Sept 28: PM reportedly met officials from Mideast countries without ties to Israel during UAE visit

Israel defeated 3-0 in Nations League match against Ireland

Ireland’s midfielder #05 Jake O’Brien and Israel’s defender #19 Dor Turgeman vie for the ball during the UEFA Nations League Group B3 between Israel and Republic of Ireland in Debrecen, Hungary on September 27, 2026. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)

Israel’s Nations League game against Ireland ends in a 3-0 defeat. Israel slumped to a 3-0 deficit after 25 minutes, and could not get back into the game.

At the final whistle, the Irish players maintain their refusal to interact in a civil fashion with the Israelis, with no handshakes at the end of play.

Goalkeeper Peretz apologizes for Israeli team’s poor showing in defeat to Ireland; says Irish players’ hostility ‘stems from ignorance’

Israel's goalkeeper Daniel Peretz speaks to Channel 5 Sports after Israel's 3-0 defeat to Ireland in the UEFA Nations League, September 27, 2026. (Channel 5 screenshot)

Israel’s goalkeeper Daniel Peretz apologizes “on behalf of all the players” for the national soccer team’s “embarrassing” performance in its 3-0 defeat to Ireland tonight, and vows that they’ll do better in their next two UEFA Nations League games, against Kosovo on Thursday and Ireland again next Sunday.

“It’s not that we didn’t want to play better or did not prepare,” he tells Channel 5 Sports. Rather, “we wanted to win too much.”

“We came to this match with a lot of emotions and this harmed us. We lost some of our concentration.”

“It’s easy to get depressed,” he says, “but we have two matches ahead,” including the return fixture against Ireland. “It won’t be like this, I promise you.”

Peretz says that at half time, with Israel already 3-0 down, the players recognized that they “couldn’t fix the first half” but resolved “not to lose the second.”

Asked what it was like to watch the Irish players bow their heads during the national anthem and eschew handshakes, with the Irish coach turning his back to the field, Peretz says “it all stems from ignorance.” He indicates that some of the Irish players did want to understand the situation Israel is in, but overall, “they expressed a view without understanding the situation. That’s on them; they are grown-ups.”

For the Israeli team, “we need to focus on the soccer — that was what we were most lacking today.” Peretz says. “We need to look hard at ourselves in the mirror.”

Israeli soccer captain on Ireland’s players: ‘Obviously they hate us. We don’t like them’

Israel's captain Manor Solomon speaks to Channel 5 Sports after Israel's 3-0 defeat to Ireland in the UEFA Nations League, September 27, 2026. (Channel 5 screenshot)

The Israeli soccer team’s captain Manor Solomon says he “can’t wait” for the return fixture after tonight’s 3-0 UEFA Nations League defeat to Ireland, so that Israel can show how well it is capable of playing.

Solomon says some of the Irish players said unpleasant things to their Israeli opponents during the game. “I don’t want to talk about [the Irish players]. If I say what I think of them, I’d likely be suspended for a few matches… Obviously they hate us. We don’t like them.”

“I’m waiting for the next game against them. It’ll be a completely different game entirely.”

As for the Irish players bowing their heads during Israel’s anthem, he says: “They don’t interest me. We have a country ten times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people. We are proud to wear the team shirt and to be Israelis. We are proud of our state and of our soldiers. [The Irish] can play all their tricks. We are Israelis and love the country. And that will always be the case.”

Team coach Ran Ben Shimon apologizes for the team’s “shameful” showing in the first 30 minutes, when they conceded the game’s three goals. “Huge disappointment,” he says.

“The blame is on me,” he stresses, rather than the players. “I thought we had prepared properly. We hadn’t.”

Palestinians say settler extremists torched cars, scrawled revenge messages overnight

Palestinian reports say settler extremists torched cars overnight and spray-painted graffiti messages of revenge in West Bank villages.

In Deir Abu Mashal, near Ramallah, Hebrew messages are found saying “Happy holiday from the happy Jews” — a reference to the Jewish festival of Sukkot — and “Revenge Ein Raya” — a reference to a recent terror attack at a natural spring near the settlement of Neve Tzuf in which an Israeli man was killed.

????عاجل | مستوطنون يحرقون مركبات ويخطّون شعارات معادية خلال هجومهم على أحد المنازل في قرية دير أبو مشعل شمال غرب رام الله. pic.twitter.com/wH5iyGSZze

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2026

Separately, there are reports of cars being torched in the nearby village of Ras Karkar.

IDF: Hamas sniper who was planning attacks killed in Gaza airstrike

A Hamas sniper was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military says.

The IDF says the strike killed Adi Adil Abd al-Aaser, a sniper operative who had been advancing attacks and attempting to restore Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”

He was killed to “remove a threat,” the IDF adds.

להסרת איום מיידי: צה"ל חיסל צלף מארגון הטרור חמאס בדרום רצועת עזה

אתמול, צה"ל תקף בדרום רצועת עזה וחיסל את המחבל עדי עדלי עבד עלאעצר, צלף בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.

בעת האחרונה, המחבל קידם מתווי טרור נגד כוחות צה”ל ואזרחי מדינת ישראל ופעל לשיקום יכולות הארגון, תוך הפרה… pic.twitter.com/UO7XGZ0Jwj

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 28, 2026

Saudi FM arrives in Washington for talks with US counterpart amid Houthi escalation

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, September 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrives in Washington for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Saudi state news agency says, amid escalating hostilities between Riyadh and Yemen’s Houthis.

The two will discuss bilateral ties as well as key regional and international developments, the agency adds.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought US military help this month against the Iran-backed Houthis, but Washington declined to launch strikes, though it agreed to supply intelligence and targeting support, sources had told Reuters.

Parking reopens at Ben Gurion Airport after congestion eases

Parking lots at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international gateway, reopened this morning for the traveling public, the Israel Airports Authority announces.

Starting this morning, parking is available at Ben Gurion Airport lots, after congestion eased and spaces freed up.

“The public can once again travel to the airport by private vehicle and park in the airport’s lots, subject to availability,” the Israel Airports Authority says in a statement.

On Sunday, the airports authority told all travelers to avoid arriving at Ben Gurion by car and instead use public transportation. Israel’s main international airport ran out of parking spaces due to high passenger traffic during the peak Jewish holiday travel season.

