This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Middle East/Israel:
5 Arab-Israelis detained over ISIS-style plot to car bomb Azrieli Mall in Tel Aviv
The Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed they recently thwarted a plot by five Arab-Israeli residents of the city of Taybeh to carry out an ISIS-style car bombing attack at Tel Aviv's Azrieli Mall.
Iran threatens Gulf states if IAF planes given passage through airspace to attack Islamic Republic
Dual national British-Israeli detained in Beirut
A journalist, Joshua Tartakovsky, who entered Lebanon on his British passport, was detained after a search by Lebanese security forces revealed he was also carrying an Israeli one. The Lebanese authorities deported him to the United States on Thursday.
Why won't the ICC chief prosecutor specify charges against Israeli leaders?
Israel claims that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan's refusal to specify the allegations against Israeli leaders before seeking their arrest means he never gave authorities a chance to fully investigate.
WATCH!!! UNRWA, whose members took part in Oct. 7 massacre, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
U.S.-Israel:
Trump is right: Iran was nearly broke until Biden-Harris pumped regime full of cash
Recently released estimates from the Biden-Harris administration itself of Iran's projected petroleum exports and sales, show how the Islamic Republic benefited from a cash windfall following the Biden-Harris administration's reversal of President Trump's maximum pressure sanctions.
CBS network directors tell staff, 'Jerusalem isn't in Israel'
The CBS network, already in hot water for airing a heavily doctored car-crash interview on "60 Minutes" with VP Kamala Harris, and for excoriating Tony Dokoupil for asking actual questions of Ta-Nehisi Coates on his biased book, is now telling its "journalists" to not refer to Jerusalem as "being in Israel."
Guardian review of Oct. 7 documentary 'One Day in October' bemoans footage made terrorists look bad
In a scarcely believable critique of a documentary that uses both phone and CCTV footage of the horrific events in Kibbutz Be'eri on Oct. 7, the Guardian's reviewer writes, "Sadly it also demonizes Gazans as either looters or killers."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The famed Christian organization launched by evangelist Billy Graham is being forced to fight a leftist organization over its allegedly illegal use of Billy Graham's image.
It's in a political ad that a far-left organization calling itself Evangelicals for Harris has created, and is pushing to try to persuade voters to support Kamala Harris, with her pro-abortion, pro-transgender, anti-faith agenda.
It is a report from Religion News Servicea that outlines the fight:
The ad begins with a clip of renowned evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham, wearing glasses, a gray suit and tie, leaning in toward a pulpit.
"But you must realize that in the last days, the times will be full of danger," Graham declares. "Men will become utterly self-centered and greedy for money."
Suddenly, a clip of former President Donald Trump is spliced in. Standing before a row of American flags at a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump says: "My whole life I've been greedy, greedy, greedy. I've grabbed all the money I could get. I'm so greedy."
For the next few seconds, the ad, which has racked up over 30 million views, flips between Graham's 1988 sermon, contrasting his points with shots of Trump using violent language, claiming to be "the chosen one" and talking about kissing women without their consent.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, while explaining it normally does not comment on disputes like this, did confirm in the report that it has communicated with the leftists promoting Harris' campaign about the "unauthorized, political use of BGEA's copyrighted video."
The report said the Harris fans also confirmed they'd gotten multiple letters from lawyers for the association, including a "cease-and-desist" order.
"It may be worth noting that, in all of his years of ministry and across relationships with 11 U.S. presidents, Billy Graham sought only to encourage them and to offer them the counsel of Christ, as revealed through God's Word. He never criticized presidents publicly and would undoubtedly refuse to let his sermons be used to do so, regardless of who is involved," the BGEA statement explained.
The report pointed out that Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, now is head of the organization, and was on social media earlier explaining the apparent violations by the Harris group.
He pointed out, "The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham's image. They are trying to mislead people. Maybe they don't know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father's views and opinions would not have changed."
The Harris organization said it was only holding "Trump's own words up to the light of Scripture, the necessity of repentance, and Biblical warnings against leaders exactly like Trump."
The Harris group lawyers also claim that they have a First Amendment right to the material as part of their public discussion of Trump.
