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Saturday, October 31, 2026

10/31 Links: The forgotten Egypt terror attack and its tragic fifth victim; Ex-UN official; UN's Israel obsession sidelines atrocities elsewhere; Eisenkot’s options are all bad, while Netanyahu’s remain good

From Ian:

‘The killer was never punished’: The forgotten Egypt terror attack and its tragic fifth victim
Mor Shamli, 35, the widow of Alon Shamli, who was murdered before her eyes in Egypt on October 8, 2023, became the fifth victim of the shooting attack Friday, after dying following more than three years of psychological anguish.

The shooting took place in Alexandria one day after the Hamas massacre of October 7, as Israelis were still struggling to comprehend the scale of the atrocities and eliminate the remaining terrorists in communities near the Gaza Strip. An Egyptian police officer opened fire with his weapon at a group of Israeli tourists near Pompey's Pillar, a Roman triumphal column considered one of the best-known tourist attractions in Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city.

Alon Shamli and Amnon Bezalel were pronounced dead at the scene, while Hagai Efrat died of his wounds about 10 days later. Egyptian tour guide Sayed Kamel al-Khawalqa was also killed in the attack. Alon's widow later said: "My life ended there in Egypt on October 8, 2023, when they murdered us. The bullet that struck Alon's heart struck mine too."

Alon Shamli, who was 34 when he was killed, coached a youth team at Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club. He also worked as a physical education teacher at Rishonim School in Bat Yam. Following his death, Hapoel Tel Aviv said Alon "was highly regarded in the youth department. His players said he always devoted himself to them and pushed them to improve."

Amnon Bezalel, 64, of Bat Yam, served in the Israel Police for about 40 years. He was known as a diligent and respected officer and spent much of his career with the Holon police. His final position was technology coordinator in the Ayalon police region.

Hagai Efrat, 83, of Rishon LeZion, whose death was confirmed about 10 days after the attack, played soccer for Hapoel Haifa in his youth and managed Hapoel Jerusalem's soccer club during the 1970s and 1980s.

Friends of Egyptian tour guide Sayed Kamel al-Khawalqa said he was highly educated and possessed extensive knowledge, which helped him in his work as a tour guide. According to Egyptian media reports, he was also accompanying another group of tourists on the day of the attack and was caught in the gunman's line of fire.

But the attack, which received relatively little attention because it occurred so soon after the October 7 massacre, had another victim: Mor Shamli, who never recovered from what happened. In January, she announced to her Instagram followers that she intended to end her life through medically assisted suicide in Switzerland.

The announcement sparked a wave of false rumors that the procedure had already taken place and that she had died. In Instagram Stories posted that month, she explained the painful decision she had made and the feelings that had accompanied her since the attack, which occurred just one day after the massacre in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.
‘I went undercover at an extremist religious sect in Kent where Holocaust denial lives on'
A priest repeating Holocaust denial, a worshipper declaring a former synagogue should be burned to the ground and links to figures from far-right political movements.

Reporter Dan Esson went undercover at a breakaway religious sect in Kent to discover whether the extreme views of its notorious founder live on…

It’s a humid morning in Broadstairs, I’m drenched in sweat beneath my suit, and I’m being asked if I’m “quite good on the Jews” in the dimly-lit kitchen of a former guest house.

Am I “Jew-wise”, I’m pressed.

Joe and I have only just been introduced, though we’ve been sitting on the same pew for about an hour and a half listening to the Latin Mass.

He doesn’t know I’m a journalist. As far as he’s concerned, I’m Daniel Owens, a lapsed Catholic looking to return to the Church.

The middle-aged court typist from Sandwich, who originally hails from Cheshire, is very keen to express the sort of beliefs I thought I’d have to work a bit harder to capture on my hidden recorder.

When the conversation turns to the former synagogue in Margate, he says “thank God” it’s no longer in use, his northern accent still unmistakable despite having moved to Kent many years ago.

“It should be burned to the ground.”

“Father” Stephen Abraham, the main priest in residence, tells me that Jews have constructed a “mythology” around the Holocaust.

“They’ve created that myth because they’re experts; they have the media, the money to spin these stories,” he says.

I focus my eyes everywhere but his, as he continues: “They’re hiding the fact they’re taking over everything, or taking over the bits that matter.”

Presumably Joe and “Father” Abraham wouldn’t have been so open with these opinions if they knew who I was, but neither realised their newest recruit was wired up.

For more than a decade, this group, the Society of St Pius X Resistance (SSPXR), has operated from the property in Broadstairs.

It was founded by the late Richard Williamson, a convicted Holocaust denier and prominent conspiracy theorist whose extreme views made him one of the most controversial clergymen of recent decades.

He died last year, with his funeral held in Canterbury, but the organisation he headed is still operating from the building he bought on the Thanet coast more than a decade ago.
Ex-Palestine supporter blasts ‘insane’ movement for ‘cherry-picking’ oppressors
Parishad Kavyani was born in the Islamic Republic of Iran and spent most of her childhood there until she moved to Canada at 14, a reality she says shaped her nuanced view of the pro-Palestine, anti-Israel movement she once supported.

Now she says it was destroyed by “liberal intellectualism” that overly focused on the oppressor instead of the human rights of all affected.

“I have never faced the amount of homophobia, racism and sexism that I have experienced in the past nine months from the leftists, from the very people that I marched with for over two years for a free Palestine, and that is insanity,” Kavyani told Fox News Digital of leaving the cause.