Mediators pushing Iran to compromise on nuclear program, but Tehran believes it can endure US pressure — report

Men stand next to a model missile and a nuclear enrichment centrifuge during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran as Iranians mark the 46th anniversary of the start of the Iran hostage crisis, on November 4, 2025. (Atta Kenare/ AFP)

Mediators are pressuring Iran to compromise on its nuclear program in order to jumpstart talks with the United States after US President Donald Trump’s rejection of Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, unnamed mediators tell The Wall Street Journal.

However, Iran’s leaders believe they can endure US pressure, including its blockade or potential renewed airstrikes, government officials in the region who are in regular contact with Iran tell the Journal.

Arab officials tell the Journal that Iran wants the US to compromise so that talks can advance.

The US and Israel launched strikes in February to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities and distance the threats posed by its nuclear and missile program.

Now, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has worked to block since the start of the war, has appeared to become the focus of diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Dutch FM says he regrets Israeli decision to revoke credentials of diplomats in Ramallah

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands says it regrets Israel’s decision to revoke the diplomatic accreditation of Dutch officials based in the West Bank over the country’s sanctions on goods from Israeli settlements.

“I deeply regret this unnecessary decision,” Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen says, adding that the decision by The Hague to suspend imports from the West Bank was “not directed against Israel.”

UK police questioning five men over suspected plans to attack RAF base

A policeman mans a roadblock on the perimeter of RAF Fairford base in Fairford, south-west England on September 27, 2026, as UK counter-terrorism police investigate an incident near the base in the village of Whelford. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP)

FAIRFORD, England — British police are questioning five men on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offenses after they were detained near an air base that has been used by the US to strike Iran.

Officers detained the three men in the early hours of Sunday after they received a tip-off that three large white vans had been seen heading to the military airfield of RAF Fairford in the west of England.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting tells BBC News that he would not speculate about motives of a live investigation.

But he adds on the general Iranian threat to the country: “We know that Iran and their proxies wish to do us harm. We know that they hate our democracy, and we know that we regularly have to thwart Iranian attempts to threaten either our interests or indeed our allies.”

In May, Britain sanctioned 12 individuals and entities linked to Iran, accusing them of involvement in hostile ‌activity including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilize the UK and other countries.

Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in attacks or plots in the UK and elsewhere.

Foreign Ministry warns Israelis entering the Netherlands may face ‘lengthy, invasive’ baggage checks due to West Bank product ban

Illustrative: Passengers at the Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, August 23, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Foreign Ministry warns Israeli citizens planning to travel to the Netherlands that they “may encounter difficulties and lengthy, invasive baggage inspections,” after passengers who recently arrived in Amsterdam on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv reported that Dutch customs officials searched their luggage for products originating in West Bank settlements or the Golan Heights following the implementation of the country’s settlement product ban.

The reported incidents “are being examined, including the scope of the inspections and the manner in which the order is being implemented in practice,” the ministry says.

The ban came into effect on September 22, prompting Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to revoke the credentials of Dutch diplomats serving in Ramallah yesterday.

“The Israeli government views this measure with gravity and has taken retaliatory steps,” the ministry adds in its statement, saying it and the Israeli embassy in The Hague “are monitoring developments and will update the public accordingly.”

Ben Gvir at the Temple Mount: We can rejoice in many things that have happened since Oct. 7

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits the flashpoint Temple Mount site in Jerusalem, where he says there’s a lot to be happy about since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre.

“October 7 was massive and enormous pain, great pain. But today, three years later, on the holiday of Sukkot, a holiday of joy, we can rejoice in many things that have happened since then,” he says.

Despite the Hamas rampage, today, Israel “are the masters of the Temple Mount. We are the masters of the prisons. We turned the lives of terrorists into hell.”

“We distributed guns, opened civilian security squads. Three years later, the nation of Israel is on the road to total victory,” he says, praising his policies.

Jews are officially barred from praying at the mount, which was the location of the two Jewish holy temples in ancient times and is Judaism’s holiest site. Muslims revere the mount as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Israel maintains overall security at the site, while the Waqf, an Islamic body, administers religious activities.

But Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Police, has repeatedly declared that Jewish prayer is now allowed at the site, despite statements to the contrary from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

בן גביר בהר הבית:

"השביעי לעשירי היה כאב עצום, כאב גדול. אבל היום, שלוש שנים אחרי, חג סוכות, חג של שמחה, ואפשר לשמוח על הרבה דברים שקרו מאז.

החמאס רצה להביס אותנו, 'טופאן אל-אקצא' הם קראו לזה. והיום, אנחנו בעלי הבית בהר הבית! אנחנו בעלי הבית בבתי הכלא. הפכנו את החיים של המחבלים… pic.twitter.com/QD4DU4Sc3F

— חזקי ברוך (@HezkeiB) September 28, 2026

Israel reprimands Spanish diplomat over minister’s ‘river to the sea’ comments

Israel summons Spain’s top diplomat in the country for a reprimand after Spain’s youth minister said that the Spanish public supports a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” says the Foreign Ministry.

The reprimand is delivered by Gilad Cohen, head of the Political-Strategic Affairs Directorate, to Spanish Chargé d’Affaires Francisca Pedrós.

Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego’s statement, the Foreign Ministry says, “is part of a systematic anti-Israel policy pursued by the Spanish government and its leader, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.”

Rego, who entered the European Parliament in 2019, has a Palestinian father who lives in the West Bank. On October 7, she said that Palestinians have “the right to resist after decades of occupation.”

She also reposted tweets that said the “entire Israeli diplomatic delegation must be expelled from the Spanish State” and called Israel “undemocratic and corrupt.”

In September 2025, Israel barred Rego and Spain’s deputy prime minister from entering the country.

The Foreign Ministry says her most recent remarks”reflect the direction of Spain’s current government: support for a vision that would mean the elimination of the State of Israel. This comes as the Spanish Prime Minister attacks Israel for exercising its fundamental right to defend itself, both against Iran and against Hamas.”

Iran complains to UN aviation agency over ‘illegal’ US flight restrictions

An Iranian Mahan Air plane lands at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on February 4, 2021. (Saeed Kaari/IKAC via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran — The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization says the body has filed a complaint with the United Nations aviation agency against the United States for imposing restrictions targeting the country’s airlines.

“To defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry and counter illegal restrictions imposed by America, Iran has drafted and submitted a formal protest to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),” says Iran’s civil aviation chief Abouzar Shiroudi, according to state news agency IRNA.