Promoters of the video also are using the often-repeated Democrat trope that Trump is a threat to democracy, when in fact Joe Biden and Kamala Harris often have used their ability to rewrite federal rules and regulations to violate the Constitution, as evidenced by the many lawsuits over those disputes.
Further, Harris openly has bragged about her plans to walk into homes when she wants to determine whether people are storing their guns properly, and her vice presidential nominee has confirmed he does not believe the First Amendment protects all Americans' speech. He also wants to gut the Constitution's outline for the Electoral College in elections.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is in contention to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the award of which will be announced in Norway's capital, Oslo, on Oct. 11. Other candidates include the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In a year which has exemplified the moral turpitude of so much of the so-called international community, it beggars belief – although fails to reach the standard of causing actual surprise – that an honest-to-goodness terrorist-employing and -sympathizing organization would be advanced as a candidate to win the award. At least it has just been nominated for now; the reaction if it actually won would be something else altogether.
UNRWA's nomination is so controversial – and so morally inverted – because by the United Nations' own admission, at least nine UNRWA employees "may have taken part" in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacres in southern Israel. There is footage of known UNRWA employees loading a dead Israeli civilian into the back of a white jeep to be taken back as a hostage to Gaza.
According to the IDF website, recordings of UNRWA employees highlight them saying, "I'm inside, I'm inside with the Jews," "We have female hostages, I captured one." That refrain about "Jews" rather than "Israelis" was a familiar one, repeated time and again and recorded for posterity on GoPro cameras and other recording devices.
The forwarding of UNRWA as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize also comes less than a month after it was revealed the Biden-Harris Department of Justice backed a call for UNRWA employees implicated in the Oct. 7 massacres to be immune from prosecution.
In addition, there are other organizations and individuals who have not exactly covered themselves in glory over the last 12 months. In January, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling – through the sponsorship of a case brought by South Africa – which accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. In May the court ruled Israel "must immediately halt its military offensive" in Rafah and other areas "which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."
While the court cannot enforce its ruling, and had its authority also undermined by the heroic stance of Justice Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, who actually looked at the evidence presented, the ICJ used its global soapbox to very publicly push Hamas' narrative and agenda. The court even relied upon evidence submitted by UNRWA to reach its decision.
Secretary-General Guterres too is a highly compromised figure, and his nomination seems reward for indulging in oleaginous pandering to the League of Arab states. The citation for him notes, "is personal courage and integrity in the face of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza." It should be recalled on Oct. 9, when there were still a few Hamas terrorists roaming around southern Israel, when many of the victims of the bestial massacre two days previously, when some 250 hostages – both dead and alive – had been spirited into Gaza, and before Israel had even properly retaliated for the invasion of its borders, Guterres took it upon himself to exclaim, "Hamas' violence did not come in a vacuum."
He has consistently used his bully pulpit to excoriate Israel's actions in Gaza, claiming that the devastation and alleged loss of life is without precedent or equal. In October, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz banned Guterres from entering Israel after the Portuguese failed to "unequivocally condemn" Iran's missile attack. Some peacemaker he.
The Nobel Peace Prize has for a few decades become a highly controversial award. Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat was awarded it in 1994, along with Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin (who would be assassinated a year later) and Shimon Peres. Arafat's commitment to peace was always tenuous at best, and the latter years of his life and career when he unleashed the murderous Second Intifada in Sept. 2000, was evidence of this.
President Barack Obama was awarded the prize in 2009, barely eight months into his presidency. While he had the good grace to seem a little sheepish to be even nominated, explaining he hadn't done anything yet, he still accepted the award.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who did more to promote Middle East peace than pretty much any U.S. commander-in-chief in recent memory, and who was scandalously overlooked – as was Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – for signing the groundbreaking Abraham Accords in 2020, is nominated this year. Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, whose Starlink has provided millions of people with internet access is also nominated.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Being one of the only terrorist leaders left standing – or perhaps crawling in his tunnel would be more appropriate imagery – Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has apparently become so metaphorically drunk on his own power – and apparent resistance to airstrikes – he has instructed his minions to resume suicide bombings of Israelis.
