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Key updates, 26 September 2026:
Iran’s Araghchi says Tehran yet to receive official US position on Hormuz proposal
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that Tehran has seen an initial reaction from US President Donald Trump to its proposal but has yet to receive a response through mediators.
Iran was waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive US position and would make a decision based on it, Araghchi adds.
Trump said earlier he rejected a proposal by Iran to reopen the Hormuz.
Iran had submitted an offer through Qatari mediators on the UN General Assembly sidelines that would have seen the strait reopened in exchange for the US ending its blockade of Iranian ports, as part of a wider end to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hamas leader: Gaza roadmap we agreed to includes establishment of Palestinian state
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya smiles during an interview with AFP at his office in Gaza City on April 21, 2021. (Emmanuel DUNAND/AFP)
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, asked in an interview with Qatar’s Al-Araby channel about Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm as part of the Gaza ceasefire, says that Hamas agreed last October to a roadmap that ultimately includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“We agreed on a draft, a roadmap that we are prepared to implement — it is a complete package. It begins with completing the first phase of the ceasefire and continues through to the establishment of a Palestinian state, including the issue of weapons. It must be implemented as a package,” he says.
Al-Hayya does not directly answer whether the terror group would agree to disarm.
He also makes an indirect reference to the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in about two months, in which Hamas isn’t expected to officially participate on its own as things currently stand. He says Hamas agreed to participate as part of a “national coalition,” without elaborating on what form that participation would take, and adds that postponing the elections would constitute interference in the issue of internal Palestinian reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.
Al-Hayya also stresses that October 7 — referring to the devastating October 2023 invasion of Israel — was “a response to the criminal aggression of the occupation. October 7 did not create the occupation. It happened when the Palestinian cause was at its lowest point and the world had forgotten it.”
Netanyahu again denies Egyptian spymaster warned him before Oct. 7 of potential Hamas attack
This official government handout photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosting Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel at his official residence in Jerusalem, May 30, 2021. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office pushes back on a report in The Atlantic that Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel came to Israel less than two weeks before the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion to warn Israeli officials that the Gaza-based terror group could escalate drastically if they were not granted economic concessions.
“This is a false claim,” says the PMO, without specifying what claim it says is false. “It was already denied at the time, and it is now being recycled in an attempt to mislead the Israeli public.”
“On October 11, 2023, Egypt officially denied that it warned Israel of the October 7 assault,” Netanyahu’s office further added. It’s not immediately clear what he is referring to, however, as Egyptian media with close ties to the country’s intelligence services at the time quoted unnamed senior security sources denying Israeli press reports that such a warning was issued, without issuing any formal government denial.
As was first reported two days after the terror atrocities, Netanyahu’s office denies that he met or spoke with Kamel in the months before October 7, “and no Israeli intelligence official conveyed such a warning to the prime minister.”
“Repeated falsehoods will not become true, even if they are repeated over and over again,” says the PMO.
Agencies contributed to this report.
Hitting back, Segalovitz says Eisenkot ‘won’t have a government without Ra’am’
Yoav Segalovitz, at a press conference announcing a joint Knesset run with Ra'am, in Nazareth. August 31, 2026. (Michael Giladi/FLASH90)
Ra’am No. 2 Yoav Segalovitz hits back at Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot for declaring that the Islamist party won’t be part of his next government, accusing him of “folding in the face of Likud’s intimidation campaign.”
“Israel needs big change and true partnership through brave leadership. Eisenkot won’t have a government without Ra’am,” Segalovitz writes on X.
Heads of Zionist opposition parties vow not to attack each other before Oct. 27 election
From right to left: Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, B'Yachad leader Naftali Bennett, Democrats chief Naftali Bennett, Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid meet at the latter's home in Tel Aviv to coordinate strategy ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections. (Lihi Lapid)
The heads of leading opposition parties publish a declaration vowing to work together to form a “Zionist, statesmanlike” government, which includes pledges not to attack each other on the campaign trail and to cooperate ahead of the October 27 vote in a bid to boost turnout for their bloc.
The statement of principles is signed by Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot, B’Yachad chief Naftali Bennett and the party’s No. 2 Yair Lapid, Democrats head Yair Golan and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
“We are united and determined to bring correction and hope to the State of Israel,” write the party bosses after meeting at Lapid’s home.