Netanyahu asked UAE leader to deny reports he warned PM about Hamas threat before Oct. 7 — sources

L: President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. R: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP, Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to ask its leader to deny reports that he had warned the Israeli prime minister about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

The prime minister held an hourlong meeting with the UAE’s president yesterday, according to two people who were briefed on Netanyahu’s trip, which was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 TV station.

One person familiar with the matter says the talks focused on a report published by the Israeli daily Haaretz earlier this month that said the Emirati leader had delivered a warning to Netanyahu about a looming attack by Hamas just ahead of its October 7, 2023, massacre that triggered the war.

Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to deny the report, according to the person who purported to have firsthand information about the meeting. Netanyahu’s office had previously denied the Haaretz report.

The person, along with a regional official briefed on the meeting, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret trip.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry declines to comment on reports about the meeting. But it says it maintains “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and shares “all relevant intelligence.”

There is no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Ireland soccer boss says team ‘raised awareness’ about Gaza during Israel game

Ireland’s Icelandic head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson speaks during a press conference after the UEFA Nations League football match between Israel and Ireland in Debrecen, Hungary, on September 27, 2026. (Attila KISBENEDEK/AFP)

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says his team had “raised awareness worldwide” about the Gaza conflict after they chose not to shake hands with Israeli players before their 3-0 Nations League win in Hungary.

The Irish players wore black armbands in recognition of all lives lost in the conflict in Sunday’s match in Debrecen, bowing their heads as the Israeli national anthem was played at the near-empty stadium.

The teams skipped the traditional pre-match handshakes and did not exchange pennants.

The game, in which Israel was the nominal host, had been in doubt earlier in the week until Ireland’s team voted to fulfill the fixture, despite player unease over the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Only one player, goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, pulled out, saying “it would be wrong to participate” in either the match or the return fixture in Serbia on October 4 due to the “killing of innocent people.”

“It has been so difficult for so many players,” Icelander Hallgrimsson tells broadcaster RTE after the game.

“I hope that will not be in the next game because they have shown support to the protest, they have raised awareness worldwide, not only in Ireland, on the subject and that is normally the reason for protesting, to raise awareness of a situation.

“I think these players have done that with all their actions, with all that they have been saying. No more than Gavin Bazunu, but the others have done it here on the pitch and how they have shown their actions, so I hope people understand that.”

EU extends mandate of its Rafah Crossing and West Bank police training missions

Palestinians move through the Rafah Crossing as a European Union official looks on, February 2026. (EUBAM)

The European Council renews the mandates of the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah) and of the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS).

The mandate will run until June 30, 2027.

The current three-month mandate extension is slated to expire on Wednesday.

In its decision, the Council reaffirms the European Union’s “commitment to international law and a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region based on the two-state solution, reiterating its readiness to contribute to work on the implementation of the comprehensive Gaza peace plan.”

In August, Israel decided to extend on its side the mandates of both the Rafah monitoring mission and an EU program that provides training for Palestinian police forces and advice on rebuilding Gaza’s judicial system.

Initially set up in 2005 to help monitor the key crossing, the civilian EUBAM mission was put on standby for nearly two decades after the terror group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

The Rafah crossing shut down entirely during Israel’s war with Hamas, but amid the current ceasefire, it has reopened on a limited basis since February, with monitors from the EU.

EUPOL COPPS, launched in 2006, is the EU’s police support mission in the West Bank.

UK set to unfreeze refugee program, Palestinians and Afghans expected to make up quarter of applicants

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, June 2, 2026. (Alberto Pezzali/AP)

LIVERPOOL, England — UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce today the reopening of a program for refugees to settle in Britain as part of a renewed focus on “safe and legal routes” for vulnerable people to reach the country.

The program will reopen immediately, and along with three new “community” refugee sponsorship routes previously announced, is initially expected to welcome hundreds of applicants, according to the interior ministry.

Mahmood will formally unveil its reestablishment in a speech later Monday at the ruling Labour Party’s annual conference, when she was set to say “fairness” would be integral to the government’s immigration agenda, the ministry says.

It comes amid pushback from some within center-left Labour over a series of hardline policies aimed at both tightening the rules for migrants arriving via legal routes and curbing asylum-seeker numbers coming by irregular means.

The planned changes include contentious proposals to make some legal migrants wait years longer than under current rules before they can apply to settle permanently in the UK.

Around a quarter of applicants to the reopened resettlement scheme are expected to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinians, according to the Home Office.

Dutch passengers say no blanket luggage-check policy in place after settlements ban; airport poster warns of sanctions

Illustrative: Passengers look at monitors displaying delayed and canceled flights at Schiphol International Airport near Amsterdam on November 4, 2013, after strong winds grounded and diverted aircraft. (Tom Gandolfini/AFP)

Passengers on an El Al flight subjected to customs checks at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport last Wednesday tell The Times of Israel that the inspections were not a blanket search of all travelers arriving from Israel for products from West Bank settlements, after reports of the incident made waves in Israeli media and prompted a Foreign Ministry warning on the matter.

The most widely cited account of the inspections appeared in an opinion piece in the right-leaning Dutch outlet NieuwRechts, and was referenced by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in criticizing the Netherlands’ new ban on goods originating in Israeli settlements, which came into effect last Tuesday.

But the original account – which claimed all passengers arriving from Tel Aviv were subject to inspections – is inconsistent with the testimony of two other passengers and does not appear to reflect a new blanket checking policy tied to the ban.

Max Worms, a Dutch passenger from Oosterhout who was among those checked, tells The Times of Israel that customs officers called a group of about 15 passengers arriving from Tel Aviv to undergo screening after baggage claim, though he could not say how many others, if any, were subsequently inspected.

He says his luggage passed through an X-ray machine and was not opened, that nothing was confiscated, that officials never mentioned settlement products, and that the inspection lasted around fifteen minutes total. He described the check as unusual, but not obviously related to the ban, though he says it was conducted in an “intimidating” manner.

Margriet, a Dutch citizen who has lived and worked in Israel for a decade and was on the same September 23 flight, says she was not stopped at all, despite arriving from Tel Aviv. “There was not any check at all… it was like always. It was not different,” she says, adding that other passengers arriving from Tel Aviv in recent days were not inspected either.