Considering Israeli intelligence thought the architect of the so-called "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation on Oct. 7 had been killed – an assessment U.S. intelligence did not happen to share – and prompted by his disappearance from view for a while, when even the notes he passed to underlings seemed to dry up, Sinwar has reportedly reappeared swinging.
The Wall Street Journal ran a report citing Arab and Hamas officials, revealing there were concerns about Sinwar's "megalomania" from top terrorist leaders, which included both Khaled Mashal, and prior to his elimination in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in Tehran, Ismail Haniyeh. Arab intelligence officials say he sent a directive to a senior operative: "Now is the time to revive suicide bombings," according to the Journal.
A few days later, an unassuming, bespectacled Palestinian man walked around Tel Aviv streets with a backpack filled with explosives. His bomb detonated prematurely, killing only himself, but it was a stark reminder of the potential to return to the dark days of the second intifada between Sept. 2000 and Feb. 2005, when Israelis didn't know if they could get on a bus, go to a restaurant or a nightclub for fear of being caught up in another suicide bombing.
There was apparently some unease among the Hamas leaders about a return to tactic of suicide bombing, and they preferred to eschew it, thinking it might make the organization a political pariah. Despite the catastrophic implications – both moral and physical – of what a widespread campaign of suicide bombings would mean, it is possible to see some logic in it. Israelis' opinion of Hamas is already subterranean, such was the barbarity and viciousness of the Oct. 7 massacre. And the IDF is clearly doing all it can to take Sinwar out, like it has Haniyeh and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah before him. From a wider, more Western perspective, it isn't clear how much of a pariah Hamas will become for reinstituting such a tactic. Israel and Israelis are already seen as fair game, evidenced by the denials of the atrocities of a year ago.
As with most groups there are individuals within it who view the overall strategy and the tactics needed to realize it in disparate ways. Sinwar is, and always has been, a hardliner, an uncompromising, soulless and extremely violent man, who sees maximal civilian casualties as a way to get Israel to first bend, and ultimately break. He seems to have won out against less radical elements, who wish to retain a patina of political legitimacy in the hopes of one day establishing a Palestinian state.
"Under Sinwar, Hamas can be expected to be a much clearer-cut, hard-line fundamentalist organization," said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, who wrote a book on the group, and was quoted in the Journal article.
The communications between Sinwar in Gaza and Meshal and Haniyeh in Doha, the latter two dismissively known as the "hotel guys," reveals a fascinating portrait of a fundamental difference of approach to the pursuit of Palestinian statehood. Sinwar, the tough, grizzled, and uncompromising former prisoner, living among his people in Gaza vs. the political leaders with tailored suits, gilded hotel rooms, and a comfortable life. While both Sinwar and Haniyeh drew Hamas closer to Iran – not an obvious or easy move – the latter was concerned that the former would be too extreme to win the backing of more moderate Arab states.
As for Oct. 7, Haniyeh and his coterie in Qatar were not fully aware of what Sinwar and Hamas' commando units had in store for southern Israel and Israelis on that black Sabbath. While they publicly praised the attack – famously bowing down in their expensive suits on the plush carpet in Haniyeh's hotel room – privately, there were serious misgivings about Sinwar. Haniyeh was supposedly warmer to the potential of a ceasefire deal to release hostages and end the war; Sinwar, in a position he still holds today, is uninterested in that prospect.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A vice president's husband and a vice presidential candidate walk into a coffee shop…
(Stop me if you've heard this one.)
And they leave without paying, leaving a daughter to explain to the cashier that "someone" is coming.
A report at the Gateway Pundit said it happened when, "Kamala Harris's multi-millionaire husband Doug Emhoff and Tim Walz walked away from a cashier at a coffee shop in Phoenix without paying."
"After the two left, Tim Walz's young daughter, Hope, scrambled to get a staffer's credit card," the report said. "Tim Walz and Doug Emhoff walked into Otro Cafe like they owned the place."
Walz reportedly ordered an iced tea and Emhoff ordered a coffee, got their drinks, and walked away.
"Thank you so much and someone will be up here to pay. He's coming," Walz's daughter said pointing at a staffer, the report explained.