Notably absent from the talks is Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, who placed a mobile billboard outside Lapid’s home stating that “the blocs are holding Israel back” — referring to the rival pro- and anti-Netanyahu alliances of parties.
Eisenkot calls Netanyahu a ‘pathalogical liar’ engaged in a ‘forever war as a tool for political survival’
Left to right: Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Yashar party and a former IDF chief of staff, attends andn election campaign rally in Nordiya, Israel, August 31, 2026. (Gili Yaari/Flash90); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Likud party attend an election campaign event in Tel Aviv, September 17, 2026. (Flash90)
Gadi Eisenkot, the main rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in next month’s general election, blasts the premier as a “pathological liar, in Hebrew and English,” who has instilled a “culture of dishonesty” in the Israeli public discourse.
The Yashar party leader is asked about comments he made in the tail end of his term as IDF chief in January 2019 backing the transfer of Qatari money to Gaza, for which he is now assailing Netanyahu, and says the one transfer he oversaw in November 2018 “went smoothly,” with all the money verifiably reaching its recipients. Reports at the time indicated that the recipients of the $15 million payment, which Qatar’s envoy to Gaza brought into the enclave in suitcases stuffed with US dollars, had been civilians in need and also Hamas’s civilian authorities to pay its civil workers.
He argues that he learned two years ago that later in 2019, after his term ended, the Shin Bet warned that Hamas’s military wing had taken over $4 million out of a Qatari transfer of $15 million and recommending halting the payment system, but Netanyahu decided to continue it for years, effectively propping up the terror group.
“This is an utterly unreasonable decision, or there is some secret thing I’m not aware of. This must be investigated,” he claims.
Eisenkot sidesteps repeated questions about public comments he made in 2024 that backed a diplomatic agreement to end the war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group — before the operation to blow up thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies held by Hezbollah members — claiming that behind closed doors he had urged Netanyahu to carry out a fuller pager operation he had overseen preparations for, but the premier objected.
“That’s Netanyahu’s whole problem. He belittles the value of strategy, he extends the war [and] he views a forever war as a tool for political survival.”
10 days before Oct. 7, PM ordered that Israel ‘act to contain, minimize the escalation’ in Gaza — TV
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/File)
A day after Egypt’s intelligence chief flew into Ben Gurion Airport to reportedly warn that Hamas was mobilizing in Gaza and advise further Israeli concessions to the Gaza-ruling terror group to avoid a conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that Israel avoid measures that could lead to a military escalation, according to an Israeli television report.
Channel 13 news cites the minutes from the September 27 meeting, in which “the prime minister determined that [Israel] must act to contain and minimize the escalation, while using intelligence and controlled force.”
He also reportedly called “to sharpen” the warnings against the launching of arson balloons from Gaza into Israel and to ramp up humanitarian benefits, the latter apparently a reference to Israel’s reopening a day later of the crossing for Palestinians laborers employed in the country as part of an Egyptian-brokered deal for Hamas to stop border riots.
The Israeli TV network also cites an October 1 document that says Israel was poised to reach a peace deal with Saudi Arabia and should therefore “maintain a measured level of security activity,” echoing reporting from the New York Times that Netanyahu didn’t want to authorize strikes in Gaza out of concern they could harm normalization efforts vis-a-vis Riyadh.
The report adds that one of the documents includes a line about the need “to advance the operational preparedness for the targeted killings that were recommended of Hamas leaders” but doesn’t specify whether it’s from the meetings of the September 27 or October 1 meeting, or say who made that recommendation.
Key Update
At UN, Saudi FM says world must do more to ensure freedom of navigation
Saudi Arabia warns UN members that attempts to block Middle East waterways are a threat to global energy security and demands that the international community do more to defend freedom of navigation.
“The international community has been absent from assuming its responsibilities in confronting all that threatens international peace and security,” Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told the United Nations General Assembly.
Israel says soccer ‘has won’ after Irish players decide not to boycott match
Israel hails a vote by Irish players to go ahead with a match against it despite calls for a boycott, saying that soccer must be separated from politics.