She says a friend of hers working in Dutch border control told her that officers had not been instructed to conduct additional checks on Israeli travelers following the ban, but rather, if customs chooses to inspect luggage and encounters goods covered by the new restrictions, they must enforce it by confiscating the product and issuing the relevant fine.

Schiphol has meanwhile erected signs warning travelers that the new rules apply to goods in personal luggage, according to a photograph taken by Margriet at the airport.

“I was in shock” upon seeing the sign, she says. “It was like, okay, this is our new welcome now.”

Schiphol 2026 pic.twitter.com/xqbzA4hARX

— PetraWetering (@de_weeteri) September 24, 2026

15-year-old wounded by apparent explosive device in Holon — police

A 15-year-old boy was moderately wounded in a blast in Holon, according to first responders.

Police say the blast was likely caused by an explosive device and that the incident is of a “criminal” rather than nationalist nature. Officers are scanning the area for suspects, police add.

According to Hebrew media, a preliminary investigation has found the explosion likely targeted a member of the Musli crime family and that the wounded boy was an unrelated passerby.

5 men suspected of plotting attack at RAF base are UK citizens in their 20s, police say

Police guard a road leading to RAF Fairford, in Fairford, England, September 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FAIRFORD, England — The five men arrested over the suspected attack yesterday at a US-operated air force base in England are all British nationals, authorities say.

The men are from London and are all in their 20s, Counter Terrorism Policing say.

It’s not yet clear if they were acting as proxies for Iran or Russia or what their motives were.

US-Iran talks set to be held on Tehran’s 7-day proposal, briefed official says

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the media during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 25, 2026. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

Mediators are expected to hold separate talks with the United States and Iran today or tomorrow, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatari mediators in the US, an official briefed on the negotiations tells Reuters.

The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal Iran presented on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the official says.

Clalit partners with cyber firm Check Point to protect medical data from attacks

From R to L: Avi Attia, VP of Information Systems and Digital at Clalit, Nadav Zafrir, CEO of Check Point, and Prof. Eytan Wirtheim, CEO of Clalit, in an image published on September 28, 2026. (Raanan Cohen/Clalit)

Clalit Health Services has forged a multi-million-dollar partnership with cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. to protect patients’ medical data from malicious attacks as Israel’s largest health provider increasingly adopts artificial intelligence technologies and tools.

As part of the strategic partnership, Check Point will build a comprehensive security framework for Clalit to support the secure and safe adoption of AI tools for applications, medical data, digital assets, and critical infrastructure.

“Artificial intelligence opens up possibilities for us that did not exist until today to improve medicine, diagnosis, and patient service,” says Clalit Health Services CEO Prof. Eytan Wirtheim. “When we bring AI deeper into the medical world, we must ensure that our patients’ medical data is protected at the highest level.”

“Our five million insured members need to know that they can sleep soundly even when the technology around them is changing rapidly,” says Wirtheim.

Cyberattacks against the healthcare sector have increased by more than 30 percent over the past two years, driven by a heightened geopolitical environment and the fast adoption of AI technologies, according to Check Point Research data.

Iran denies involvement in suspected terror plot at UK airbase

The Iranian embassy in London says it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation that Tehran was involved in yesterday’s bomb scare near a UK military airbase used by the US.

In an X post, the embassy criticizes “the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran” to the incident early yesterday near the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base.

Five men, all British nationals in their mid-20s, have been arrested and UK counter-terrorism police are leading the probe.

A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters earlier today that an Iranian-linked motive is considered the most likely, although a Russian sabotage operation or an Islamist plot were also being looked at as possibilities.

Netanyahu denies reports of Egyptian warning before Oct. 7, blames ex-Shin Bet chief for not alerting him on eve of massacre

Amid a series of reports that he received warnings from Arab partners ahead of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly denies that any warning from Egypt reached him, and blames the Shin Bet chief at the time for not passing on crucial intelligence.

“In the months leading up to October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not meet or speak with Abbas Kamel, who was then head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, and no Israeli intelligence official conveyed an Egyptian warning to the prime minister,” he writes on X, after both The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic reported that Kamel delivered warnings to Israeli officials, including a phone call to Netanyahu himself.

Netanyahu says that he will be filing a libel lawsuit, but doesn’t specify against whom. His office has threatened a number of outlets and journalists with lawsuits over unfavorable coverage it claims is libelous.

He adds that he never meets with foreign intelligence chiefs without the presence of their Israeli counterparts.

Netanyahu claims that “the left-wing media” is waging a campaign “to pin all of [former Shin Bet director] Ronen Bar’s failures and crimes on the eve of October 7 on Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

He says that on the night before October 7, Bar, then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and IDF Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva “discussed all the warning signs.”

“Despite this, Ronen Bar decided not to call and update the prime minister, not to alert the civilian security squads and IDF forces in the field, not to evacuate the Nova festival—and instead only to send a small [elite counterterrorist] Tequila team (which proves that he knew there was a real danger),” Netanyahu continues.

He says that Arab countries are among the “foreign and hostile states and actors” that aim to bring down his government and replace it with a government led by Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, and Avigdor Liberman, “which would withdraw from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria—and establish a Palestinian state.”

“That is the election question: it is either the right, or Palestine,” he insists.

UN’s Albanese walks back claims that Nazis labeled death camp victims ‘Muslims,’ that antisemitism isn’t only about Jews

The UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, apologizes for claiming that the Nazis called their death camp victims “Muslims” and that antisemitism is not only about hatred of Jews.

Albanese said last week in an interview that antisemitism “is not just discrimination against Jews. It’s discrimination against Semitic peoples,” and claimed that, when the term was coined in the late 19th century, it referred to all non-Europeans.

“The concept of antisemitism is broader. In fact, when they were taken to the gas chambers, there are some testimonies about life in the concentration camps that state: ‘They were called Muslims, Jews,'” she said.

Holocaust Distortion from U.N. “Expert”: Francesca Albanese claims Jews in Nazi death camps “were called Muslims.” Antisemitism targets “Semitic peoples” and “not just discrimination against Jews.”

Even in Nazi death camps: She cannot name Jew-hatred without replacing the Jews. pic.twitter.com/ipSMTOK0Vu

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) September 24, 2026

Albanese issues a statement apologizing, saying she misunderstood a German term, “Muselmann” — a term used by the Nazis to refer to the most emaciated of concentration camp prisoners — and had been “wrongly inferring that the term antisemitism originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples.”