They didn't leave a tip, the report said.
Social media's conclusion? "Trump would have paid everyone's bill and tipped like a boss." With the explanation, "Wow! Stiffing that poor shop. Trump pays for everybody and tips big. This is the difference between a stand-up guy like Trump and elitists who think they should get everything for free just because of who they are. PATHETIC."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida's west coast with 120 mph winds overnight, dropped a foot of rain, spawned dozens of tornadoes and left multiple victims dead, has moved offshore and was downgraded to a Category 1 storm.
But threats remained.
Milton, which had been churning through winds of 175 mph before hitting land, eased as it came ashore near Siesta Key, Florida, but in just St. Lucie County alone, the sheriff confirmed at least 17 tornadoes.
Some three million were without power.
Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez said in a television interview on Fox that emergency orders had been issued for 51 of the state's 67 counties, and Thursday revealed "devastation and damage" despite all of the preparations.
"Hurricane Milton indeed packs a punch, but Florida is ready under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis. And we're going to continue to help people rebuild."
The governor himself said damage assessments were under way.
He noted it was not "the worst-case scenario" that many had feared.
Video of the coastline revealed beachfront buildings blown down and deep water remaining a concern, as the storm surge continued to inhibit travel.
Robert Carruthers, a major general in the Florida National Guard, told FOX some 10,000 Florida National Guard members had been activated with another 3,000 from other states.
The storm hit just two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit shore in Florida but unleashed most of its fury further inland, with portions of North Carolina in the bull's-eye. More than 200 deaths were reported from Helene, and hundreds of billions of dollars in damages.
Joe Biden confirmed he's been in touch with Florida officials several times, and the state was working to provide the best protection – and recovery – assistance it could.
Plant City spokesman Bill McDaniel told Fox Milton inflicted serious damage, with flooding causing problems.
"We have flooding in places and to levels that I've never seen, and I've lived in this community my entire life," he said on social media.
There, 35 were rescued from flooded buildings and trees and power lines were flattened, making it unsafe to travel.
He explained, "I mentioned in the previous broadcast about a vehicle crash that we had heard. That was actually a case of someone driving around out there on our streets and they hit a downed power line at relatively high speed, and it actually sliced into the engine compartment of the vehicle. That's a good indication of why it's very dangerous to get out there and move around right now."
The Tampa airport remained closed, as did Orlando's and ocean ports were shuttered, but expected to reopen shortly.
School closures varied.
Most of the power outages that remained were in Hillsborough, Hardee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.
DeSantis expressed gratitude for small favors, including that Milton "weakened" before hitting the state.
The immediate reports were putting the fatality count in the single digits.
Milton had been rated as a Category 5 for a time before landfall. It did maintain enough strength to seriously damage Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bayi Rays baseball team.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Federal officials are reporting that consumer prices were up 2.4% in September from a year earlier, higher than the predicted 2.3%, as the Biden-Harris economy worsens just as the presidential election approaches in November.
The announcement triggered a government calculation that Social Security checks will rise by 2.5% starting in January, exactly one-tenth of the 25% inflation that American consumers have faced under the regime of Biden and Harris, according to an independent assessment by expert economists.
The announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is being watched closely by markets as well as the Federal Reserve, which will meet next in November and could leave interest rates inflated as they've been for virtually all of the Biden-Harris tenure.
In September, the Fed cut interest rates by half a point.
Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the campaign of President Donald Trump, who turned over 1.4% inflation to Biden and Harris when they took office, said, "Kamala Harris' terrible economic policies continue to hit the American people where it hurts. The latest inflation report come in hotter than anticipated, overall prices are still up more than 20% since Kamala took office, and real average weekly earnings are down 3.4%."
She continued, "Eggs, for goodness' sake, are 70% more expensive since Kamala Harris took office!"
She said, "Additionally, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week jumped to the highest level in a year. If Kamala is given another four years, our economy will nosedive into the worst depression this country has ever seen. Americans will continue to be robbed of their paychecks with astronomical inflation and higher taxes. There is only one solution to fix our economy: re-electing President Trump. He's a businessman with a proven track record of success and will turn Kamala's worsening economy around on day on."
