5 injured, 2 critically, in West Bank shooting; IDF believes gunmen ...
Key updates
UK, French air forces stage first ever simulation of joint nuclear strike
French and British air forces have for the first time staged a joint exercise simulating a nuclear strike, the countries’ defence ministries say in a statement.
The exercise, codenamed “Rummy,” involved RAF Typhoon fighter jets alongside French Rafale aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea, it says.
The exercise was conducted in compliance with security procedures, did not involve any actual nuclear weapons and was aimed at enhancing coordination between Western Europe’s two nuclear powers, the statement adds.
Foreign ministers meet in Turkey for talks on Middle East conflict, Russia-Ukraine war
Turkey hosts meetings with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and European nations — the UK, France, Germany and Italy — to discuss conflicts in the Middle East and efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to press for diplomacy to ease tensions between the United States and Iran, stress the importance of freedom of navigation through Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandab Strait and reaffirm Turkey’s support for Saudi Arabia in the face of Houthi attacks.
At the opening of a conference on mediation in Istanbul ahead of the meetings, Fidan says that in an “increasingly deteriorating environment, the return of diplomacy and mediation for peaceful resolution of conflicts is now more necessary than ever.”
1 killed, 4 wounded in shooting near Paris; prosecutors investigating as suspected terror attack
A man opened fire from a vehicle on Friday in the streets of the town of Trappes, west of Paris, killing one person and wounding four, a police source says.
The man was arrested in the nearby town of Coignieres after opening fire in Trappes and neighboring La Verriere around 10:30 am (0830 GMT), police say.
French prosecutors say they are investigating the shooting as a suspected terror attack.
Local authorities say the toll could change as emergency services are still working at the scene, about 20 kilometers (13 miles) west of the French capital.
“An individual fired shots from his vehicle at multiple people along his path, in Trappes and La Verriere,” Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh writes on Instagram.
Writing on X, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu says the case was “very serious” and says “all resources of the security forces and the judiciary are fully mobilized.”
The shooting comes as France is on edge following riots on the sidelines of mass protests over the cost of living last weekend, which saw some of the worst street violence the country has seen in recent years.
Hamas hails ‘heroic operation,’ but does not claim responsiblity for West Bank shooting attack
The Hamas terror group puts out a statement hailing the shooting at a West Bank checkpoint earlier today, without claiming responsibility for the attack.
The group calls the attack a “heroic operation” and calls for more.
Five people were injured, two of them critically, when two gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint near Hebron.
Saudi missile plant expansion may produce more powerful missiles, researchers say
Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile factory to build larger solid-fuel missiles that could fly farther or carry heavier payloads, according to two US researchers who analyzed more than a year of commercial satellite images.
More capable missiles could help Saudi Arabia to deter attacks by Iran and make its military more self-reliant, while possibly strengthening its position in a deadly conflict with Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi fighters.
But they risk fueling a regional missile race and could deepen opposition in the US Congress to a US-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement that has already raised concerns about proliferation.
Satellite company Planet Labs, based in the US, took images of the al-Duwadimi complex about 125 miles (200 km) west of Riyadh between April 2025 and September 2026.
The two researchers, Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, assessed that those images show a new building that houses casting pits — wells in which a mixture of fuel ingredients is poured into missile motor casings and allowed to harden.
The Saudi embassy and Information Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
???????? Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile factory to build larger solid-fuel missiles, according to researchers who analyzed commercial satellite images, Reuters reports.
Images taken between April 2025 and September 2026 show a new building at the… pic.twitter.com/FsAQVDSfWp
— Military Summary (@MilitarySummary) October 23, 2026
Louvre, other major Paris museums to close tomorrow over concerns of potential violence during protests
The Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed tomorrow over concerns about potential violence during planned protests, France’s culture ministry says.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the ministry says the Orsay and Picasso museums were also among those that will close.
Protests last Saturday devolved into mayhem, with rioters setting fires, smashing shop windows, looting and clashing with police.
The ministry calls on all institutions under its authority to adopt any necessary measures to ensure “visitor safety, staff protection and the preservation of artworks,” according to the statement.
Man arrested, charged over arson attack on Long Island synagogue; no injuries
A man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to set fire to a Long Island synagogue, local media reports.
Azzm Khan, 29, repeatedly hit the door to Young Israel of West Hempstead with a baseball bat, says Long Island’s News 12. The door was damaged but did not give way.