“What pleases us today is that soccer has won,” the Israel Football Association says in a statement. “The ones who have certainly lost today are those who wanted to intimidate, to separate and to turn the soccer pitch into a political arena.”
Iraq says US agreed to continue shipments of cash dollars
A man exchanges US dollars for stacks of Iraqi dinar in the main Shurja market in central Baghdad, Iraq, January 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraq has reached an understanding with the United States to continue dollar cash shipments to Iraq, with a new shipment expected in the coming days, a government spokesperson tells the Iraqi News Agency.
The US resumed some dollar cash shipments to Iraq in July after a months-long suspension, according to Iraqi officials, after Washington halted a shipment of about $500 million in April.
Netanyahu adviser met senior Qatari official day before PM railed at Doha from UN podium — report
Michael Eisenberg poses for a picture at his home in Jerusalem, September 15, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Qatar for supporting Hamas while addressing the UN General Assembly, one of the premier’s advisers met with a senior Qatari official in New York City, Channel 12 news reports.
The network says that Michael Eisenberg and Ali al-Thawadi discussed the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan and the entry of humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave.
The report notes that al-Thawadi, who serves as Qatar’s representative to the US-backed Gaza Executive Board, was present in the Oval Office last year when US President Donald Trump had Netanyahu call the Qatari emir to apologize for Israel’s failed strike on Hamas leaders in Doha.
Eisenkot: Ra’am won’t be part of government I lead; Netanyahu guilty of either borderline ‘treason’ or gross breach of trust over Qatar funding Hamas
Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, at a campaign rally in Haifa, September 23, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)
In an interview with Channel 12 news, Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot declares that the Islamist Ra’am party will not be part of a government he leads.
Eisenkot says he is working to win 64-65 seats for the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc, claiming that internal surveys indicate that “16-18% of our supporters are people who backed the [current] coalition in the previous election.”
He is then asked about polls that consistently show the bloc well short of the 61-strong majority in the 120-member Knesset needed to form a coalition, and about reports that he plans to form a minority government backed by Ra’am.
Eisenkot says that to be included in his coalition, Arab and Haredi parties must support Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the Declaration of Independence and universal conscription, as well as recognizing Hamas as a terror group that must be destroyed.
“At the moment I don’t see any Arab or Haredi parties who accept these principles, including [Ra’am leader] Mansour Abbas, and therefore he won’t be part of my next government,” he says.
Asked about reports that he is demanding that his party members sign an ethics code requiring them to resign rather than defect to the rival bloc if they disagree with a future move he makes, Eisenkot says he wants to bring in new norms in which people don’t betray their voters, giving as an example Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who joined Netanyahu’s government after repeatedly declaring he wouldn’t do so.
However, he adds that if he breaks an election promise such as the vow not to let Ra’am join his coalition without fulfilling his conditions, “I expect party members to take a stand.”
Eisenkot, a former IDF chief, also hits out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the military campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, noting neither terror group has been defeated despite the premier’s vows of “total victory.”
“Netanyahu blindly, arrogantly and irresponsibly led the State of Israel to the greatest disaster in its history,” Eisenkot adds, referring to the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of Israel from Gaza.
Commenting on the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas following a report that Netanyahu was warned Qatar was funding the Gaza-ruling terrorist organization’s military wing, Eisenkot says the premier is guilty of either borderline “treason” or a gross breach of trust and calls for an investigation.
Additionally, he says he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and always has done.
IDF says Gaza strikes killed Hamas commander and another terror operative
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 25, 2026. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
A Hamas commander and another member of the terror group were killed in separate strikes in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
One strike in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp killed Ibrahim Fawzi Ismail Mohsen, identified by the IDF as a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force.
The IDF says another strike on Friday, in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, killed Hamas operative Mohammed Kamel Suleiman Mohsen.
Both operatives had been advancing attacks against troops and Israeli civilians, acting to restore Hamas infrastructure “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the military says, adding that they were killed to “remove the threat that they posed.”
בשתי תקיפות ברצועת עזה: צה"ל חיסל מפקד מחלקת נוח'בה ומחבל נוסף מארגון הטרור חמאס
צה"ל תקף אתמול במרחב נוציראת וחיסל את המחבל אבראהים פוזי אסמאעיל מחסן, מפקד מחלקת נוח'בה בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.
