The United States military recently deployed two extra Patriot missile defense system batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to defend their oil and gas facilities, two US officials and one regional source tell the Axios news site.
The delivery occurred last month, according to the report.
According to the report, the US will need to use Saudi airspace if it resumes significant operations against Iran, but will likely be denied if Riyadh feels that its energy facilities will be exposed to Iranian attacks.
A US Central Command spokesman declines to comment on the report.
Transportation Ministry says that rescue flights by Israeli carriers to bring citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates back home will go ahead today, after earlier reports that the Gulf country pulled its authorization.
However, the ministry says it expects a delay in the scheduling “due to the need to complete the necessary preparations and coordination by defense officials.”
Flights between the countries were canceled due to an alleged attempt by a flydubai copilot to hijack and crash a plane yesterday between Dubai and Tel Aviv.
The United Arab Emirates has canceled its authorization for Israeli carriers to carry out rescue flights for Israelis stranded in the Gulf country after services were suspended due to yesterday’s alleged attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight, Hebrew media outlets report.
El Al and Arkia had geared up to launch repatriation flights later today.
The defense establishment and Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority are working to resolve the issue through the night with UAE officials, reports say.
SANAA, Yemen — Loud explosions were heard this evening in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is controlled by pro-Iranian Houthi forces, an AFP correspondent says.
The Saba agency, which is affiliated with the anti-government fighters, speaks of “Saudi aggression” on X.
After several years of calm, Yemen plunged back into war in July with the Houthis, who control Sanaa and Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, against the government backed by Riyadh.
President Isaac Herzog speaks with Ahmed al-Husseini, the Palestinian man from East Jerusalem who was assaulted by an ultra-Orthodox mob outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate earlier this week.
Husseini’s assault was livestreamed on social media, with the person filming the incident heard declaring in delight, “Wow, they’re f**cking up an Arab.”
“I wanted to express my deep sorrow to you,” says Herzog, according to the President’s Residence. “I was truly saddened to see what happened to you, and I think the entire people of Israel were deeply pained to see this incident. This should never happen. No elderly person, and no person whatsoever, should be treated this way. I strongly condemn the violence against you.”
Settlers are filmed vandalizing and stealing olives from trees belonging to Palestinians from the central West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, as IDF soldiers look on without acting.
Such acts have intensified in recent days amid the start of the annual olive harvest, which has previously seen an uptick in attacks.
Theft under the protection of the military:
This morning, settlers vandalized olive trees belonging to residents of Al-Mughayyir and stole olives under the protection of Israeli soldiers who were guarding them. pic.twitter.com/aDGFA16jBT— Yesh Din ييش دين יש דין (@Yesh_Din) October 1, 2026
Sami Abou Shehadeh, the chair of the Arab nationalist Balad party, who faced the prospect of being banned from running in the October 27 election, is ending his candidacy, the party announces.
“The withdrawal of his candidacy is not the end of Abou Shahadeh’s political struggle, and is not the end of Balad’s struggle,” the party says in a statement.
“Abu Shehadeh will continue to lead the party, Balad is continuing its project, and the Joint List continues in its struggle for Arabic representation and to contribute to the ousting of this government of Netanyahu and Ben Gvir,” it says.
The coalition-controlled Central Elections Committee voted last month to disqualify Abou Shehadeh over an article he published the day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, which the attorney general has argued constitutes support for armed struggle against Israel. The vote drew broad support from both sides of the aisle.
Abou Shahadeh expressed regret over the article during a High Court hearing today on the ban, and denied supporting armed struggle.
But the justices unanimously urged him to stand down from the election, telling him that a majority of the nine-justice panel would uphold his disqualification.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who personally argued the case against Abou Shehadeh before the court, celebrates the news of his candidacy ending, but slams the court for not rendering a decision on the matter.
Ben Gvir, in a video statement, vows to remove all “haters of Israel” from the Knesset.
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