He then took a lawn sign from outside a nearby home and set it alight, before trying to slide it under the synagogue’s door.
When that failed, Khan is alleged to have placed the burning sign on a bush outside the synagogue.
The attack took place at around 1 a.m. yesterday. There were no injuries.
Police say the suspect is also thought to have damaged a police vehicle in the area.
Khan is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, third-degree arson and fifth-degree arson, says News 12.
Settlement security coordinator charged with firing on Palestinian car at unauthorized roadblock, badly wounding woman
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office charges the civilian security coordinator of the northern West Bank’s Gidonim Ridge settlement bloc with seriously wounding a woman when he fired on a Palestinian car at an unauthorized roadblock he set up in the Nablus-area village of Aqraba on September 18.
The security coordinator, Pinhas Shem Tov Ran, erected the roadblock even though it was outside his geographic purview, according to the indictment filed at the Jerusalem District Court.
Ran, 37, had been admonished repeatedly by military officials, “following several unusual incidents,” to act only in his designated area and “adhere to guidelines in general, and to the rules of engagement in particular,” the indictment says.
According to the indictment, Ran was traveling from his home in Giv’ot Olam to another nearby settlement when he decided to enter Aqraba, where he “stopped some passersby and checked their IDs without justification or authorization.”
He was accompanied by another armed man, identified as a career soldier in the IDF, though the roadblock was not set up in a military capacity, according to prosecutors.
The two men were riding a Ranger ATV, which the government typically supplies to designated West Bank farming settlements, though the indictment does not specify whether Ran was driving a state-supplied ATV. Such vehicles have repeatedly been used in settler attacks against Palestinians.
During the roadblock in Aqraba, a Palestinian driver refused Ran’s orders to show an ID and sped away, the indictment says. It adds that the driver, who noticed the two men on the ATV were not soldiers and that one wore a face mask, said that he feared they would attack him.
As the car sped away, Ran fired at least three shots at it, injuring the driver’s wife, who was hospitalized for several days and required surgery to remove the bullets, the indictment says. One of the bullets was lodged in her lung, near her heart, it says.
Ran and the other armed man then continued to their destination, and on their way back to Giv’ot Olam stopped in Aqraba, where Ran “searched for the shells at the shooting site to thwart a judicial process,” prosecutors say.
Later, when security officials asked him whether he had heard of a shooting incident in the area, Ran denied having been in there or knowing about a shooting, the indictment says.
He is charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which carries up to 20 years in prison, and with obstruction of justice, which carries up to three years in prison.
Ran claims he fired in the air after the driver charged the car at him and his companion “in a manner that seemed to them like a ramming attempt,” which forced them to jump aside upon sensing “immediate life-threatening danger,” according to a statement from the right-wing Honenu legal aid organization, which is representing him.
The statement does not address the military’s claim that the two men were operating an unauthorized roadblock, or explain how shots fired in the air would have lodged themselves in a passenger’s lung.
Ran is the son of veteran far-right activist Avri Ran, who founded Giv’ot Olam and also lives there. A younger son, Or, was killed defending Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, Honenu notes.
Police had said last week that two suspects were arrested over an “extremist violence incident” in Aqraba last month, but a strict order was placed on the details of the incident or the identity of the suspects.
Honenu at the time identified the two detainees as security personnel and later said one of them had been released to house arrest.
This week, other West Bank civilian security coordinators — known by the Hebrew acronym Ravshatzim — drove their patrol vehicles in a convoy down the Ayalon Highway and rallied in front of the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv in protest against Pinhas Ran’s continued detention.
Security camera footage shows gunmen shooting toward West Bank checkpoint
Security camera footage shows the two gunmen exiting their vehicle near a West Bank checkpoint, and heading round a corner to carry out a shooting attack.
The checkpoint cannot be seen in the video.
תיעוד פיגוע הירי בצומת יהודה:@HGoldich pic.twitter.com/6scAiEzc7S
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 23, 2026
Gunmen in West Bank shooting attack identified as 27-year-old Hebron residents from same family
The two gunmen who carried out the shooting attack at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron have been identified as Mohammad Jaaba and Firas Jaaba, both 27-year-old residents of the city, according to Palestinian reports and Israeli security officials.
The two were members of the same family, though their exact relationship remains unclear.
Both gunmen were killed in an exchange of fire with IDF troops.
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