Kavyani went on to reveal one of the problems she wrestled with while still supporting the Palestine movement — the absence of support for the freedom and rights of Iranian women.

“[They] advocate for liberation of people, [they] advocate for women’s rights, but when it comes to Iranian women wanting freedom, wanting the freedom to wear whatever they want, [they] suddenly are quiet — and not only quiet, but [they] support the oppressor. That’s my issue… [they] cherry-pick between oppressors,” she said.

Kavyani, who admits to being a part of pro-Palestine when the movement began to form before splitting with the cause after an array of its supporters began posting pro-Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] content, detailed the intricate view Iranians develop on advocacy for Palestinians.

“As an Iranian born and raised in Iran… you are raised with a lot of information, a lot of propaganda around what is happening in Israel, what is happening in Palestine, and you are just told this every single day by the authorities. That Palestinians need help, they’ve been oppressed, they’ve been getting killed all of these years, so we have to help them,” she added.

“Then… you enter the society, and you see there is poverty everywhere. You see that the villages in Iran don’t have drinking water. You see that the villagers in Iran don’t have a road to a hospital… Why? Because the government doesn’t actually do anything about the people in need inside the country, and you’re always told, ‘Oh, but we have to save money to send to Palestine,’” Kavyani said.

“The more time you spend in the country you’re like, ‘Why is it my responsibility to save another nation?’” Kavyani added.

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was a tipping point for her.

“When October 7 happened, I had a lot of conversations with people [about it]… Like, just because someone is holding an Israeli passport doesn’t mean that they should just get killed… If there’s a war that you’re including civilians in that war, and you’re taking civilians hostage, and you’re raping civilians or torturing civilians — that’s not something that I support no matter who this person is, because I’m not somebody who thinks someone deserves to die just because of where they’re from or just because the political belief that they hold on to,” she said.

“That is, like, so ideology-driven, which we’re seeing right now on the internet and in real life… You cannot create a hierarchy of people and say this person deserves saving more than this person… That liberal intellectualism is, like, so insane,” Kavyani relayed.


BBC admits vetting failure after hosting ‘anti-Semitic’ Iran apologist
The BBC has admitted it was wrong to invite an influencer who had previously described Jewish people as “lying scumbags” to be a guest on a live television show.

Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that Bushra Shaikh, who has been accused in the past of making remarks that were anti-Semitic and in support of the Iranian regime, appeared on BBC One’s Sunday Morning Live defending women’s right to wear burkas.

Ms Shaikh said she did not accept her views were anti-Semitic.

The BBC insisted at the time that “any personal views expressed are her own”, but it has now told an MP that checks on her social media history were “not in line with the standards we expect” and that changes will be made.

The BBC is engulfed in allegations of anti-Semitism among its staff after The Telegraph revealed it had paid out more than £400,000 to Lucie Kon, a Jewish producer who was made redundant after making a formal complaint alleging she was the victim of anti-Semitism.

MPs have called for an independent inquiry into anti-Semitism at the BBC, saying it must show it has stamped out the problem before its charter renewal in 2028.

Hours after she appeared on Sunday Morning Live on Oct 11, Ms Shaikh, a former contestant on The Apprentice, posted on X: “Israel is a bigger threat to the West than Iran.”

She had previously described Jews who moved from Europe to Israel as “the biggest charlatans on this planet” and “a bunch of lying scumbags”.

Hours after the Oct 7 terrorist attacks: “Palestinians have done more in five minutes than Zelensky has done with 75bn. Humiliation is an understatement.”
Apologist for Hamas who praised October 7 massacre as 'beautiful act of liberation' given platform on BBC Today programme
The BBC is under fire after it invited a Hamas apologist onto the Today Programme who praised the October 7 massacre as a 'beautiful act of liberation'.

Swedish activist Andreas Malm, 49, refers to the Islamic terror group as 'heroic' and simply 'armed resistance'.

He also said the 2023 massacre in Israel, the largest slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust where 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage, was 'highly deplorable but not incomprehensible'.

But his extreme statements were barely mentioned when he was invited onto the flagship radio show complaining he has been banned from entering the UK.

Malm had been due to speak alongside the co-founder of proscribed terror group Palestine Action.

But immigration officials said his presence 'may not be considered to be conducive to the public good' and blocked his entry.

The climate academic took to the airwaves to say it was a 'scandalous' decision and demanded the government reconsider.

He said: 'I am deeply dismayed at this sudden ban on travelling to the UK.

'I have been going to the UK for decades - this is where I did my archival research for my PhD dissertation and lectured at dozens of universities and participated in even more conferences.'

Taking aim at the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, he added: 'One was under the impression that the Burnham government had slightly more respect for the basic notions of freedom of expression and other democratic rights.

'I appeal for this decision to be overturned.'

But host Sean Farrington only challenged him once about his inflammatory statements excusing Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups over the mass slaughter and rape of civilians.

In an hour-long lecture delivered in Stockholm two months after the massacre, Malm said: 'I think that a few decades from now when we look back at what happened on the 7th of October... we will see the mass killing of civilians as the ugly deplorable lamentable tragic dimensions of a fundamentally beautiful liberation struggle.'

Despite the terror group live streaming the atrocity on GoPros, he also said we 'haven't seen conclusive proof that Hamas actually ordered its fighters to kill civilians'.
Israeli West Ham star Manor Solomon branded a ‘baby killer’ by pro-Palestine thugs over national service with the IDF
WEST Ham star Manor Solomon has been branded a “baby killer” by pro-Palestine activists for serving with the IDF.