“In fact it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews,” she says.

I sincerely apologize.
I misread the term "Muselmann" (Muslim) used in Nazi camps for prisoners at the brink of death, wrongly inferring that the term antisemitism originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples. In fact it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews.

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) September 28, 2026

Yad Vashem, in response to Albanese’s original remarks, says the UN rapporteur “ventures into obvious and dangerous historical revisionism with her attempt to recast the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews as merely part of a broader hatred of the ‘non-white,’ non European or ‘non-Christian.'”

“The Special Rapporteur would do well to familiarize herself with the history she seeks to address, particularly the rise of Nazi antisemitism and the ideology that paved the way for the Holocaust, before making assertions about it,” the statement adds.

Albanese regularly makes extreme comments about Israel and other topics. Today’s statement marks a rare apology and retraction.

Anti-Zionist activists sometimes argue that Palestinians are Semitic, so they therefore cannot be antisemitic.

The Nazis assured their Arab allies during World War II that Arabs and Muslims were not considered “Semites” and that their ideology was specifically anti-Jewish.

UAE sees request to issue denial of Oct. 7 warning as interference in Israeli politics — report

Yesterday’s reported meeting in Abu Dhabi between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed took place at the airport, Channel 12 reports.

The outlet adds that Netanyahu’s office asked repeatedly for the sit-down in order to try to convince his hosts to issue a denial that bin Zayed warned the premier ahead of the October 7 Hamas-led attacks.

However, the UAE does not want to get involved in what it sees as internal Israeli politics, especially ahead of an election, according to the report.

Air India expected to restart Tel Aviv-Delhi route on December 1

Air India is expected to resume its direct flight service between Tel Aviv and New Delhi on December 1.

The Indian carrier has repeatedly suspended the Tel Aviv-Delhi route following the US-Israel outbreak of war with Iran at the end of February, citing ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Air India has started selling tickets on the Tel Aviv-Delhi route from December 1, and has plans to operate five weekly flights between the two cities.

Ex-hostage Yocheved Lifshitz accuses Netanyahu of inciting against her to distract from Oct. 7 warnings

Former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz at the Knesset in Jerusalem, August 12, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using Likud Knesset candidate Itzik Bonzel to attack her in an effort to distract from recent reports alleging he received warnings ahead of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

“Netanyahu sent his handpicked candidate to incite against me so that people won’t talk about the warnings he received and the warning calls he personally got that could have prevented the catastrophe,” Lifshitz says, adding that the premier’s “lies and smears won’t help him. The people of Israel understand very well that he is responsible for the catastrophe.”

Bonzel earlier today said he wished he could “return [Lifshitz] to Hamas” after the 88-year-old former captive disputed claims crediting Netanyahu with securing the release of Israeli hostages.

“He abandoned me on October 7, abandoned my husband Oded and the 45 other hostages who were abducted alive to die in captivity, and continues to harm our security,” Lifshitz continues. According to the IDF’s final data, 38 hostages were abducted alive and subsequently killed in captivity.

A series of recent reports have alleged that Netanyahu was directly warned of a potential Hamas attack before October 7, including by the UAE and Egypt. Netanyahu, who has not taken direct responsibility for the failures surrounding the attack and has instead placed blame on the military and intelligence establishment, has denied receiving warnings from either country.

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s chief rival in the upcoming October 27 election, also condemns Bonzel’s remarks, calling Lifshitz “a hero” and the incident “yet another moral low.”

“Someone who handpicked a person who wishes for an Israeli citizen to fall into Hamas’s hands is unfit to lead this people,” Eisenkot says, referring to Netanyahu’s decision to place Bonzel in one of his nine reserved spots on Likud’s electoral slate.

E1 tender process to proceed as planned, but award of tender to be delayed until after election

In a slight change to her position, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara will not push off the deadline to submit bids for the controversial E1 settlement project tender, but is instead simply barring the award of the tender until after the election.

On Sunday, the attorney general ordered that the final date for submitting proposals be delayed by a month due to concerns that the tender process could be used for election propaganda by the government ahead of the October 27 election.

Bidding was originally due to close on October 19, a week before the election.

Baharav-Miara has now moderated her position, with the original deadline for bids being preserved but the evaluation and award of the tenders being postponed until after the election.

Maale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach, who filed a petition to the High Court against Baharav-Miara’s original position on Sunday, says in response that he is pleased the original deadline had been preserved, and called on developers and contractors “to do a Zionist act with us, and to be partners in building and expanding Maale Adumim and connecting it to Jerusalem, our capital.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has strongly supported the E1 development, rejects the attorney general’s latest position, alleging that Baharav-Miara was still seeking to delay the tender process in the hope that the opposition would win the election and cancel the project.

“She has one goal, to create a situation in which the tender does not finish in our [government] term, the left comes to power, and cancels the construction,” Smotrich charges, adding that the tender process, including the award of the contract, must be completed by the original date.

The E1 project would see thousands of housing units built as an extension of the Maale Adumim settlement, between the existing western boundaries of Maale Adumim and East Jerusalem, cutting off territorial contiguity between key Palestinian population centers.

IDF: Hamas operative who smuggled money to group’s military wing killed in Gaza City strike

A Hamas operative who the military says was involved in smuggling millions of shekels to the terror group’s military wing was killed in a strike in Gaza City yesterday.

The IDF identifies the target, Shadi Abu Hasira, as a “key money exchanger” in Hamas, who headed the “Geneva” money exchange network, which “transferred tens of millions of Israeli shekels in foreign currency to Hamas’s military wing.”

“These funds were used to finance terrorists, restore military infrastructure, and advance attacks against IDF troops,” the army says.

The military says Abu Hasira was also involved in commercial activities in Gaza, managing a company named “Gardena Professional” that facilitated his money-transfer activities.

Recently, the IDF says, the moneyman had been involved in advancing attacks and restoring Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” and he was killed to “remove the threat he posed.”

On Friday, the IDF had warned that it would continue to target Hamas members involved in financing the terror group’s military wing, after killing 16 “key” Hamas financial officers during the war so far.

צה"ל חיסל מחבל שלקח חלק בהעברת מיליוני שקלים לארגון הטרור חמאס

צה"ל תקף אתמול במרחב העיר עזה וחיסל את המחבל שאדי אבו חצירה, חלפן כספים מרכזי בזרוע הצבאית של חמאס.