בתקיפה נוספת אתמול במרחב חאן יונס, צה"ל חיסל את מחמד כאמל סלימאן מוחסן,… pic.twitter.com/DkiJAIMeTb
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 26, 2026
IDF bombs Hezbollah arms cache to ‘remove threat’ to troops in southern Lebanon
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah weapons cache in southern Lebanon earlier today to “remove a threat” to Israeli troops.
The site in the Sejoud area was used by Hezbollah to store various weapons for targeting IDF soldiers operating in the southern Lebanon security zone, the army says.
“Any use of force from Lebanese territory in order to harm Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers will be met with a decisive response,” the IDF says, adding that it “remains committed to the agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”
Ireland soccer chief says game against Israel to go ahead after ‘significant majority’ of players vote in favor
Ireland’s players pose for the team picture before the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Kosovo and Ireland in Pristina, Kosovo, September 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Ireland will play their Nations League soccer match against Israel tomorrow, after a vote took place within the squad on whether to fulfill the fixture, Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO David Courell says.
Ireland had postponed their pre-match press conference ahead of the game in Hungary, and their training session was also delayed.
This was to allow further talks to continue between Irish players, coaching staff and executives, after one player announced their intention to withdraw from the squad.
“This morning, a player expressed their discomfort with fulfilling this fixture to the head coach and indicated their intent to withdraw from the squad,” Courell tells reporters.
“Ultimately, within the last maybe 90 minutes, we carried out a vote amongst the squad to establish their sentiment on fulfilling the fixtures and it was a significant majority that was returned with the intention to continue.
“So based on that, the association took the decision on behalf of Irish football that this fixture would continue as we have always intended to fulfill the fixtures.”
FAI CEO David Courell says a vote took place among the Republic of Ireland squad on whether to fulfil the Nations League fixture against Israel, and a "significant majority" of the players voted to play the game. #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/stQyo6Sgmj
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 26, 2026
Trump confirms he rejected Iranian proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump talks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One, September 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
US President Donald Trump confirms his rejection of an Iranian proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” he tells reporters when asked about it outside the White House.
“They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump adds, before claiming the US has “total control” over the channel.
Iran had submitted a proposal through mediators on the UN General Assembly sidelines that would’ve seen the strait reopened in exchange for the US ending its blockade of Iranian ports, as part of a wider end to the ongoing Mideast conflict.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Trump had privately rejected the offer, telling aides that he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections.
Qatari PM says Netanyahu is ‘biggest obstacle’ to advancement of Gaza peace plan
Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Qatar’s prime minister accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of being the main impediment to the advancement of the US-backed Gaza peace plan.
“We have a long list of violations that, unfortunately, Netanyahu’s government are committing,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani tells CNN. “And basically, we have seen that he is the biggest obstacle right now in progressing this peace plan while everyone among the mediators trying to work very hard to make sure that this agreement uphold.”
He also again claims that Doha never provided funding to the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group’s military wing, further pushing back on a recent report.
Asked about Qatari mediation between the US and Iran, Al-Thani calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without explicitly denouncing Tehran for seeking to shutter the key waterway.
“Anyone who is using the waterways to block countries and to block the freedom of navigation. This is considered unacceptable. This is considered trying to strong-arm and we refuse any blockade or any blackmailing by any country or any party,” he says.
He also claims a “need to make sure that we do not represent any concern for the Iranians nor the Iranians represent a concern for us. We are neighbors. This is a destiny. We’ve been maintaining a good relationship with them for decades now.
‘Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump declares in all caps social media post
In an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump declares that “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!!!”
The post follows a report in The Wall Street Journal that Trump has rejected Iran’s proposed deal and is expected to resume strikes on the Islamic Republic after the November midterm elections.
Araghchi expected to stay in New York until Wednesday, Iran’s state media says
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, September 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team will likely stay in New York until Wednesday, Iran’s state news outlet IRNA reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Araghchi met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and presented Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media has reported.
The conditions reportedly included the immediate lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian shipping, immediate release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war across all “resistance” fronts.