Thugs urged the club to “kick out” the Israeli in a campaign backed by local councillors.

Masked, hooded activists recorded a video outside the Championship club’s London Stadium in the east of the capital threatening the winger.

In a disguised robotic voice, one says: “We do not agree with the signing of Manor Solomon. We’ll continue to raise our voices until he is out of the club.”

It comes after some Irons fans chanted “Manor Solomon’s on my mind/And he hates Palestine” at the August 16 match at Burnley.

He had joined the club — who later urged the fans to stop — only days before.

The recent abuse against him was bolstered by the Tower Hamlets Palestine Solidarity Network, created and run by councillor Faysal Ahmed.

Sharing an image from the video, it wrote: “Activists hammer home the message: Kick out baby killer Manor Solomon from West Ham United.”

At least seven other Tower Hamlets councillors are members of the group’s Facebook page.

Solomon, 27, was enlisted for mandatory military service in the IDF — the Israel Defense Forces — in December 2017.
Eisenkot’s options are all bad, while Netanyahu’s remain good
With the latest Israeli election’s regular ballots now fully counted, the arithmetic already defines the power dynamics of the day after, even as the remaining double-envelope ballots are still to be tallied.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc stands at 53 seats, the Change bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is at 48, and the Arab parties are at 19. Neither side has the 61 seats needed for a majority government, but does that leave both sides in a similar position?

No. Eisenkot and his bloc (composed of the Yashar, B’Yahad, the Democrats and Yisrael Beitenu parties) face no good options, as every choice ahead of them likely comes at great political cost.

Netanyahu, by contrast, can act from a position of strength, as every option before him is a win for him and his Likud Party.

Eisenkot has no clear path to a majority government. No party in Netanyahu’s coalition would be acceptable to the Change bloc, nor would most, if any, of them govern with him.

Be assured, as we speak, that Netanyahu is locking down his coalition partners so none will bolt.

The Haredi parties collide directly with the Change bloc’s positions on reforming the draft law. Religious Zionism’s Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit’s Itamar Ben-Gvir are viewed by most of the Change bloc as racist or far-right extremists.

The Change bloc may be open to some form of engagement with Likud, but its central campaign was about removing Netanyahu. Likud is by far the largest party and will neither serve under an Eisenkot-led government nor consider a change in leadership. Eisenkot’s failed “change coalition” therefore has no Zionist majority available.

The remaining route runs through the Arab parties, either as full coalition members (as Ra’am was in the Bennett-Lapid government of 2021-2022) or as outside support propping up a minority government in return for concessions.

Using the Joint List, which is widely viewed by much of the Jewish public as anti-Israel and anti-Zionist, to secure a temporary win against Netanyahu would carry a heavy price.
Eisenkot lays out four coalition principles, says 'any MK' who accepts them can join government
Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot laid out four principles for joining his proposed coalition on Saturday, saying that “any MK” willing to accept them could become a partner in forming the next government.

Election Day results saw Yashar win 21 seats in the Knesset, with the Eisenkot bloc at 48 total; the Likud won 27 seats, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc at 53 overall; and the Arab parties won 19 seats.

After the completion of the vote count, Eisenkot said he intended to establish the broadest possible Zionist, statesmanlike government, bringing together elected representatives who agree on Israel’s fundamental character, national service obligations, and the need to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the Gaza Strip.

“Any MK willing to sign on to these principles is a potential partner in establishing a new government that will be good for Israel,” Eisenkot said. “The door to the government we establish will be open to any elected official who accepts these principles and is prepared to rise to the occasion.”

Eisenkot’s conditions for any prospective coalition partner are: The recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal, and egalitarian state; a commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; mandatory military, national, or civilian service for all Israeli citizens; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization and acknowledgment of the obligation to destroy its military and governing power in the Gaza Strip.

Eisenkot said the principles would serve as the foundation for a broad government based on national consensus, rather than one seeking to impose the will of one political camp on another.

This latest development came amid a demonstration in Tel Aviv calling for a government of Arab and Jewish parties.
Senior Arab MK says Joint List ready to back anti-Netanyahu government from outside
Veteran Arab MK Ahmad Tibi, No. 2 on the Joint List, said Saturday that his party was ready to support the anti-Netanyahu Zionist parties in establishing a government to replace the outgoing coalition, but stressed that it did not want to be part of the government itself.

Speaking to Channel 12 news, Tibi urged leading opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot to “be like [the late prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin,” who relied on the votes of Arab MKs to pass the Oslo Accords with the PLO.

Meanwhile, the party’s chairman Yousef Jabareen said in a separate interview that initial contacts had been made with most of the leaders of the anti-Netanyahu bloc. He also declined to call Hamas a terrorist organization — one of Eisenkot’s stated requirements for potential coalition partners — and dismissed allegations of Qatari election interference to boost the Arab vote.

Tibi, whose Joint List of three Arab factions won 11 seats in Tuesday’s election, told Channel 12, “We want to help anyone who wants to bring down this awful government… and switch it for a different government. We want to be part of the correction, part of the hope.”

“We won’t be part of the government. I don’t want a ministerial post. I don’t want to be in the cabinet,” he stressed. “But without the Arab parties there won’t be change,” he added, referring to election results that gave the anti-Netanyahu parties 67 seats in the 120-member Knesset, 19 of them to the two Arab parties. Ra’am, the second Arab party, won eight seats.

