KOENIG

(photo: Reuters)

The US military is planning a potential increase of thousands of naval forces in the Middle East in the coming weeks, the Washington Post reported on Friday. 

The Pentagon intends to move up three aircraft carriers and escort ships into the region to create flexibility in overseeing the war, according to the report.

The planning comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration deliberates on how to approach the Iran war, which has now entered its eighth month, causing dissatisfaction among the American public and roiling the global economy, according to the WP. 

(photo: AP)

Anwar Gargash, an adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, on Friday described the attempted crashing of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv earlier in the week as an “act of terrorism,” becoming the first senior Emirati official to publicly characterize the incident as a terror attack.

In a post on X, Gargash praised Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed several times by his Omani copilot as part of the latter’s alleged attempt to crash the plane. Machchhar still managed to open the cockpit door, allowing three Israeli passengers to rush in and subdue the attack, and one of them to stabilize the plane, before off-duty pilots on the plane were able to carry out an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Gargash wrote that Machchhar deserved recognition because he “showed the meaning of courage when he confronted a dangerous and potentially catastrophic act of terrorism.”

The Trump administration has decided to deploy a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, along with a second Marine division, a US official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. 

The USS Theodore Roosevelt and an additional division of US Marines will deploy to US Central Command's area of operations.

The move means that, until the US midterm elections, US President Donald Trump will have significantly greater military capabilities and a wider range of options for potential action against Iran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly ended talks and ordered the Iranian delegation to leave the U.S. after negotiations stalled, yet again, with no clear sign of a breakthrough more than seven months into the conflict, an official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

And now, President Donald Trump is directly warning Iran it's "possible" he will go harder with strikes in the Middle East after the midterm elections in November and revealed the U.S. military has significantly rebuilt its arsenal in recent months.

The latest messaging from the White House and State Department signals an increasingly strained diplomatic track, after days of negotiations failed to close the gap between Washington and Tehran over the terms of ending the war.

A pilot on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed another pilot Wednesday and then apparently tried to crash the aircraft carrying around 170 people, Israel’s prime minister said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

The rescue flight carrying passengers from flydubai flight FZ1073 landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday after taking off from Saudi Arabia's Tabuk Airport, with the Saudi airport saying that all passengers from the original flight involved in an earlier hijacking attempt had boarded the rescue flight.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Miri Regev arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome the passengers, while Magen David Adom teams stood by alongside airport medical teams to provide any necessary medical care.

An MDA spokesperson said later on Wednesday that a 51-year-old male passenger with a mild upper body wound was transported to a hospital.

(image: Reuters / FlightRadar24)

Passengers on a flydubai flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after customers and crew foiled a co-pilot's attempt to crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said, in a struggle that began when he stabbed ​the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.

Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots ‌who were aboard the flight to land the jet safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials said.

Israeli officials said the attacker's motive aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv remained under investigation. Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, signed the Abraham Accords normalizing relations in 2020.

Senior representatives of at least two additional Gulf states that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel took part in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting in the United Arab Emirates, two Gulf diplomatic officials confirmed to Israel Hayom.

According to the officials, Iran was the central focus of the meeting, with the participants discussing various scenarios for the near future. The sides also addressed diplomatic and security coordination and defenses against the Houthi threat. The meeting was held with the knowledge and approval of the US administration in Washington.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates' official news agency confirmed that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Netanyahu during the prime minister's visit to the country on Sunday.

Representatives from ten countries — including Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel — reportedly participated in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s secret visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 14, citing a senior Emirati official, representatives of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Oman and Egypt took part in the gathering.

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping if he’d like to buy weapons from the US amid concern over arms sales to Taiwan, the American ambassador to China said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday.

US arms sales to the self-ruled island, which China claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force, have long been a thorny issue between Washington and Beijing.

The United States is required by law to supply Taiwan, which has a democratically elected president and legislature, with weapons for its defense.

Mediators are expected to hold separate talks with the United States and Iran on Monday or Tuesday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatari mediators in the US, an official briefed on the negotiations told 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 said.

According to The Wall Street Journal, mediators have been pressuring Iran to compromise on its nuclear program in order to jumpstart the talks, after US President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has reportedly agreed to halt uranium enrichment in exchange for an easing of US sanctions, as mediators pressure Iran to make nuclear concessions, according to Saudi Al-Hadath.

(photos: Jerusalem Post / UAE Presidential Court)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, on Sunday morning, N12 initially reported.

A diplomatic source later corroborated this to The Jerusalem Post.

The prime minister flew to the Emirates on a private flight and met MbZ, with the Prime Minister's Office refusing to comment on the details of the meeting, according to N12.

Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi on a private executive jet, the same one he used to visit the UAE during the Iran war earlier this year, the Post learned.

A strengthening nor'easter already responsible for major coastal flooding and beach erosion from North Carolina to New Jersey is forecast to intensify this weekend as it approaches the upper mid-Atlantic coast.

After a summer without a major coastal storm along the United States Atlantic coast, the first days of autumn are bringing damaging winds, beach erosion and coastal inundation that will expand northward into parts of New England.

A State of Emergency is in effect for New York City, coastal areas of New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York, ahead of the strengthening and approaching storm.

For the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, Israelis will enter Sukkot knowing that not a single hostage, living or dead, remains in Gaza.

A year ago, the picture was very different. Last Sukkot began with 20 living hostages still being held by Hamas. Their photographs hung from sukkah walls, while empty chairs symbolized the Jews who could not sit with their own families.

Then, on Hoshana Raba, October 13, 2025, all 20 were finally released and returned to Israel.

That daily uncertainty has been absent for months, but this is the first Sukkot on which its absence can be felt in the festival itself.

Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for steps including the lifting of a US naval blockade on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the waterway would remain closed until the United States meets “all of Iran’s conditions are met.”

US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's seven-day ceasefire proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, noting that he expects the US military's bombing campaign to resume after the midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The report comes following comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that the deal in question, which calls for steps including the lifting of a US naval blockade on Iranian ports, "would be much better if it is done before the midterm election."

"It depends on the US administration to decide," said Araghchi in comments to reporters at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Araghchi reiterated to reporters at the United Nations on Friday that the “choice rests with the US” to accept and implement Iran’s proposed seven-day plan.