KOENIG

Yemen and Saudi forces launched Operation Yemeni Dawn to retake the Bab el-Mandeb strait on October 5. This comes after government forces lost control of the strait to the Houthis in early September.

The strait has become increasingly important since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran due to many oil export routes being rerouted through the Bab el-Mandeb.

Saudi Arabia re-entered the war following repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi oil refineries and export depots.

Ministers of the Security-Diplomatic Cabinet (Israel's top security and diplomatic forum) got a sobering briefing Sunday. Fears of a "multi-arena event" resurfaced as defense chiefs described the security situation as tense across every front, from Gaza to Iran. "Hamas is constantly ready for offensive actions at the operational level," officials in the defense establishment said. Shin Bet chief David Zini went further, warning of a possible link between Hamas and members of the Iranian-led axis, including possibly with the Houthi movement in Yemen as well.

The head of the IDF Operations Directorate delivered what sounded like good news on the ground campaign. "We have cleared 95% of the tunnels between the Yellow Line (the current military demarcation line in Gaza) and the border," he told the ministers, noting that the effort remains in full swing. The ministers pushed back gently, replying that the figure applies only to tunnels already found, and others may still be hidden.

Senior intelligence officials also revisited Saturday's strike targeting senior Hamas official Ali al-Amoudi. The outcome remains unclear. "If we didn't succeed, we will try again," they said flatly.

The United States rushed over the weekend to withdraw all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from an air base in southern England after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against the installation, two U.S. officials said on Sunday.

The withdrawal was highly unusual: Such moves are rarely made so quickly from an allied air base in a peacetime country thousands of miles from a combat zone.

The need to move the bombers out of the base, R.A.F. Fairford, was deemed so urgent that some of the planes and their flight crews left while aerial refueling aircraft were still being scrambled to support their flights to the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he intends to expand Israel's naval capabilities after hearing from defense officials about Israel's need for additional submarines, ships, and more during a visit to the Ashdod Naval Base.

Netanyahu was accompanied on his visit to the base by Defense Minister Israel Katz. The Naval Chief of Staff and Commander of the Ashdod Base briefed Netanyahu on the challenges in the naval arena and the operations of forces in the southern sector, including the patrol squadron and the landing craft company.

During the visit, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister were also presented with a display of the weapons used by the forces to contend with threats against Israel, both in defensive and offensive operations.

The investigation into the attempted terrorist attack aboard a flydubai flight has raised questions over security screening conducted in both the United Arab Emirates and Israel regarding the identity and ideology of co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. One of the central lines of inquiry is whether he acted as a lone terrorist or was backed by a terrorist organization. An Israeli investigative team has joined the investigation in the UAE in an effort to obtain a complete picture of the case.

Israel Hayom has learned from sources familiar with the investigation that authorities are examining a possible Iranian connection through a Syrian terrorist group established by Iran during the Assad regime in the course of Syria's civil war. According to investigators, the group may still be active in the country.

Al-Hammami, whose mother is Syrian, spent several years in Syria, where he underwent a process of religious radicalization and Islamist indoctrination. The investigation indicates that he was likely recruited by the terrorist group during that period. If the findings are confirmed, they would bolster the assessment that he was recruited specifically to carry out an attack using an aircraft, similar to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US.

Two members of Iran’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly were “kicked out” of the U.S. after failing to comply with a State Department order to leave the country.

“Secretary Rubio means business. Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the UN General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the country,” a U.S. official told Fox News Digital.

The State Department ordered Iran’s entire delegation to leave the U.S. immediately on Monday, but the two diplomats remained in New York, according to an Axios report.

(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.