The 67 seats held collectively by Netanyahu’s opponents would be enough for a parliamentary majority if the Jewish-led opposition parties agreed to cooperate with the Arab factions, but Yashar, B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu have ruled out sitting in a coalition with them.

Tibi said the unprecedented turnout and resulting Knesset representation from the Arab sector meant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not form a government. “The heroic vote” of the Arab sector was “an act of self-defense” against the Netanyahu coalition, he said.

He indicated that the Joint List will recommend to President Isaac Herzog that a candidate from the anti-Netanyahu Zionist parties be given the mandate to form a coalition — presumably Eisenkot. He also said the party would back a vote to oust Likud’s Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and indicated that it would support a vote to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre. Those are two measures the anti-Netanyahu bloc is planning to prioritize after the Knesset is sworn in on November 10.

Indicating longer-term support, Tibi also said his party would not back a Likud-initiated no-confidence motion against the government he hoped would be established, and would not initiate its own motion to dissolve the Knesset.


'A bullying atmosphere': UN's Israel obsession sidelines atrocities elsewhere, ex-UN official says
In December 2024, More than a year after Hamas terrorists stormed the Gaza border area, killing civilians in their homes, Dr. Alice Jill Edwards, who then served as the UN special rapporteur on torture, toured the kibbutzim where the massacre occurred.

“It was a very eerie experience,” Edwards recalls.

“It was more than a year after that great suffering. And yet some of the flowers had started to emerge out of the rubble. That is one of the images that stays with me very profoundly.

“The other thing that I can’t forget was the amount of bullet holes in ordinary people’s houses,” she says. “I walked into houses where the microwave oven had been shot to pieces or the fridge. These were civilians.”

Her conclusion is blunt: “I think if you can’t have empathy for this, then I worry about people’s general humanity.”

For Edwards, who served as the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment from 2022 to 2026, the visit was an opportunity to see the consequences of the October 7, 2023, massacre for herself. It also reinforced a conviction that would increasingly put her at odds with colleagues within the international organization.

“This is entirely unlawful under international law,” she says of attacks against civilians. “There are no excuses or exceptions. There are no rights under international law for this type of attack against civilians.”

Edwards is no longer serving as the UN’s torture rapporteur. That distance from the institution, she says, has allowed her to speak more openly about what she considers a deeply troubling failure in the international response to October 7.

“Look, we just had the third anniversary of the attacks, and there was still no investigation or documentation or report on those events by two of my colleagues, yet we have also quite a number of reports, rightly, in relation to Israel’s actions,” she says.

Her accusation is not that Israel should be exempt from scrutiny. On the contrary, Edwards insists that alleged violations by Israeli forces must be investigated. Her objection is that the same standards should apply when the victims are Israeli, and the perpetrators are Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups.


UN demands probe into death of its employee in Houthi custody
The United Nations on Oct 31 condemned the “heartbreaking” death of one of its employees in Yemen under custody of the Houthis and demanded an urgent inquiry.

Mohammad al-Shami, a staff member of the UN Human Rights Office in Yemen, had been “arbitrarily held” by the Houthis since June 2024, the organisation said in a statement.

It cited his family as saying he had died more than a month ago, but that his relatives had only been recently informed.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in the statement that no explanation had been given for the “heartbreaking loss”.

The Iran-aligned Houthis are fighting against Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

The statement said Turk “demanded full transparency from the Houthi authorities and an urgent, independent and thorough investigation” into al-Shami’s death.

It quoted Turk as saying he was also “gravely concerned for the safety and well-being of the other UN personnel who remain detained”, demanding their release.

“By detaining our colleagues, the de facto authorities are gravely undermining our ability to support the people of Yemen during a most serious humanitarian and human rights crisis,” he said.

“I urge them to change course.”

On Oct 14, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York that 71 UN personnel were being held by the Houthis.


Trump speaks with Netanyahu shortly after discussing military operations with senior commanders
US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, as the United States prepares to resume strikes on Iran, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The call took place after Trump discussed options for resuming military operations with senior military commanders.

Israel's defense establishment has remained ambiguous regarding preparations for a possible escalation with Iran, as the White House attempted to offer the Iranian regime another opportunity to return to negotiations, according to Israeli defense assessments.

Defense officials assess that the Iranians, who are facing an economic crisis that is worsening from week to week, will not sign an agreement requiring them to completely abandon their nuclear program, and certainly will not agree to stop producing ballistic missiles that now also threaten Europe.

Accordingly, the assessment is that Iran is merely attempting to buy time. Iran has reportedly been deliberately prolonging negotiations ahead of the US midterm elections.

US, Israel posture for strikes, but war unlikely to occur before midterm elections
Defense officials further assess that despite preparations by the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) for a possible strike on Iran, the White House will not order an operation against the Iranian regime before the US midterm elections unless it detects preparations for a surprise attack.

The US and Israel have also reportedly drawn up plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the midterms.

It is worth noting that more than 3,000 American troops are currently stationed in Israel, and no sharp increase was recorded in the number of US military aircraft redirected to the country during the previous week. This contrasts with the unprecedented deployment of US military refueling aircraft that filled the runways at Ben-Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport, alongside a significant presence at Israeli Air Force bases.
Trump and Vance are making a mistake by negotiating with Iran's terrorists
Trump is adrift and eager for an agreement, even one of just two lines, while the Shi’ite mullahs and the IRGC mock him, offer no concessions, and undermine his credibility among Iranians and internationally. Vance bears part of the blame, continuing to contact regime hardliners to revive dead, fruitless, protracted, and deceitful negotiations.

