Houthis met US officials in Oman, promised not to attack US, Israeli ships — sources
Vance: We cannot let our Mideast foreign policy be subservient to Israel * Lebanon’s president says he wants Israel security deal as prelude to peace * Reports: Settlers torch Palestinian agricultural structure in West Bank
UK police charge man with religiously aggravated criminal damage of Muslim venues
British police say that they have charged a 21-year-old man with racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage against Muslim organizations and venues in London.
Illia Bilyk was charged with five offenses relating to offensive graffiti being sprayed on five buildings in January 2025, say London’s Metropolitan Police. He is due to appear in court tomorrow.
Sweden summons Iran ambassador over threats to Israeli and Jewish sites
Sweden says it had expelled an Iranian embassy employee and summoned the country’s ambassador, accusing Tehran of making threats against Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden.
“We know that Iran, over a long period of time, has conducted activities that threaten security in and against Sweden, targeting both individuals who oppose the Iranian regime and various Jewish and Israeli interests in our country. This has, among other things, been done by making use of criminal networks,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer says in a statement to AFP.
Saudi Arabia condemns ‘cowardly terrorist attack’ by Houthis on Mecca
Saudi Arabia condemns the targeting of Mecca as a “cowardly terrorist attack” after Yemen’s Houthis denied launching a drone at the holy city.
The Gulf kingdom “reaffirms its legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend the security of the two holy mosques, the pilgrims, and the entire Saudi territory, its citizens, and its residents,” the foreign ministry says in a statement.
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Aramco facilities in Yanbu; no Saudi confirmation
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says the group has attacked an airbase in Khamis Mushait as well as Aramco facilities in Yanbu.
Saudi Arabia has not confirmed either of the attacks.
MP for UK’s Labour calls in Parliament for ‘military action’ against Israel
A British MP for Labour has called for “military action” against Israel in Parliament.
During a discussion yesterday on Gaza, MP Tahir Ali interrupted comments by Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord on the need to disarm Hamas, saying: “On the issue of disarmament, should we not also be calling for Israel’s disarmament as well, given the atrocities that have been committed?”
Ali adds: “Previous governments have intervened in the Middle East to take action to [guard against] human rights abuses and protect international trade routes. Isn’t it about time that military action is taken against Israel also?”
Ali has served as an MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley since 2019.
Previous Labour and Conservative governments have consistently justified military intervention across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, on the grounds of preventing human rights abuses and protecting vital trade routes.
Is it not time, therefore, that… pic.twitter.com/6DlPTle8Hs
— Tahir Ali MP (@TahirAliMP) September 15, 2026
Responding to Ali, Foord rejected the attempt to create an equivalence between Israel and the Hamas terror group.
Eisenkot denies claim he promised Bedouin leaders he’d bring Ra’am into government
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot denies a Channel 12 report claiming he promised Bedouin local authority heads that he would bring Mansour Abbas’s Islamist Ra’am party into a government led by him following the October 27 election.
The outlet cited local leaders who’d been at the event. Tuba-Zangariyye council head Mueid al-Heib, who attended the meeting, told Radio Nas that Eisenkot said he would not govern with Bezalel Smotrich or Itamar Ben Gvir, but that contacts were underway with Ra’am and he would work to bring the party into his government.
Eisenkot and Yashar vehemently deny the claims, calling them “a complete lie” and insisting the remarks “were never made, not even by implication.”
פרסום ראשון: גדי איזנקוט הבטיח במהלך פגישה שקיים אמש עם פורום ראשי הרשויות הבדואיות בצפון לצרף את רע״מ לממשלה הבאה בראשותו. שני ראשי רשויות שהשתתפו בפגישה אישרו את הדברים pic.twitter.com/I9VUW8MxMM
— מוחמד מג'אדלה محمد مجادلة (@mmagadli) September 16, 2026
Yashar publishes recordings of yesterday’s meeting with the local authority heads, saying the composition of a future government was never discussed.
The party reiterates its position that potential coalition partners must meet “the three fundamental principles that are well known to the public,” including recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, acceptance of the values of the Declaration of Independence, and universal military or civil national service, as well as recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“We have nothing to hide,” Eisenkot writes on X, tagging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he posts a video of the meeting. “Take an example. This is how it’s done. What about the full [war] protocols? We’re waiting.”
The jab alludes to demands for the release of records relating to Netanyahu’s conduct surrounding October 7, as well as his opposition to the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the attack.