That independent economic analysis, in fact, concluded that the U.S. actually has been in a Biden-Harris-led recession since 2022.
Lindsay James, an investment strategist said in a report in the Daily Mail the inflation report doesn't trigger alarm bells, yet.
But "clearly large risks remain on the horizon," she said. "Conflict in the Middle East continues to threaten to send oil prices much higher and provide fresh inflationary concerns, while the recent hurricane damage in the U.S. is likely to make data a little harder to collect and analyze for the Fed.
"As has been stressed heavily, cautious steps will be taken to bring rates down to a sustainable level, without troubling the wider economy."
She explained core inflation, a measure of inflation that strips out the volatile sectors of food and energy, increased to 3.3 percent in September.
The inflation rate was 2.5% in August.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A self-identified transgender "pastor" is explaining that her transgender lifestyle may not be in sync with the Bible, but that's all right for her as a pastor, as the Bible wasn't written for 2024.
The stunning conclusion comes from an individual, a woman representing herself as a man, who appeared on a CBS show talking about faith in transition.
Asked about the Bible's clear definition of male and female and explanation of how God made them, "male and female," she simply went to the next level.
"It's hard to relate it to modern-day times because it wasn't written for 2024. It was written for then. When we read in the scripture that God created man and woman, yes, and God created everyone else, as well," the pastor said.
Actually, the concept of a Bible that can be edited quickly to make room for any theology that has appeared since the 7 a.m. newscast today isn't new to this interviewee.
Back in 1990, then cable television billionaire Ted Turner came up with what instantly became known as the "Ten Suggestions."
He tossed out the Ten Commandments, the standards on which Western morality is based, and insisted on a green ideology where the planet, "all living things" and "all persons" are prioritized and military force, weapons and more than two children are outlawed.
A report at Not the Bee said "SHE claimed that the Bible is just a little outdated so we shouldn't believe what it says anymore."
"And 'pastor' is in quotes (1) because this person doesn't believe in Christianity and (2) because she's a lady. Even if she's hiding it well," the report charged.
"For this rebellious woman, the word of God is insufficient because she thought she was born in the wrong body. So why not just add on to God's word, huh? Sorry, bud, God didn't 'create' any sex beyond male and female. It is not a biological category, it is not an ontological category, it is not a theological category. God is God, and you are not."
In a column for Harbingers Daily, Ark Encounter creator Kenneth Ham explained, "The Bible is crystal clear when it comes to gender: 'Male and female he created them' (Genesis 1:27). So what can you do when God's clear truth clashes with your desires? Well, you have two choices: Conform your thinking to God's Word (we can overcome every temptation in Christ) or ignore God's Word. And here's how one transgender 'pastor' decided to ignore God's Word so she could continue to hold to her transgender identity."
Ham pointed out that the Bible itself states its claim that God's Word stands forever. And, he noted, "In claiming that the Bible wasn't written for 2024, this woman is incredibly dismissive of the very words of God. She's putting her own wisdom, her own desires, her own thinking, above God's Word. Really, she's trying to be her own god, buying into the lie from the garden…"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The tension between Taiwan and China continues to simmer, as the island nation's president is warning China. on the occasion of a celebration day, it will protect the sovereignty of Taiwan and resist Chinese rule.
The National Day celebrations mark 113 years since the establishment of the Republic of China – Taiwan's official name – after the overthrowing the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and permanently relocating to Taiwan after the Chinese Communists, under the rule of Mao Zedong, took power in mainland China in 1949.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who is viewed by China as a "dangerous separatist," said during his National Day speech on Thursday he will stand against annexation by China and any encroachment into Taiwan's territory, according to Aljazeera.
Lai told crowds gathered for the celebration Taiwan is "not subordinate" to China and added it has no rights to govern Taiwan.
"The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, and it is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China. On this land, democracy and freedom are growing and thriving. The People's Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan. The 23 million people of Taiwan, now more than ever, must reach out our branches to embrace the future. As president, my mission is to ensure that our nation endures and progresses and to unite the 23 million people of Taiwan. I will also uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty," Lai said.