He fails to grasp that the Islamic Caliphate of the Shi’ite mullahs is fundamentally one entity, with neither hardliners nor moderates. He refuses to recognize that the junta controls the hard core of power.

What will history say about the White House seeking to revive peace negotiations in 2026 by contacting Rezaei, an Iranian Islamic terrorist, through a diplomatic channel? A futile effort.

The letter was sent at Trump’s direction, with his knowledge of this shameful, nauseating, fake diplomatic initiative. Where else does anyone seek common ground to avert war and engage a terrorist ruling within a warmongering, crisis-producing regime?

Unfortunately, neither Trump nor Vance understands the nature and mentality of the hard core ruling the Islamic Caliphate and religious dictatorship of the Shi’ite mullahs under the Islamic Republic. They cannot even explain the rationale for such an undertaking. This is no diplomatic initiative; merely a game of words.

It is irresponsible and immoral to describe contacting a terrorist and criminal as “an effort to provide humanitarian assistance.” Medical equipment and essential supplies never reach Iranian patients, and this regime is fundamentally the enemy of Iran and Iranians.

Ninety million people, subjected to oppression, repression, executions, and tyranny, crying out for life or death, await freedom. Amid their revolution, Trump and Vance’s voices sound like a discordant tune, a brand of shame.

Washington’s conditions for ending the war with Tehran’s warmongering, crisis-producing regime seem equally meaningless: wars must first be won, then negotiated, not fought without objectives or plans. One day, Vance will surely wake at eight in the morning to learn that the Shi’ite mullahs have built their atomic bomb.

He still fails to recognize that the Shi’ite mullahs and the IRGC will announce their nuclear weapon. If securing commitments from terrorists means anything, why not let them establish charitable, educational, and medical centers in America for Muslims worldwide?

Someone should remind Vance that Rezaei once hunted Americans alongside his Mansouroun terrorists in pre-revolutionary Iran. Or does the White House now intend to reward such a man with a weekend at Camp David?
Khamenei warns of ‘geographically unrestricted’ response to any attack
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday directed the Iranian armed forces to be prepared to respond to any attacks on the country “with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response,” the state-affiliated Iranian Students’ News Agency and Reuters reported separately.

He further stated that Iran’s forces were in high readiness along the Gulf coast, in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, and on Iran’s northwestern and southeastern borders.

The statement was posted on Khamenei’s official Telegram account, according to Reuters.

The directive comes on the backdrop of increased tensions across the Middle East, with reports saying a military confrontation between the United States and Iran could restart after the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump played down a Wall Street Journal report about a Vice President JD Vance’s letter sent earlier in the week to the Iranian regime in a bid to resume negotiations to end the conflict.

Trump told a reporter that he did not direct Vance to send the letter, saying that the Iranians “need help with medical supplies and various things. He [Vance] asked me what I thought and I said if you want to do that that’s okay. Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well.”

According to the Journal, the vice president delivered the letter to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, who is considered one of Tehran’s most hard-line leaders.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on Saturday with the Qatari-based Al Jazeera network that Vance’s letter was being examined by Iran’s leadership, describing it as a “positive step.”

However, he said that at this stage there were no plans to meet with U.S. officials, adding that an Iranian delegation has traveled to Doha to discuss Iran’s proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.


Iran strikes on US Mideast bases first took out early-warning systems, analysis finds
Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen US bases in the Middle East focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The AP independently verified damage to American targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed or have firsthand knowledge of what was hit. The AP found that, through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with US equipment.

The AP found that Iran initially focused its attacks on aircraft hangars and systems that detect incoming strikes, clearing the way for further strikes on warehouses, troop housing and more.

The damage has significantly reshaped the American foothold in the Middle East, with two regional officials saying the US has moved many of its assets out of the Persian Gulf. That includes aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment crucial to base operations, one of those officials said.

The impact of the damage raises questions about American defenses in the region as President Donald Trump considers new strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections and Tehran has vowed major retaliation. A return to hostilities threatens additional costly damage to bases, which would heighten uncertainty about whether the United States will choose to rebuild its bases and equipment in the region when the war ends.

The AP’s analysis offers new insight into Iran’s strategy for its retaliation and what precisely has been damaged on US bases during the eight-month war, going beyond the details that have been released in independent reviews, including from the Pentagon’s inspector general. It found that from April 1 to June 30, Iranian strikes had damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on US bases.

Such assessments provide the only overall snapshot because the Trump administration and the US military have provided few details about the toll of the conflict on people and equipment, even putting measures in place to impede outside review, such as delays in the release of satellite images.


The West Bank emerges as Israel’s biggest counterterrorism success since October 7
Israel’s geostrategic successes since the October 7 massacre are beyond debate.

The defiant yellow-flag-draped tent Hezbollah set up on Israeli territory has been replaced by IDF strongholds in Lebanese territory that a cowed Hezbollah is compelled to accept.

Iran, Israel’s major foe, not only suffered the brunt of two campaigns, the first Israeli-made, the second jointly with the US, but, equally if not more importantly, lost its crown jewel, the Assad regime in Syria, in its grand strategy to lay permanent siege to Israel through a ring of missile-firing proxies.

Arab commentators are almost unanimous in attributing this outcome to the blows Israel dealt to Hezbollah, the Assad regime’s major defender against the jihadists in northern Syria whom the Turks supported.