The dispute comes as the presumed anti-Netanyahu bloc, led by Yashar’s Eisenkot, continues to poll several seats short of a majority, fueling speculation that Ra’am could provide the additional support needed to form a government. The prospect has become a central line of attack by Netanyahu and his right-wing allies against Eisenkot, as they campaign against the inclusion of Arab parties in the next government.
Former Yisrael Beytenu lawmaker Esterina Tartman dies at 68
Former Yisrael Beytenu MK Esterina Tartman, who served in the Knesset from 2006 to 2009 and briefly headed the party’s parliamentary faction, has died at the age of 68.
“I received with great sorrow the news of the untimely passing of former MK Esterina Tartman,” says Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
“Esterina devoted many years to public service and to serving the State of Israel, acting with dedication and determination,” he says. “My sincere condolences to her family and all her loved ones at this difficult time. May her memory be a blessing.”
קיבלתי בצער רב את הבשורה על פטירתה בטרם עת של ח״כ לשעבר אסתרינה טרטמן ז״ל.
אסתרינה הקדישה שנים רבות לעשייה ציבורית ולשירות מדינת ישראל, ופעלה במסירות ובנחישות.
תנחומיי הכנים למשפחתה ולכל אוהביה בשעה קשה זו.
יהי זכרה ברוך. pic.twitter.com/kN0ZN8IzT4
— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) September 16, 2026
Born in Jerusalem in 1957, Tartman served in the IDF and was discharged with the rank of major before entering politics. She was elected to the Knesset in 2006 on the Yisrael Beytenu slate and served as the party’s faction chair.
In 2007, she was tapped to become tourism minister but withdrew her candidacy after discrepancies emerged regarding academic qualifications listed on her resume.
The cause of her death is not immediately reported. She is survived by four children.
Liberman and Bennett meet to discuss ‘steps needed to achieve victory’
Yisrael Beytenu says party chief Avigdor Lieberman met today with B’Yachad party head Naftali Bennett.
“The two discussed the steps needed to achieve victory in the election and addressed various issues on the agenda,” the statement says.
Houthis met US officials in Oman, promised not to attack American, Israeli ships — sources
US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter say, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.
The meeting, which has not been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources say on the condition of anonymity. Two sources say that Oman’s government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organize the meeting.
The Trump administration designated the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization” in March 2025, criminalizing support for the group. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after bombing the group for two months to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration asking the United States to keep out of the Yemen war. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday the United States was in direct contact with the group, without giving details.
In the meeting, which one source says took place on Sunday, the Houthis told US officials that they have no intention of attacking American vessels and that they are committed to the 2025 ceasefire with the US, two sources say.
One of the sources, a Yemeni, says the militia group also said they would not attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.
According to two of the sources, the US side was represented by embassy personnel.
One of those sources says the Houthi delegation included a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, Mohammad Abdulsalam. Another source confirms Abdulsalam’s presence along with that of another senior Houthi official, Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.
Asked whether the US has met with the Houthis in Oman, a State Department spokesperson does not confirm the meeting, but says safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East are core US interests.
Oman’s embassy in the US and senior Houthi official Abdulsalam do not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis last week seized effective control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline, including the historic port of Mokha, and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb, or “Gate of Tears” strait, at the sea’s mouth.
Lebanon’s president says he wants Israel security deal as prelude to peace
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun tells AFP in an interview he wants a security agreement with Israel once it withdraws its troops as a possible prelude to peace, and is determined to disarm Hezbollah without a confrontation.
Speaking ahead of his departure to France, President Joseph Aoun says Lebanon wants a new force, European or otherwise, to prevent a security vacuum after UN peacekeepers leave south Lebanon when their mandate expires at the end of the year.
He calls on the United States, European Union and Arab countries to support Lebanon’s military as it deploys across the country.
Lebanon under Aoun has committed to disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah, which dragged the country into the wider Middle East war by attacking Israel earlier this year. Hezbollah has refused to disarm, and Israeli officials are doubtful that Beirut will follow through on its pledges.
Aoun says he wants a security agreement with Israel “primarily to end the state of hostility and the deployment of the army on the border. This could be a prelude to a later peace agreement, but we cannot jump directly to a peace agreement.”
“We have no choice but negotiations, because the alternative is war, which would be very costly for us,” he adds.
In Paris, Aoun will attend a meeting hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan to build international support for Lebanese troops as they deploy across the country.