The Wall Street Journal earlier today cited US officials as saying US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal and plans to resume strikes on the Islamic Republic after the US midterm elections in November.
Blast in northwest Pakistan kills 11, rescue service says; Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility
A blast in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has killed eleven people and wounded 30, emergency service Rescue 1122 says.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan armed group claims responsibility for the attack in the district of Dera Ismail Khan.
The blast occurred near Aman Mela in the district’s Darazinda area, Rescue 1122 says in a statement.
Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service says.
The province is near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, in an area frequently hit by Islamist violence that often targets police and security forces, including attacks involving the Pakistani Taliban.
Pezeshkian: Qatari-Pakistani mediation ongoing, but we’ve lost faith in US as a negotiating partner
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian tells Al Jazeera that Qatar and Pakistan are still mediating between Washington and Tehran, but that his country has lost faith in the US as a negotiating partner.
“We no longer have faith in Washington after the attacks and sanctions that have followed all negotiations,” Pezeshkian says in an interview. “Qatar and Pakistan are currently mediating between Iran and the US and are conveying our messages to Washington.”
The talks are based on the short-lived Memorandum of Understanding that the US and Iran signed in June and which later fell apart over disputes about the Strait of Hormuz, according to Pezeshkian.
“Solving the crisis around the strait is possible only through negotiations, not through use of force,” he says, adding that security will be achieved through regional cooperation, and that “we don’t need a regional policeman.”
“We’ve withstood the US-Israeli attacks, and will continue to stand firm,” he says.
Pezeshkian also denies that Iran is involved in the renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
“Tehran is prepared to help solve the Saudi-Yemeni conflict,” he says, adding that Iran “will not be a party to igniting wars in the region.”
In a separate interview with CBS, Pezeshkian also claims Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “completely healthy.”
“He has no issues,” the president says, citing his own training as a doctor.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader after his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of the US-Israeli offensive on February 28. The younger Khamenei was reportedly injured in the attack.
Pezeshkian says he has since met twice with the new supreme leader, with the second meeting lasting “seven-plus hours,” according to a transcript provided by CBS.
Asked by the network whether Khamenei’s “legs and his face have recovered,” and whether he was “able to sit on the ground” in the meetings with Pezeshkian, the president says yes to both questions.
“We changed angles and positions, we crossed our legs and so on. But, of course, he was healthy enough to be able to withstand those hours of that situation,” Pezeshkian tells CBS.
Firefighters working to put out flames in Beit Shemesh-area forest, preparing to clear out hikers
Firefighters are working to extinguish a blaze in Haruvit Forest, in the Judean foothills southwest of Beit Shemesh, and are preparing to evacuate hikers, the Fire and Rescue Service says.
No injuries are reported.
Flight from Tel Aviv to Mauritius said canceled after local authorities barred it for political reasons
Israeli tourism company Spirit World Productions says it canceled a flight to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius after local authorities refused to let it land.
The company said it received information that “political-diplomatic calculations” guided the local authorities’ decision to bar the Air Seychelles flight that was scheduled to take off from Ben Gurion Airport this morning.
“We did everything we could until the last moment so that the flight would go ahead as planned,” says Spirit World Productions CEO Tali Yativ. “We’re continuing to work with all relevant parties to help travelers and assist them individually, and with Air Seychelles to receive the full information.”
Man drowns in Sea of Galilee, medics say
A roughly 30-year-old man has drowned in the Sea of Galilee, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.
The man was pulled out of the water unconscious and without a pulse and was declared dead on the spot, medics say.
Three reported killed in Ukrainian drone strike in south Russia; Kyiv says it struck oil refinery
Three people were killed and two injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local authorities say.
The local task force says the attack sparked fires at industrial sites and that the flames have been extinguished.
Ukraine’s military said earlier that Ukrainian forces struck the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Krasnodar overnight.
The Ukrainian General Staff said a fire broke out at the facility, which it described as helping fuel Russia’s war effort.
Key Update
PA’s Central Elections Committee begins receiving candidate slates for Nov. 28 legislative election
The Palestinian Authority’s Central Elections Committee says it has begun receiving candidate slates for the PA legislative election scheduled to take place on November 28, for the first time in over two decades.