In Gaza, one has only to recall where Israel stood not only on the morrow of October 7, but even after the killing of Border Police marksman Barel Hadaria Shmueli, at point-blank range on the Gaza fence in 2020. The assailant, Muhammad Maher Abu Jisr, fled unscathed, took part in the massacre, and was only killed in 2024.

In utter contrast, the IDF, which controls 60% of Gaza, has killed, over the past half year, hundreds of terrorists, including two Hamas chief-of-staff commanders, and abducted two key Hamas terrorists in broad daylight (achievements not witnessed since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005), to which Hamas is too weak to respond.

Politically, contrary to the assessment of many, Hamas leaders publicly clamor for the Palestinian administrative agency, presently in Cairo, to enter Gaza, despite being part of a peace plan promoted by US President Donald Trump, a foe of the organization, and manned mostly by technocrats linked to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, their major domestic enemy. Israel sees sharp decline in terror attack casualties

However impressive these achievements are, they pale in comparison to what has occurred in Judea and Samaria, where the level of terrorism in the past year has declined to a level not seen since before the First Intifada in 1987.

Six Israelis have been killed so far this year, compared to 46 and 43 Israelis killed in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The number of wounded from terrorist attacks dropped by 42% from 2024 to 2025 alone.

The reasons for this sharp decline are easily identifiable.

The most important by far is a radical change in counterterrorism strategy that began in 2024 – a change from daily and mostly nightly incursions, since 2002, into all areas of the PA to make preventive arrests to prevent these areas from becoming a sanctuary zone, as they became in the first eight years of the PA, to a strategy of permanently occupying the large refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus, where the terrorists were concentrated and organized in local, rudimentary, battalion-level units.
Al Jazeera airs unseen Hamas videos of top commanders, all since killed
Qatar’s Al Jazeera on Friday aired Hamas footage of the terror group’s leaders in the Gaza Strip, from several years before the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

One clip broadcast on Al Jazeera’s “The Hidden Is More Immense” documentary series, and published shortly after by Hamas on its Telegram channel, showed top commanders in the terror group’s military wing gathering in a tunnel.

The video showed Mohammed Deif, then commander of Hamas’s military wing, sitting on a bed at the end of an underground room, with the rest of the Al-Qassam Brigades’ leadership, including department heads and brigade commanders, on a carpet.

All those seen in the footage have since been killed by Israel, including Deif, Marwan Issa, Raad Saad, Muhammad Shabana, Muhammad Sinwar, Ahmed Ghandour, Ayman Nofal, Rafa’a Salameh, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Mohammed Odeh, Hakem al-Issa, Raed Thabet, Ghazi Abu Tama’a and Bassem Issa.

The images were taken sometime prior to May 2021, as Bassem Issa, then commander of the Gaza City Brigade, was killed during the 11-day war that month, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls.

One video aired by Al Jazeera showed the moments the commander of Hamas’s rocket array, Ayman Siam, ordered the launching of rockets at Israel on May 10, 2021, and another clip showed Yahya Sinwar, then leader of Hamas in Gaza, during the 11-day war.

Hamas regularly releases footage via Al Jazeera, which has been banned from operating in Israel due to its close ties to the terror group.

Another clip showed Deif and other Hamas leaders moving through Gaza’s underground tunnels and during various meetings.

In another video, Deif, Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, who led Hamas’s political bureau, are seen touring a rocket manufacturing site in the Strip.


Fetterman: Haley Stevens holding El-Sayed accountable for his ‘fixation with Jewish money’
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) accused Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed of “going after” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) for her attempts to hold him “accountable for his views on Israel and fixation with Jewish money.”

The Pennsylvania senator made the comments to Jewish Insider amid the public dispute between El-Sayed and Stevens in the final days of the general election. Fetterman criticized El-Sayed’s decision to put out a statement attacking his Democratic primary rival, and the subsequent reports that his campaign had asked Stevens to stay away from all future campaign events, as an “overreaction” that highlights “why he struggles with groups of Michigan voters.”

“Rep. Haley Stevens simply held Abdul El-Sayed accountable for his views on Israel and fixation with Jewish money,” Fetterman said. “El-Sayed is going after a woman and banning her from campaign events for having an opinion. El-Sayed’s overreaction demonstrates why he struggles with groups of Michigan voters. He has the worst case of little man syndrome I’ve ever seen.”


Closing Catfight: El-Sayed Disinvites Haley Stevens From ‘Unity’ Event After Refusing To Condemn Antisemitic Ad
Left-wing Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed disinvited his primary opponent, Michigan congresswoman Haley Stevens, from a planned "unity" event after he refused to condemn an antisemitic ad produced on his behalf that blames the rising cost of groceries on Jews and Israel.

The remarkable turn of events came after Stevens said on Friday that El-Sayed’s condemnation was "expected" and that, at the invitation of her mentor, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.), she would attend a "unifying" event at a black church in Detroit on Sunday with El-Sayed and Clyburn.

El-Sayed responded by releasing a statement criticizing Stevens and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which backed Stevens in the primary.

"Our campaign has always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing," El-Sayed said. "That focus is why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens."

"So while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on reiterating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand," he added.

Hours later, on Friday night, El-Sayed reportedly disinvited Stevens from the event. Stevens told the Washington Post that she would not discuss the matter further until after Tuesday’s election.