המחבל הוביל את רשת החלפנות "ג'נבה" אשר העבירה עשרות מיליוני שקלים בכספי חוץ לזרוע הצבאית של חמאס. כספים אלו משמשים… pic.twitter.com/zeKgTeWDTI

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 28, 2026

UK police release 5 men on bail after arrest over suspected threat to airbase

British police say they have released on bail five men who were arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses near a British airbase used by the US, although they remain under investigation.

Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, says officers are looking into every angle after the incident at the RAF Fairford base, “including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.”

IDF says it thwarted attempt to smuggle weapons from Jordan into Israel via drone

Weapons and a drone seized by IDF troops following an attempted smuggling on the Jordanian border, September 28, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops thwarted an attempt to smuggle 10 guns into Israel from Jordan overnight using a drone, the military says.

Soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras and the Israeli Air Force’s air traffic control array had identified the drone crossing the border.

The IDF says that troops of the Yoav Regional Brigade, tasked with the southern section of the border with Jordan, were then dispatched to the scene, where they located the drone. The drone was found to be carrying nine Kalashnikov assault rifles and magazines, along with a pistol.

The weapons and drone were handed over to the police for further investigation.

There have been frequent attempts to bring weapons, and sometimes drugs, over the Jordanian and Egyptian borders using drones in recent years.

IDF says it has finished operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in Mansouri, southern Lebanon

Reservists of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade operate in the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri, in a handout photo published on September 28, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it has completed a large-scale operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern Lebanon town of Mansouri.

Mansouri is located within the military’s southern Lebanon buffer zone, and residents were instructed to evacuate the area nearly two months ago.

In recent weeks, troops of the 55th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade led an operation in Mansouri with the elite Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit, during which the army says forces destroyed over 600 Hezbollah infrastructure sites, including eight tunnels.

The IDF says troops also located dozens of rocket launchers that had been left behind by Hezbollah in the security zone before the ceasefire took effect.

The “brigade-level operation” in Mansouri was aimed at preventing Hezbollah from “reestablishing itself in the security zone,” the military says.

French far-right leader denies report alleging history of antisemitic remarks

Member of European Parliament Jordan Bardella attends a commemoration on the 10th anniversary of the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks, at the European Paliament in Brussels, on November 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella denies a report by investigative website Mediapart alleging he made antisemitic remarks in private messages over a decade ago, calling the allegations “crude fabrications.”

The report comes as Bardella’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, whose presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is leading polls ahead of next year’s election, seeks to clear its racist image and build close ties with Israel.

“I formally dispute the accusations against me by Mediapart, which attributes to me deranged and antisemitic remarks that I supposedly made when I was a minor. These are obviously crude forgeries,” Bardella writes on X. He says he has instructed his lawyer to pursue “all necessary proceedings” against Mediapart.

Mediapart, in a report published today, said it had reviewed dozens of private messages from 2013-2015 — the early years of Bardella’s career in the National Front, the forerunner of the RN — that it said showed a pattern of antisemitic and conspiratorial rhetoric.

Mediapart cited one message in which it said Bardella claimed “all the banks are owned by Jews.”

The left-leaning outlet, which has a long history of unearthing political scandals in France, said it had independently authenticated the private messages, and had also drawn on testimony from former party colleagues, which it named with first names and the initial of their last names.

Bardella, 31, has become the face of the RN’s decade-long effort to “de-demonize,” or normalize, its image. He was the party’s de facto presidential candidate until July, when an appeals court cleared Le Pen to run for the presidency, and will be France’s prime minister if she wins next year’s vote.

Le Pen, speaking with reporters, says she believes the report could “only be a fake, a manipulation, a dirty trick.”

A slew of antisemitic, Islamophobic and racist comments by some RN candidates derailed the party’s hopes of winning a parliamentary majority in France’s legislative vote in 2024. Bardella at the time pledged to avoid such “casting errors” in the future by systematically kicking out any candidates with a history of toxic statements.

‘Enough with the lies’: Former hostage, Nova festival survivor, and bereaved father call for answers about Oct. 7

L-R: Yasmin Porat, Gabriela Leimberg, and Michel Illouz at the Sukkah of the Failure on September 28, 2026. (Jessica Steinberg/The Times of Israel)

A former hostage, a survivor of the Nova music festival, and a bereaved father speak at the start of the second night of the “Sukkah of the Failure” gathering at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

The three-day event during the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday has been organized by a group of families of victims of the October 7, 2023, attack to present what they say is the truth of what happened in the weeks preceding the Hamas-led assault.

Gabriela Leimberg, taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak with her daughter, her sister, her sister’s partner and her brother — all of whom eventually returned to Israel — says their terrorist captors told them they should return to Argentina, where they immigrated from decades ago, because there would be another event like October 7 down the line.

“The next massacre can’t be avoided if there is no investigation as to what happened,” says Leimberg.

“Everyone called to warn Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu],” she says, asking, “How is it that he didn’t gather everyone and didn’t protect us? You should have been our protector.”

“Next time, it could be you at friends or at a party,” says Leimberg, who calls for everyone who had their hand on the wheel on October 7 to go home, to the applause of the hundreds-strong crowd.

“He just wants to be prime minister for the next four years,” she says of Netanyahu, to boos from attendees.

A Nova festival survivor, Yasmin Porat, who fled to Kibbutz Beeri on October 7 and survived the attack there as well, says her life has not returned and it will not, until the truths are told.

The voice of Michel Illouz, father of slain hostage Guy Illouz, resonates in the square as he plays a recording of his son telling him he loves him after he was shot and hiding from terrorists.

“Enough with the lies!” says Illouz.

“How small can you be,” he says. “Bibi, the whole world called you, and you did nothing.”

“This government cannot have a place any longer,” says Illouz, as the crowd applauds.

Finance Ministry objects to proposed sale of Israel’s Zim shipping company to German line Hapag-Lloyd

A Zim cargo ship is seen outside the port of Haifa on May 1, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)

Israel’s Finance Ministry submits a formal objection to the proposed $4.2 billion sale of Israel ‘s Zim Integrated Shipping Services to German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, citing concerns over national security and maritime independence.

