U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Israeli police have arrested 10 suspects in a wave of settler violence that targeted a U.S. journalist and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced attacks in Yemen and across Saudi Arabia.
Here’s the latest news from the Middle East on Monday:
Read our full coverage here
Hegseth makes surprise trip to Middle East
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has made an unannounced trip to the Middle East.
Hegseth announced on social media late Monday U.S. time that he was in the Middle East visiting troops that were on an unspecified, “historic mission.” However, the post also came several hours after Axios reported that Hegseth was in Israel visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
When asked about the visit and the reports, the Pentagon declined to comment.
Saudi Arabia executes 2 Bangladeshis over `indecent acts’
Saudi Arabia has executed a Bangladeshi man and woman after they were convicted of committing “indecent acts” in a mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Bangladesh said that it wasn’t informed before the sentences were carried out and has sought information from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Interior Ministry said the Bangladeshis were executed because of “the gravity and seriousness of their actions in violating the sanctity of both time and place.” It did not elaborate.
Israel arrests 10 suspects following settler violence
Police said 10 suspects were arrested on Monday following violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank that prompted heavy criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Israeli police didn’t identify who attacked the people who had come to support Palestinians during their annual olive harvest.
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was beaten Friday by a crowd of young male settlers while documenting the scene, leaving her with several broken ribs and vertebrae. Masked settlers also attacked a group of European diplomats on Saturday. Palestinians have been subject to surging attacks, rarely leading to arrests or punishment, rights groups say.
Netanyahu’s main rival in the Oct. 27 elections, Gadi Eisenkot, said “a handful of criminals is burning up the last shreds of legitimacy left to the state of Israel.”
UN food agency cutting food aid to Palestinians for lack of funding
A money shortage has forced the World Food Program to deny food and cash assistance to 500,000 people in Gaza and 200,000 people in the West Bank, according to its acting director Carl Skau, who urged international donors to provide US$450 million to fund hot meals and food parcels for the next six months.
Skau said Monday in a video briefing that “life in Gaza remains absolutely brutal” and incredibly dangerous, with UN teams recording about 50 attacks per day in the past week, while in the West Bank, he saw burned olive fields, camps and villages. There have been more settler attacks over these first two weeks of the olive harvest than during all of last year, he said.
Commercial deliveries to Gaza to resume, Israel says
Israel’s military said Monday that it would resume coordinating the entry of commercial trucks into Gaza, but warned that future reports of merchants paying taxes to Hamas would lead to their licences being revoked.
The suspension since Wednesday cut off the flow of needed food and goods. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, cited disagreements between Hamas and the merchants over taxes, and claimed to be communicating a decision made by the merchants.
Truckers in Gaza said Israel was using the disagreement as a pretext to fight Hamas’ taxation efforts. They said officials in Gaza called the money a “donation” to pay civil servants rather than a tax. COGAT said Monday that Hamas had withdrawn its demands.
Houthis claim attacks across Saudi Arabia, strike Yemeni military camp killing 53
Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed at least 53 soldiers in ballistic missile strikes on a Yemeni military camp on Monday, making it one of the deadliest attacks on the Saudi-backed government’s forces since rebels shattered a 2022 ceasefire in Yemen’s civil war. The strikes on the al-Alam military camp also wounded 200 recruits, the Shabwa provincial government said.
The Houthi rebels also claimed Monday to have carried out six military operations targeting oil infrastructure, airports and military sites across Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities say recent Houthi missile and drone attacks have killed 19 people and injured more than 350 others. The Saudi Civil Defence issued more danger alerts across parts of the kingdom Monday.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 4, including teens
Three separate Israeli strikes hit Gaza City, killing at least two people, according to Shifa Hospital, and two 17-year-olds were killed in another strike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants in each of the attacks on Gaza City. It did not comment on the other attack. Israel continues to launch deadly attacks on the enclave more than a year after Israel and Hamas struck a ceasefire deal.
U.K. warns companies against helping to build Israeli settlements
The United Kingdom’s top diplomat warned companies against violating international law by helping to build Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Their construction has surged under Netanyahu’s government, which views the West Bank as the Jewish homeland and opposes a Palestinian state.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the E1 settlement project approved by Israel, which would cut the West Bank in two, “is a direct threat to the prospect of a two-state solution.” Israel’s top diplomat responded by saying his country wouldn’t be “intimidated by threats.”
Iran embraces Russia, rejects German accusation of attack on Jewish leader
Iran’s top security official called for stronger cooperation after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said.
Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said that cooperation could include joint economic projects, such as the completion of transportation corridors. Lavrov, meanwhile, condemned the U.S.-Israeli military attacks on Iran as illegal.
Also in Tehran on Monday, Iran summoned Germany’s ambassador over what the Iranian Foreign Ministry called baseless accusations. Germany had summoned Iran’s ambassador in Berlin after a court sentenced two men with ties to Iran’s intelligence service for plotting to kill the leader of a Jewish organization in Germany.
Iran president says country has no `fundamental disagreements’ with neighbours
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is willing to resolve tensions through dialogue, blaming U.S. interference for divisions in the region, state-run IRNA reported.
Pezeshkian said during Monday’s meeting with Lavrov that U.S. military bases in neighbouring countries increased tensions, instability and insecurity.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