Parties have until 4 p.m. on October 7 to submit lists of between 16 and 132 candidates, with female representation as required by PA law, the committee says. Lists are to be submitted at the committee’s offices in the central West Bank’s al-Bireh or in the central Gaza Strip’s Deir al-Balah.
Both offices “received a large number of candidate slates on the morning of the first day,” the committee says in a statement.
It adds that candidate slates are not automatically approved and are instead “subject to study and scrutiny to ensure they comply with legal guidelines.”
The PA’s Legislative Council has not met since 2007, a year after Hamas defeated PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah in the last PA legislative election.
Abbas announced in July that the PA would hold legislative elections on November 28, amid demands for PA reforms from the West Bank-based body’s international backers, including the European Union.
It’s unclear whether Hamas or candidates affiliated with it will be allowed to participate in the election. Abbas in June signed a new election law that requires all candidates to accept the Palestine Liberation Organization’s political program, which includes recognition of Israel and support for a two-state solution — both nonstarters for Hamas.
Abbas, 90, who has not stood for reelection since 2005, has also said the PA would hold presidential elections in 2027, but no date has been set.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Key Update
Bangkok authorities declare flood disaster of 48 hours of continuous rainfall
The streets are flooded after heavy rain in Bangkok, Thailand, September 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Bangkok authorities declare a flood disaster across the Thai capital after almost 48 hours of heavy rain left canals full, roads submerged and residents knee-deep in water.
The declaration, which gives local organizations special powers to act, is in effect across all the city’s 50 districts. Bangkok authorities say they have prepared one million sandbags for distribution and have opened several temporary shelters in schools.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt says the situation has “stabilized,” but that it will still take two or three days for the water to drain, as long as the rain holds off.
The governor has urged people to stay home after almost 300 millimetres (11.8 inches) of rain fell since Thursday afternoon, while Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said he is cutting short a trip to London to return.
The almost continuous rain has swelled Bangkok’s network of canals, sending murky water into surrounding homes, restaurants, shops and alleyways.
Numerous major roads were also flooded on Saturday, AFP journalists report, while residents were forced to wade through knee- or sometimes thigh-high water in several different neighbourhoods.
Widespread deluges across Thailand in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.
Iraq says it’s seeking exemption from US ban on Iranian airlines ‘for humanitarian reasons’
Passengers disembark an Iranian plane in Najaf airport after the end of a flight suspension caused by the regional war that began after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, in Najaf, Iraq, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
The Iraqi government says it is holding talks with the United States to secure an exemption from the ban on Iranian airlines, which has disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.
All Iraqi airports enforced the ban this week, resulting in major disruption at the airport of the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights to Iraq.
“The Iraqi government is holding direct talks with the American side to exempt certain Iraqi airports from these measures,” the prime minister’s media office says.
An exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians,” it adds.
Iranian airlines mainly carry Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iran’s holy cities or Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq. The flights also serve Iraqi students studying in Iran and patients seeking medical treatment there.
Several Iraqis tell AFP that enforcing the US sanctions has left them scrambling for solutions, with some fearing they will lose access to treatment in Iran, and others stranded there with little choice but to take the more than 12-hour journey home by land.
Iraq has joined several countries including the United Arab Emirates in enforcing the US ban, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines would be “shut down” on Wednesday.
Relations between Iraq and neighboring Iran, both Shia-majority countries, have long been close, due to religious kinship as well as political and economic interests.
Iraqi airlines stopped flying to Iran at the start of the Middle East war in February.
Key Update
Cyclist hit by car and killed on Golan highway, medics say
A roughly 40-year-old cyclist was hit by a car and killed near the Magshimim Junction on Route 98 in the Golan Heights, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says. He was declared dead on the spot.
The driver who hit him was lightly injured in the crash, medics say.
Key Update
Trump posts map labeling Strait of Hormuz ‘Trump Strait’
US President Donald Trump posts a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz “Trump Strait.”
The image on Trump’s Truth Social platform is posted half an hour after the Wall Street Journal published a report saying Trump had rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and expected to renew strikes on the Islamic Republic after the US midterm elections in November.