“The transaction should not be approved in its current framework as the risks inherent in the deal as currently structured outweigh its benefits,” the Finance Ministry says in a position paper. “As those responsible for government policy, it is our duty to ensure that any such transaction safeguards Israel’s vital interests, specifically regarding the long-term financial stability of Zim Israel and eliminates dependence on entities hostile to the State of Israel.”

Among Hapag-Lloyd’s shareholders are Qatar Holding, a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which owns a 12.3% stake, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has a 10.2% stake.

The Finance Ministry joins a list of political leaders, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, as well as government ministries, raising red flags over the German shipping firm’s Gulf backers and concerns that non-Israeli owners could leave the country without vital strategic lifelines.

The Treasury’s objection comes after Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen traveled to Israel last week and presented revised terms to the government hoping to overcome objections and salvage the deal for Israel’s Zim freighter service.

Ex-Shin Bet chief Bar says he will sue Netanyahu over claim he chose to withhold warnings ahead of Oct. 7

Left: Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Dudu Bachar/ Pool)

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar says he will file a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who today said that the spy chief knew of the threat of an attack overnight on October 7, but chose not to inform the prime minister.

In a dramatic statement, Bar also calls for the release of documents and testimony concerning what information was given to Netanyahu in the lead-up to the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion.

Bar wants Netanyahu’s schedule of meetings with foreign officials and members of security agencies released, and says his lawyers will demand that top Netanyahu staffers be summoned to testify.

Netanyahu’s campaign against him, says Bar, “has no basis in reality.”

“After refusing for three years to acknowledge his responsibility and preventing, by every possible means, the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to which the public and bereaved families are entitled, he has begun selectively publishing documents in a manipulative manner and out of their proper context,” says Bar.

“Now, as testimony concerning warnings he received before the massacre is beginning to emerge,” he continues, “he is attempting to divert the blame away from himself by leveling accusations at those who warned him in real time.”

Bar says he warned Netanyahu of “impending disaster in an unprecedented manner, and that the prime minister ignored these warnings, as well as the recommendations to restore deterrence and strengthen the border.”

Bar says he was waiting for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to reveal those warnings, but can no longer keep quiet.

“You achieve victory through a preemptive attack on the enemy outside, not on the security forces at home,” concludes Bar.

PM’s office confirms Abu Dhabi meeting with MBZ, says Shin Bet demanding legal action against Channel 12 for report

The Shin Bet has filed a complaint with the IDF Military Censor, demanding that it take legal action against Channel 12 for revealing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip yesterday to Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

The statement is also the first confirmation by the PMO that Netanyahu met yesterday with Emirati President Mohamed Bin Zayed.

“The publication of the visit at the time it was published created a risk to the security of the prime minister, the operation, and the forces on the ground,” says the PMO.

The statement also reveals that Netanyahu’s wife Sara made the trip, as well as Mossad director Roman Gofman, National Security Council head Shmuel Ben-Ezra, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Guy Markizeno, and the head of the Shin Bet Security Division.

According to the PMO, the Shin Bet is stressing that the Channel 12 report came out almost an hour before Netanyahu’s plane landed back in Israel at 10:27 p.m.

According to the PMO, a Mossad assessment called the lead “a serious security threat to the security of the prime minister and the delegation.”

Likud candidate apologizes for saying he wished he could ‘return’ ex-hostage Lifshitz to Hamas

Likud candidate Itzik Bonzel apologizes for writing earlier today that he wished he could “return” former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz to Hamas, and deletes the Facebook post containing the remark.

“As a bereaved father who lost his son in the war to return the hostages, it pained me to see the harsh remarks that disparaged our soldiers,” Bonzel says. “But in a storm of emotions, I wrote a sentence about Yocheved Lifshitz in the context of Hamas that I did not mean, and I apologize for it.”

Bonzel’s remarks came after Lifshitz accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Channel 13 interview yesterday of failing to secure the hostages’ return. She called it “one big lie” to credit Netanyahu with bringing them home, arguing that US President Donald Trump, pushed by major donor Miriam Adelson, was responsible for their release. She made no disparaging remarks about IDF soldiers.

Bonzel, whose son Amit was killed fighting in Gaza in December 2023, is one of nine candidates handpicked by Netanyahu for a reserved spot on the Likud slate.

Trump may offer sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for progress on nuclear issue — report

US President Donald Trump is considering offering sanctions relief to Iran and releasing some of its frozen funds in return for progress toward a nuclear deal, according to Channel 12 and Axios correspondent Barak Ravid.

The report comes as mediators hold separate talks with Washington and Tehran, reportedly to try to reach an agreement on an amended version of a seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that Iran presented on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

According to the report, Trump is willing to offer limited sanctions relief to the Islamic Republic but only if it proves that it is “serious” about reaching an agreement and can be “flexible on the nuclear issues.”

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that mediators have been pressuring Iran to compromise on its nuclear program in order to jumpstart the talks on the Strait of Hormuz.

A senior official cited by Axios says that the talks so far have been “positive and constructive,” but that there are still disagreements over what would come first: sanctions relief or Iranian nuclear commitments.

US reportedly deploys two squadrons of fighter jets at southern Israel airbase

The US deployed two squadrons of fighter jets at Israel’s southern Ovda Airbase in the past day, Channel 12 news reports, in what appears to be part of a force rotation.

The report says that the squadrons joined other American fighter jets already stationed at Ovda, but according to Israeli security officials cited by the network, the development is related to broader movements of US forces in the region.

The security officials reportedly say that the movement of the US aircraft from one location to Israel does not indicate an escalation or a different level of alert regarding Iran, and that the Americans are still “very far” from the force buildup they had on the eve of the war in Iran.

The American military constantly shuffles around its forces in the Middle East and other regions.

IDF says interceptor missile launched at ‘suspicious aerial target’ over troops in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it launched an interceptor missile a short while ago toward a “suspicious aerial target” identified over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are operating.

The circumstances of the incident are under further investigation, the military says.

No sirens sounded in any towns, as no threat was posed to Israeli civilians.

Father of soldier killed on Oct. 7 says government ‘running away’ from admitting fault for Hamas attack

Protesters demonstrate against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government near the "Sukkah of the Failure" event at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, during the holiday of Sukkot, September 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Rafi Ben Shitrit, a Yisrael Beytenu Knesset candidate and the father of the slain IDF soldier Alroy Ben Shitrit, who was killed at the Nahal Oz outpost on October 7, 2023, accuses the political echelon of evading responsibility for the Hamas attack even after military officials have accepted blame.