The feud could cost El-Sayed support from Stevens’s primary voters, particularly those in Detroit, where Stevens secured 51 percent of the Wayne County primary vote to El-Sayed’s 45 percent. Some black voters in the city have since said that El-Sayed is struggling to make inroads among the crucial voting bloc. El-Sayed defeated Stevens in the primary by less than 1 point.

The ad in question came from Cenk Uygur, the cofounder of the left-wing media company The Young Turks and the uncle of El-Sayed’s inflammatory primary campaign surrogate, Piker. It depicts a married couple in the grocery store who blame the price of eggs on Israel and its war on Hamas in Gaza.

Jewish leaders condemned the spot, which Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called a "case study in antisemitism." Stevens said it was "wrong" and did "nothing to help Michigan Democrats win up and down the ballot." Rather than disavow the ad’s contents, El-Sayed’s campaign released a statement noting that it did not make the ad.

There seemed to be a breakthrough on Friday, when Stevens said El-Sayed’s condemnation of the spot was "expected." The statement was reportedly the result of talks between Stevens and El-Sayed held "Thursday night and into the early Friday morning hours" and mediated by Clyburn. But signs emerged almost immediately that the detente would not come: Stevens’s fiance, a Jewish Democrat and attorney who has said he plans to vote for El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, said in a Friday afternoon TMZ interview that he didn’t think Stevens was "going to be supporting Abdul El-Sayed very much longer."

While El-Sayed is unwilling to welcome Stevens on the campaign trail, he’s rallied with plenty of controversial surrogates, chief among them Piker, who has said that "America deserved 9/11" and that the United States is "pound for pound" responsible for more terrorism than al Qaeda. El-Sayed invited Piker to campaign with him in Michigan on at least five occasions during his primary against Stevens, though he has since distanced himself from Piker, referring to him as a "streamer in California."


Dozens of anti-Israel protesters arrested outside US embassy in London
The Metropolitan Police on Saturday arrested dozens of anti-Israel protesters who gathered outside the U.S. embassy in southwest London, the Independent reported.

Ahead of the protest, the Met warned that anyone planning to attend the demonstration in support of outlawed Palestine Action group would face arrest as part of a “robust policing operation.”

Police officers were dispatched to the area after the Defend Our Juries NGO announced plans to show up in front of the embassy in support of Palestine Action. British lawmakers designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organization after its followers vandalized two aircraft at a Royal Air Force base on June 20, 2025.

“All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful—they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime,” Met Police Commander Adam Slonecki said in a statement.

“The public would rightly expect us to be proactive and not just standby and wait for offences to be committed,” he continued.

He stressed that not only those who hold up placards would be detained, but “anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action.”

Hundreds of protesters were seen in footage hoisting Palestinian flags and banners, according to the Independent.

As of Saturday evening, the police have detained 48 people, per the report.


Christian tourists buy West Bank settlement goods in protest of European trade restrictions
“This piece of legislation written by the Irish parliament shall not stand,” said Paul Coulter, national director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) in Ireland, as he held up a copy of Ireland’s new law restricting imports from Israeli settlements. Then he tore the document apart in front of the camera.

The gesture came during an ICEJ visit to Israeli communities in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, where Christian visitors traveled through Samaria, Gush Etzion and Efrat and were encouraged to shop at local businesses. The tour, organized during ICEJ’s annual Feast of Tabernacles gathering in Jerusalem, was intended as a direct response to a growing set of European measures restricting trade in products from Israeli settlements. Some of those measures are already in force; others remain proposed legislation.

Ireland’s ban took effect on Sept. 15. The Netherlands followed with a broader restriction on Sept. 22 that reaches even goods carried in personal luggage. Norway, meanwhile, is considering legislation that would prohibit imports from and exports to Israeli settlements, along with certain property transactions and services. The Norwegian proposal remains under consideration after a public consultation that closed Sept. 19.

David Parsons, ICEJ senior vice president and spokesman, said the organization brought Christians attending the Feast of Tabernacles into the area specifically to support businesses affected by the measures.

“In recent weeks, several European countries and even Canada and others have announced that they’re going to pass sanctions against the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria,” Parsons told The Media Line. “We brought them here to the Shomron, to Samaria, also down to Gush Etzion, Efrat, to go and show support by buying goods here.”



Christians protest European settlement boycotts
The governments imposing or considering the restrictions present them as measures directed at settlements they consider illegal under international law, rather than at Israel as a whole. Ireland says its law is part of an effort to comply with international legal obligations identified in the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion. The Irish government argues that Israeli settlements in what it refers to as occupied Palestinian territory are unlawful and undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Its law prohibits imports originating in designated settlement postal codes and makes violations subject to existing customs law, including search, seizure and forfeiture powers.


Panel finds Swiss TV commentary on Israel’s Olympic bobsleigh team was ‘discriminatory’
Switzerland’s broadcasting complaints authority announced Friday that a TV commentary questioning the legitimacy of an Israeli bobsleigher competing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics had breached discrimination rules.

The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (ICA) said it had upheld four complaints about the commentary on Swiss French-language public broadcaster RTS concerning Adam Edelman.

When Edelman piloted Israel’s two-man bobsleigh crew, RTS broadcaster Stefan Renna quoted from the athlete’s social media comments in support of the IDF during the conflict in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023.

The commentator said Edelman should have been barred from the Games.

Live as the Israeli team made its descent at the Olympics on February 16, the commentator on RTS2 “spent the entire run discussing statements made on social media” by Edelman, regarding the Gaza war, the ICA said.

The authority upheld the complaints by five votes to four.

