KOENIG

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday announced a ban on all dealings with West Bank settlements, as well as sweeping sanctions and a range of other punitive measures, during a speech in the House of Commons featuring Britain’s strongest-ever criticism of the settlement enterprise and Israel’s “unlawful occupation.”

The “British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists,” he told parliament, charging that “the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and, worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

Shortly after Miliband’s speech, the leaders of the UK, France and Canada issued a joint statement confirming that they would “take steps to ban the importation of goods from settlements and enforce targeted measures against settlements and those who facilitate them or profit from them.” They wrote: “One year ago, we recognized the State of Palestine. The time has come to take further action to uphold our commitment to protect the two-state solution, our interests and to stand up for our values, before it is too late.”

Celebrated author and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is making headlines after revealing that he was the unnamed passenger who drew the ire of a man who allegedly became so out of control he needed to be duct-taped to an airplane seat.

Cahn shared his account of the disturbing incident aboard American Airlines Flight 618, proclaiming that the widely circulated images of a passenger being duct-taped — and media accounts of what unfolded — did not tell the full story.

He told CBN News he was returning home after a number of interviews promoting his new book, The Altar of Pergamon, when his assigned seat was unexpectedly changed shortly before the flight. Little did he know that his new placement on the plane would yield an experience he'd never forget.

A man was arrested for alleged unruly behavior on an American Airlines flight causing it to divert to Baltimore on Thursday night, according to the airline and investigators.

A US official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that CENTCOM is currently striking Iranian oil tankers, as Iranian media outlets reported explosions near Kharg Island.

According to Iran's Mehr News Agency, there were explosions heard in the vicinity of the Iranian oil hub, which serves as the country's main point for refining and exporting oil.

An additional report by semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the attacks on the Iranian vessels left no casualties, with the tripulation aboard being evacuated.

Iran is actively coordinating a comprehensive, multi-front October 7-style attack against Israel alongside its regional proxy networks, according to Israeli intelligence assessments.

The Islamic Republic is planning to combine its forces, often referred to as the "Axis of Resistance", with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria in one single assault, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Even though the October 7 attack was launched without the other fronts joining in, Hamas documents seized from the Gaza Strip revealed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar envisioned a broader regional war with Hezbollah and Iran to join a wider campaign against Israel.

Washington is set to increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran within days with a proposed U.N. resolution demanding that Iran “urgently remedy its non-compliance” and restore access for nuclear inspections, Bloomberg reported Monday.

According to a two-page draft obtained by the outlet, the U.S. is also looking to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its moves to block International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring.

The resolution, backed by European members of the IAEA board, also highlights its support for a "diplomatic solution” and encourages “all parties to constructively engage in diplomacy.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that "the end of the Iranian regime is near," and that its fall would "change the fate of the Middle East and the Jewish people."

Netanyahu also implied that Israel is continuing operations against Iran in order to achieve the fall of the regime, saying that he is "determined to do this."

U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with ballistic missiles, the American military said Saturday, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

The strikes — a day after U.S. President Donald Trump sought to minimize the conflict as “small potatoes” — keep up a new tilt back toward fighting after six months of on-again, off-again war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country on Feb. 28. Both sides have sought to inflict both military and economic pain, and negotiations have collapsed.

The military’s statement said an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and no U.S. personnel were hurt. It wasn’t clear when the Iranian missiles were fired. The statement said that two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and the third, unladen one, was destroyed.

U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with ballistic missiles, the American military said Saturday, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

The strikes — a day after U.S. President Donald Trump sought to minimize the conflict as “small potatoes” — keep up a new tilt back toward fighting after six months of on-again, off-again war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country on Feb. 28. Both sides have sought to inflict both military and economic pain, and negotiations have collapsed.

The military’s statement said an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and no U.S. personnel were hurt. It wasn’t clear when the Iranian missiles were fired. The statement said that two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and the third, unladen one, was destroyed.

A U.S. campaign to throttle Iran's economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources said.

Washington has in recent weeks ​sought to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that six months of conflict have so far failed to secure.

Although Iran's ‌clerical rulers managed to bypass sanctions for decades, the latest U.S. moves have left them in a far more sensitive position, with few remaining channels to secure foreign currency or buy goods, the sources said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a toast on Thursday ahead of the Jewish New Year with Minister of Defense Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and members of the IDF General Staff Forum at the Kirya Base in Tel Aviv.

In his remarks to the generals, Netanyahu set the collapse of the Iranian regime as Israel's top objective.

At the start of his remarks, Netanyahu discussed the various achievements of the war and the recent operations. "What was achieved in the three years of the War of Redemption and in the time since Roaring Lion, and even beforehand, Rising Lion, are historic achievements that ensure our continued existence. We stood up to the threat of eradication by a regime that seeks to annihilate us and wants to use nuclear bombs to destroy us. We removed this threat as well as other threats."

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israel was prepared to respond “with great force” if attacked by Iran during the upcoming Jewish holiday period, after the largest exchange of fire between Washington and Tehran since July.

Iran said it attacked US military targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraqi Kurdistan and the United Arab Emirates, after the US military on Tuesday said it had struck Iranian targets including air defenses and mine-laying capabilities in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Later Wednesday, Saudi Arabia said one of its oil tankers was targeted in a deadly attack by Iran in the strait.

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Yedioth Ahronoth media group, Katz said that “for now,” Iran is “striking throughout the region except us.”

NATO member Turkey would consider taking its relations with the China and Russia-led security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, to a higher level, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

"Turkey's prospect of (full) membership to the organization does not imply a breakaway from any other bloc or from the West," Erdogan said, according to a transcript of remarks he made to journalists on his return flight from Kyrgyzstan.

Erdogan attended a summit of the SCO, of which Turkey is a "dialog partner," in Bishkek on Tuesday.