“I met with [former IDF chief] Herzi Halevi four times,” Ben Shitrit says at the “Sukkah of the Failure” event at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. For hours upon hours. I confronted him with the most serious accusations. He lowered his head and said: ‘I am responsible. It happened on my watch.’”

Ben Shitrit, a former Likud member and the former mayor of Beit Shean, says that ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar also came to his home and took responsibility, as did other IDF commanders, all of them awaiting a state commission of inquiry.

“Then there is the political echelon, which to this very moment is evading, running away, whitewashing, covering its ass,” says Ben Shitrit. ‘They didn’t wake me up, they didn’t tug at my coat lapel.’ Making excuses that a third-grade child would make.”

“Take responsibility, for God’s sake,” he adds. “Lower your head and say: Citizens of Israel, a terrible, horrific disaster happened to us. I am the prime minister, I am responsible. I am establishing a state commission of inquiry, exactly as prescribed. I bow my head before the bereaved families, and from here I am going to the President’s Residence to submit my resignation.”

“He didn’t do it, he won’t do it. We will all fire him in another 28 days,” Ben Shitrit vows, referring to the upcoming election.

Retired IDF Major General and B’Yachad candidate Noam Tibon, who saved his son, journalist Amir Tibon and his young family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023, similarly promises that the current government’s failures will all be examined after the October 27 election.

“For those who we lost we have to work hard and kick this terrible government out of the country,” says Tibon, speaking to an audience of hundreds, while in conversation with Gil Dickmann, cousin of murdered hostage Carmel Gat. “Bibi didn’t act on October 7; he wasted time. Everyone from our camp must go out and vote.”

Lebanese PM after meeting Rubio: We talked about restoring Lebanese sovereignty, timeline for IDF withdrawal

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, shakes hands with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the State Department, September 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

After meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says they discussed “the path to restoring Lebanon’s full sovereignty.”

The term is used to refer to a full IDF withdrawal and the end of Iranian interference in Lebanese affairs.

He says the program in which the Lebanese Armed Forces take over territory from which the IDF withdraws and ensure that Hezbollah is not present there must move forward.

The plan, he says, should lead to “a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territories, and the confinement of arms to the hands of the state across all its territories.”

Nawaf calls for a clear timeline for IDF withdrawal in southern Lebanon, and for the return of displaced Lebanese to their homes.

According to the Lebanese readout, Rubio commits to continued US support for the LAF, “while also underscoring the importance of moving forward with the implementation of the tripartite framework to achieve stability and security.”

Israel reportedly freezes immigration process for Jewish applicants involved in Palestinian rights activism 

Two Jewish activists who had been approved by the Jewish Agency for aliyah to Israel have had their approval frozen by the Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA), the Haaretz daily reports.

Although the agency, a department of the Interior Ministry, did not give a specific reason for revoking their aliyah approval, it appears that the revocation was due to their activism in “protective presence” activities in which civil rights groups provide assistance to Palestinian communities threatened by settler violence.

One of the aliyah candidates, Lawrence Shenkin from the UK, had spent five years in Israel after coming to the country to study in yeshiva at the age of 18, during which time he was active with the Bnei Avraham civil rights group in the West Bank.

Although the Jewish Agency told Shenkin, 23, that his application was approved in July this year, he was informed the following month that the approval was under review by PIBA.

A second activist, a 27-year-old American Jewish woman who was similarly active with protective presence groups, also initially received confirmation of her aliyah request from the Jewish Agency only to be subsequently informed that the approval had been frozen and the application was being reviewed by PIBA.

In both cases, communications from PIBA indicated that the freeze on their applications was due to the Palestinian rights activism.

PIBA says in response that the applications are still under review.

Bnei Avraham calls the suspension of Shenkin’s aliyah approval “a dangerous precedent,” adding, “The right of return cannot be made dependent on the political position of a Jew, or on the question of whose side he is on.”

Report: Settlers attack Palestinian vehicle with family inside, injuring infant

Israeli settlers reportedly attacked a Palestinian vehicle in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir earlier this evening, while the family, a young couple and their infant child, were inside.

Palestinian media reports that the infant sustained injuries in the attack, although the reports do not indicate the severity of the injuries.

Israeli settlers attack and injur Palestinians, including a baby, in Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/oa1j0UiOkx

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 28, 2026

IDF says troops fired on two suspects who entered southern Lebanon security zone

The Israeli military says troops opened fire on two suspects who entered the IDF’s buffer zone in southern Lebanon earlier today.

Troops operating in southern Lebanon identified two suspects entering the security zone and then approaching the forces. The soldiers then fired on the suspects, “neutralizing” them, the military says.

Their conditions are not given. The IDF adds that the incident is under further investigation.

Israel’s envoy to the Netherlands likely to be summoned for reprimand over retaliatory measures for West Bank trade ban

Israel’s Ambassador Zvi Aviner Vapni expects to be summoned for a reprimand by the Dutch Foreign Ministry in the coming days, The Times of Israel has learned.

He has not yet been summoned, contrary to recent reports suggesting the reprimand already took place.

The anticipated dressing-down would take place after Israel announced it is withdrawing diplomatic privileges from Dutch diplomats in Ramallah, a response to The Netherlands implementing a ban on bringing products from West Bank settlements and the Golan into the country.

Among the settlement goods Dutch authorities are looking for at the airport, they are checking for tahini, halva, dates, date syrup, olive oil, and wines from the West Bank or Golan Heights, Channel 12 reports.

UAE confirms yesterday’s meeting between Netanyahu, Emirati president MBZ

The United Arab Emirates officially acknowledges yesterday’s meeting between Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and Israel and ways to strengthen and develop them,” says the official Emirates News Agency.

The statement makes no mention of the reports that Netanyahu asked the Emirati leader during his brief trip to deny that he had warned him about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion.

Netanyahu’s office: UAE visit dealt only with bilateral ties, regional challenges

Immediately after the UAE put out a statement confirming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Abu Dhabi yesterday, the Prime Minister’s Office does the same, despite effectively doing so hours earlier in a different statement.

In a separate statement, the PMO denies that Netanyahu asked UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed to publicly deny that he gave the premier a warning before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. “Fake news,” says the PMO. “The visit dealt only with strengthening bilateral ties and regional challenges.”