Al will operate a special repatriation service to bring back Israelis currently in Dubai. El Al aircraft will depart from Tel Aviv without passengers.

Once approvals from security authorities are received, the flights will be available for booking via the El Al website and through travel agents.

These one-way flights will be sold at a flat rate of $249 per ticket, including a piece of carry-on luggage.

High Court begins hearings on ban of Arab parties and candidates from Oct. 27 election

A hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify Arab parties and candidates from running in the upcoming elections, October 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice begins hearings on the disqualification of Arab parties and candidates from the October 27 election, as protesters gather outside the Supreme Court.

An expanded panel of nine justices is set to consider the Central Elections Committee’s decisions last week to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh and Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, as well as Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party and the Joint List — a bloc made up of Balad, Hadash and Ta’al. The court is beginning with Abu Shehadeh’s case, followed by Cassif, the Joint List and Ra’am later today.

Outside the court, protesters demonstrate against the disqualifications while Cassif tells the crowd ahead of the hearings that they will “bring justice, peace and a prosperous future for all our children — Palestinians and Israelis, Jews and Arabs.”

“We will defeat fascism, and it will be thrown into the dustbin of history,” he adds.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose far-right Otzma Yehudit party petitioned to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, arrives at the court wearing a lawyer’s robe alongside party No. 2 Tally Gotliv, also a lawyer, to represent the party in the proceedings.

“Sami Abu Shehadeh cannot be a member of Knesset. A supporter of terrorism belongs in prison, not in the Knesset,” Ben Gvir says, arguing that the Balad leader “supported” the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Most of the rulings are expected to be overturned with the exception of the ban on Abu Shehadeh, whose disqualification was supported by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over an article he published a day after October 7 that she said expressed support for armed struggle against Israel. CEC chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, as well as parties across the Zionist opposition, also supported barring him.

Abu Shehadeh denies supporting violence or terrorism and argues that the article does not provide grounds for disqualifying him.

Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror, son of former national security adviser, named as Gaza Division intel officer involved in Oct. 7 failures

The Supreme Court has permitted the publication of the name of a senior intelligence officer who is believed to have played a key role in the failures that led to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror was the intelligence officer of the Gaza Division, the IDF regional unit responsible for the Gaza Strip and its border, and held the position on and before October 7, 2023.

Amidror had dismissed detailed warnings from a noncommissioned officer about the looming onslaught as “completely imaginary.”

In November, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir dismissed several senior officers, including Amidror, over their roles in the failures of October 7, 2023.

But only last month was Amidror officially released from service, after he had fought his ousting in court for months. Amidror also appealed against the publication of his name, even though it had already circulated online for months.

Amidror’s father, retired general and former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror, has been regularly interviewed on Israeli television on security matters without disclosing his son’s role, and once said he opposed a state commission of inquiry into October 7.

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit wrote in the ruling that there is a public interest in publishing Amidror’s name, “as someone who served as the intelligence officer of the Gaza Division during a traumatic event of biblical proportions that befell our country.”

Antisemitic conspiracies about flydubai attack spread quickly across social media, watchdogs find

Antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Israel and Jews for yesterday’s attempted crash of an Israel-bound flydubai flight spread online within minutes of the incident, according to two separate reports.

Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM)’s Antisemitism Research Center says it identified 2,963 posts on X attributing the incident to Israel, the Mossad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Zionists or Jews during a 12-hour monitoring period. The first such accusation appeared 67 minutes after the aircraft transmitted its initial distress signal.

The CAM report finds that about 72% of 4,136 posts containing the phrase “false flag” promoted conspiracy claims blaming Israel or Jews. That figure rose to 81% and 82% in the final two hourly monitoring periods.

“What’s striking here isn’t just the volume, it’s the speed,” says ARC Research Associate Oliver Marks. He adds that the incident appeared to become “fodder for antisemitic conspiracy theorists” within an hour.

CyberWell, a nonprofit fighting antisemitism on social media, similarly reports that “false flag” claims quickly emerged alleging that Israelis had hijacked or staged the attack. The organization said the claims reflected a broader antisemitic conspiracy theory portraying Jews or Israelis as orchestrating attacks against themselves.

Such narratives “recast victims as perpetrators” and can fuel hatred and further violence against Jews, says CyberWell CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.