New media post from Donald J. Trump
( TS: Sep 25 2026, 8:56 PM ET ) pic.twitter.com/unnQ7EPvvI
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) September 26, 2026
Trump previously mused about renaming Hormuz after himself in a September 2 Truth Social post in which he claimed that the key waterway was “under U.S.A. control.”
Last month, Trump also posted a map describing the strait as “new US territory,” days after he said at a rally that he would make a declaration to that effect.
The strait carried about a fifth of the world’s commercial oil shipments before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28. Iran began blockading the strait early in the war, sparking a global rise in energy prices. Traffic through the strait remains well below prewar levels.
17-year-old who drowned off Ashkelon coast is found dead, medics say
A 17-year-old who drowned off the coast of Ashkelon in southern Israel yesterday has been found dead on the shoreline, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.
He is one of a group of three males who drowned near Ashkelon’s Delilah beach yesterday evening, medics say.
At the time, medics rushed two group members aged 17 and 24 to the city’s Barzilai Hospital, with the 24-year-old unconscious and in serious condition, while the 17-year-old who was found this morning was reportedly still missing in the water, according to MDA.
Key Update
France working on UN resolution supporting freedom of navigation in Strait of Hormuz
France is working on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution backing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a UN diplomat says.
The resolution would reaffirm the need to respect freedom of navigation in the strait, a flashpoint in the war in Iran, citing its importance for global shipments critical for food and energy security, the diplomat says, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions on the measure have been private.
The proposed UN resolution would recall the need to respect the Law of the Sea and support peaceful initiatives aimed at ensuring safe passage in the strait, the UN diplomat says.
Iran’s disruption of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transited before the war, has emerged as its main point of leverage. The effects have been felt far beyond the Middle East and pose political problems for US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.
Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the topic on the sidelines of this week’s annual UN gathering of global leaders, the diplomat says. It also was discussed with Arab nations and Iran.
Saudi Arabia says it downed 2 Houthi drones launched at Riyadh
Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted two drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthis toward the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The coalition posts on X that it’s monitoring missile threat and drones launched at the kingdom without providing further details.
The Saudi civil defense sent alerts overnight for Khamis Mushait and Abha but not for the capital.
Trump rejects Iran ceasefire proposal, expects to renew strikes after midterms — WSJ
US President Donald Trump attends a tea with first lady Melania Trump, China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan in the Red Room of the White House, September 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials.
The officials say that Trump is reluctant to resume major combat operations however, with the scope of the envision strikes unclear, while noting his views could change and that he could also end up being swayed by the midterm results.
Key Update
Days before Oct. 7, Egypt’s spymaster visited Israel to warn of Hamas attack preparations — report
Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel attends a meeting of Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers and heads of intelligence at Tahrir Palace, in Cairo, Egypt, February 8, 2018. (Khaled Elfiqi/Pool photo via AP)
An Egyptian warning shortly before the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel that the terror group was readying for a major attack was relayed by Egypt’s then-intelligence chief Abbas Kamel to senior Israeli officials at Ben Gurion Airport, the Atlantic says in a new report.
The warning was first reported two days after the October 7 onslaught, when an Egyptian intelligence official told the Associated Press that Israel ignored repeated warnings that Hamas was planning “something big” and the Ynet news site reported that Kamel personally warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 10 days before the atrocities.
According to the Atlantic, Kamel didn’t give the Israeli officials any precise intelligence about when the attack would occur or how it would unfold when he landed on September 26 at Ben Gurion Airport, where his plane remained for just over an hour as he met with unspecified officials.
The report says Kamel told them that Israel needed to swiftly shift course or risk a combustion in Gaza, recommending Jerusalem grant further economic concessions to Hamas to prevent such a scenario, but notes it’s unclear what the Israeli officials did with this warning.
The Atlantic says Netanyahu’s spokespeople didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment, though his national security adviser at the time of the October 7 attack, Tzachi Hanegbi, denies to the magazine that Kamel visited Israel on September 26 or that there was any Egyptian warning. Netanyahu’s office has previously denied that Kamel personally warned the premier.
Key Update
Iran has offered US seven-day plan for Hormuz reopening, Araghchi says
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, September 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that Tehran has offered Washington a plan that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened to maritime navigation within seven days.
“Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” he says at the UN.
“The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure,” he says.
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