Lai added he wants security, prosperity, peace, and stability for the region and across the world.
"We hope that China will live up to the expectations of the international community, that it will apply its influence and work with other countries towards helping to bring peace in Ukraine and the Middle East … We hope that it will take up its international responsibilities, and along with Taiwan, contribute to peace, security, and prosperity of the region and the globe," Lai said.
Lai added the world is in an era where the international landscape is becoming increasingly chaotic, and noted despite this, Taiwan will become more calm, more confident, and stronger.
In response, China's Foreign Ministry accused Lai of escalating tensions, with spokesperson Mao Ning stating Lai is "stubborn" and called his intentions "sinister."
"William Lai's speech deliberately severed the historical connection between two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait, reiterated non-jurisdiction, and insisted on sovereignty. He sold the fallacy of Taiwan independence in various ways. It again exposed his stubborn stand of Taiwan independence and sinister intention of raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait to seek political gain. There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory. The government of the PRC is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China," Mao said.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, China arrested four Taiwanese citizens at an Apple iPhone factory run by Foxconn in Zhengzhou, the company's largest assembly line.
The report notes the quartet were allegedly arrested for breach of trust, however, the Taiwan Mainland Affairs council called the allegations "bizarre" and stated detaining workers could hinder investment confidence in China if it is found the arrests were not justified.
Taiwanese workers in mainland China have become a target of the Chinese Communist Party, who recently announced new measures to target what they perceive as "Taiwan independence diehards," and has threatened these Taiwanese "separatists" with the death penalty.
Taiwan News reported this week Taiwan's Ministry of Defense had announced the Chinese sent a total of 27 military fighter jets into Taiwanese territory, with 19 crossing into Taiwan's airspace. A further sox Chinese naval ships sailed around Taiwan.
"So far this month China has sent 44 military aircraft and 15 naval ships around Taiwan. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan," the report states.
Ahead of Lai's national day address, China reiterated on Wednesday that it opposes the sales of arms from the U.S., after U.S. President Joe Biden approved $567 million towards Taiwan's defense.
"What needs stressing is that arming Taiwan is encouraging Taiwan independence, and Taiwan independence means war," the Chinese Ministry of Defense said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S.-Middle East:
Is the Biden administration negotiating directly with Iran for M.E. ceasefire?
Israel's Channel 12 News reported that the Biden administration is bypassing Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, and along with several Arab states is negotiating directly with Tehran to establish a comprehensive ceasefire.
Biden expected to call Netanyahu on Iran situation after weeks of silence
Since then, much has changed in the Middle East, including the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another Iranian ballistic missile strike on the Jewish state.
Woodward book lifts lid on fractious Biden-Netanyahu relationship
Forthcoming book reveals President Joe Biden's candid and often profanity-laced private assessments of world leaders, including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The outgoing U.S. president labels Netanyahu a "Son of a b—-," and a "bad f—– guy."
ISRAEL:
Hezbollah rocket kills two civilians in Kiryat Shmona, 6 wounded in barrage on Haifa
An Israeli man and woman were killed from shrapnel wounds in the far northern town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday, following a volley of rockets fired by Hezbollah over the Lebanese border. In addition, six people were wounded following another barrage of rockets at Israel's third-largest city, Haifa.
Two separate stabbing attacks in Hadera, wounds 6, at least 2 seriously
Six people were wounded in two separate stabbing attacks in the northern Israeli city of Hadera.
Irish U.N. peacekeepers deny IDF requests for them to leave their posts in southern Lebanon
Irish President Michael Higgins said it was "outrageous the Israel Defense Forces threatened this peacekeeping force" and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending,
IDF locates and destroys Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnel
The IDF destroyed an unfinished cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnel, Tuesday, in which weapons and anti-tank missiles, among other items were found. Despite not having an aperture at its end, this is the first-known tunnel to cross into Israeli territory.
Hamas leader Sinwar calls for a return to suicide bombings
Reports surfaced in the Arab press and published in the Wall Street Journal which said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, on taking full control of the organization following Ismail Haniyeh's elimination in Tehran, demanded a return to suicide bombings inside Israel.