“A majority of the members concluded that the commentary — which appeared to have been prepared in advance — suggested that the Israeli athlete should be excluded from the Olympic Games due to his political views,” the ICA said in a statement.

“They found that this conveyed a stigmatizing, and therefore discriminatory, message directed at him, in contrast to the 25 other athletes competing that day.

“The members determined that the sports commentator had subjected the Israeli athlete to unequal treatment, thereby violating the prohibition against discrimination.”

The ICA will at a later date publish the written reasoning for its decision, detailing the measures it has requested.

Generally, when the ICA finds a breach of the rules, it directs the broadcaster to take “measures to prevent any further violations” and to subsequently report on the steps taken.

At the time, Edelman called the commentary a “diatribe” and said he gave it no credence whatsoever.


Boy George arrives in Israel, ‘out of a desire for us to dance, live and celebrate’
British pop icon Boy George, who has faced widespread condemnation and boycotts for his outspoken support for Israel in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacre, arrived in Israel on Saturday ahead of his two performances on November 4 and November 7 in Tel Aviv.

“I am here with you — out of love, out of a belief in peace and out of a desire for us to dance, live and celebrate together again,” said Boy George as he was welcomed at the airport. “I have many Jewish friends who are wonderful people, and I want to tell the world how wonderful they are. I felt I had to speak up and tell everyone your story.”

Promoter Guy Besser from Live Nation Israel, which brought Boy George to perform, and Sylvan Adams, President of the World Jewish Congress Israel, welcomed the performer upon landing.

Adams thanked Boy George for his friendship during challenging times for Israel and the Jewish people.

Boy George discussed his song “We Will Dance Again,” which he was inspired to write after visiting an exhibition in London about the Nova music festival, where hundreds of people were murdered and dozens kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack. The name of the song is a phrase adopted by survivors of the massacre at the rave.

“I think, in a way, the song says everything I wanted to say,” said Boy George.

“For me personally, it really boiled down to conversations with my close Jewish friends in the UK, people I’ve known since I was 15, reconnecting online over this whole thing and realizing: what has it got to do with them? It’s insane that they’re feeling so unsafe, powerless and frightened, and I just felt like I needed to say something. I’ve got a lot of beautiful friends, and I feel I can speak about them and tell the world that they’re beautiful people. Their appreciation has been really important to me and quite overwhelming, actually,” he said.
Canadian police officer wounded while stopping gunman outside synagogue released from hospital
A Canadian police officer who was critically wounded while stopping a gunman outside a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, has been released from the hospital and is continuing his recovery at home more than a month after the attack.

Belleville police said Thursday that officer Jeff Smith was making progress in his recovery. Smith and his family were grateful for the support they had received from the community and beyond in recent weeks, the department said.

Smith was guarding B’nai Jacob synagogue on September 20 as worshippers gathered for services on the eve of Yom Kippur. The gunman, Sean Ward, 29, opened fire on him, striking him in the head and body.

Despite his injuries, Smith continued returning fire for nearly three minutes before officer Michael McCurdy arrived and joined him. Police said the two officers prevented the attacker from entering the synagogue and carrying out a mass killing. No worshippers were injured. Ward was wounded in the exchange of gunfire and died the following day.

Canada’s Jewish community and other donors have rallied around Smith and his family. A fundraising campaign launched by Derek Kreindler on behalf of the Canadian Jewish community had raised C$969,110 (nearly $700,000) through more than 8,300 donations as of Friday morning.

The funds are intended to recognize Smith’s actions in protecting the worshippers and help support him and his family during his recovery and rehabilitation.
Off-duty pilots who landed flydubai plane after foiled terror attack finally revealed at UAE ceremony
The identities of two off-duty pilots who safely landed a flydubai plane full of Israeli passengers in September after a foiled terror attack by one of the assigned pilots were finally revealed last week when they were honored for their actions by the United Arab Emirates.

Henson Steven of Fiji and Rowan Tooth of South Africa took control of the damaged aircraft and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the copilot, Hamam al-Hammami, had attacked the Tel Aviv-bound flight’s Indian pilot, intending to take control of the plane and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport. Al-Hammami was thwarted by the Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, who managed to open the cockpit door, and by a group of Israeli passengers who tackled and immobilized him as he then sought to immediately crash the plane. One of the Israelis briefly took the controls and stabilized the plane for a few seconds, before the two off-duty pilots took over.

On Tuesday, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan awarded them and the rest of the crew the First Class Order of Zayed II, “in recognition of their courageous efforts to ensure the safety of passengers,” his office said at the time.

Until then, the pair’s identities had not been reported while attention was focused on Machchhar, who was seriously injured as he fought with the terrorist.

Machchhar has recounted how he was struck in the back of the head with an emergency axe by Omani national al-Hammami, and struggled to shield himself from the blows and open the cockpit door to enable a handful of Israeli passengers to come inside to halt the attack.

During the September 30 incident, the airliner plunged 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) in 30 seconds. Once he realized his plan to reach Tel Aviv was no longer possible, Hammami put the plane into a dive in an attempt to crash it, causing damage to its rudder.

The small group of Israeli passengers who burst into the cockpit have described how they tackled the terrorist copilot and cuffed him, and one of them, Yaniv Hayun, stabilized the plane.

Steven and Tooth, off-duty pilots who were aboard the flight to pilot the plane for its return flight, took over the controls and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia before a replacement aircraft returned passengers to Tel Aviv.

Their awards were personally presented by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.



 

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