UAE opens probe into whether flydubai attack had terror motive, ...
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Eisenkot seeks meeting with Gantz amid opposition push for Blue and White chief to quit race
Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot has reportedly asked to meet with Blue and White chief Benny Gantz, amid efforts by opposition parties to convince Gantz to drop out of the election race rather than risk wasting votes on a party that has for months consistently polled below the electoral threshold.
Channel 13 reports that Eisenkot directly approached his former political partner in recent days and that the two are expected to meet shortly. Gantz appears to publicly accept the invitation in a post on X, writing: “Gadi, 7 pm at Kfar Maccabiah.”
The meeting comes amid growing pressure on Gantz to withdraw from the race, after months of polls showing Blue and White failing to clear the 3.25% electoral threshold. Opposition leaders are reportedly “deeply” concerned that votes cast for his party could be lost, potentially costing their bloc seats in the Knesset.
Gantz has nevertheless insisted on remaining in the race even as Blue and White has hemorrhaged lawmakers, several of whom have joined rival opposition parties, including Eisenkot’s Yashar.
Separately, Gantz tells the Kan public broadcaster that he was previously offered one of the spots reserved for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handpicked candidates on Likud’s electoral slate and turned it down, which Likud swiftly denies.
“Fake news. Gantz did not receive an offer for a reserved spot on the Likud slate,” the ruling party says.
Gantz says he also held talks with leaders of the opposition bloc, including Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, but that none offered him a reserved place on their slates.
He ultimately chose not to join either camp and has resisted efforts to firmly align himself with the opposition bloc, while declining to explicitly rule out joining a Netanyahu-led government after the election.
Coming to Netanyahu’s defense, Trump says he ‘can’t imagine’ Israeli leader ignored warnings ahead of Oct. 7
US President Donald Trump discredits reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored warnings from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt ahead of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, saying he “can’t imagine” that it’s true.
Asked by Time magazine in an interview filmed on September 28 and published today about the warnings Netanyahu allegedly received, Trump says this is the first he’s hearing about it.
“I can’t imagine this,” Trump insists. “I don’t think so. You know, I think if he would have known, he would have done something about it. Certainly, he would have had people at least alert.”
Despite coming to the premier’s defense, Trump once again refuses to endorse him ahead of the October 27 election.
“I can only say that I’m not involved in politics anymore,” the US president says in response to being asked if Israel should give Netanyahu another term.
He also pats himself on the back for his administration’s close ties with Israel, saying, “I’ve done a lot for them. Done a lot. I’ve done a real lot.”
Ben Gvir, Gotliv trade insults with Joint List politicians at Supreme Court
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit’s No. 2 candidate, Tally Gotliv, trade insults with Joint List politicians outside a Supreme Court courtroom amid throngs of protesters.
Justices are holding hearings throughout the day on last week’s Central Elections Committee’s disqualifications of Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, the Joint List and Ra’am from the October 27 election. Ben Gvir and Gotliv, both lawyers, are representing the far-right Otzma Yehudit party in its bid to bar Abu Shehadeh.
Outside the courtroom, Ben Gvir tells Ta’al head Ahmad Tibi, Hadash MK Ofer Cassif and Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen: “You are terrorism’s front line in the Knesset. We’ll throw you out of the Knesset.”
“Every dog has his day,” Tibi responds in Arabic, while Jabareen and Cassif call Ben Gvir a “Nazi.”
In a separate instance, Gotliv approaches Tibi, shouting at him and demanding to know whether he recognizes a Jewish state. “I recognize your need for a psychiatrist,” he replies.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir trades insults with Ta’al chair Ahmad Tibi at a Supreme Court hearing about the banning of Arab parties from the upcoming election, on October 1, 2026. (Itamar Ben Gvir)
Ben Gvir demands extradition of Omani flydubai copilot accused of trying to crash plane
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he will demand that the security cabinet push for the extradition to Israel of the flydubai copilot accused of attempting to crash a Tel Aviv-bound flight carrying some 170 Israelis yesterday.
Ben Gvir says he will call on the Justice Ministry and relevant diplomatic officials to “use all means available” to extradite the suspect and prosecute him in Israel.
“Someone who planned to crash a plane and murder 180 Israelis should be extradited to Israel and pay the heaviest price here,” he says. “Anyone who tries to murder or harm Israelis will be pursued by the State of Israel and held to account anywhere in the world.”
Neither Saudi Arabia, where the plane was diverted and the alleged assailant is being held, nor Oman, the pilot’s home country, has diplomatic relations with Israel, potentially complicating any effort to extradite him directly.
Israel does have diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, though the two countries do not have a bilateral extradition treaty. The UAE is expected to take custody of the suspect after Saudi Arabia completes its initial investigation.
Islamic Jihad operative killed in Israeli strike in Gaza yesterday, IDF says
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket-launching operative was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the IDF says.
The strike in Khan Younis killed Bilal Mahmoud Suleiman Samiri, identified by the IDF as a member of Islamic Jihad’s rocket array.
The IDF says Samiri was involved in advancing attacks “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” as well as taking part in “ambushes targeting IDF troops” operating in the Strip.
“The terrorist was eliminated to remove the threat he posed,” the military adds.
להסרת איום: צה"ל חיסל מחבל במערך הרקטי של ארגון הטרור גא"פ
צה"ל תקף אתמול במרחב ח'אן יונס וחיסל את המחבל בלאל מחמוד סלימאן סמירי, מחבל במערך הרקטי של חטיבת חאן יונס, בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור גא"פ.
המחבל קידם מתווי טרור תוך הפרה שיטתית של הפסקת האש וביצע מארבים לכוחות צה"ל… pic.twitter.com/Cbu8tRAcBo
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 1, 2026
Settlers attack Israeli activists assisting Palestinians in West Bank village; three brought to hospital
Masked settlers armed with clubs and stones attacked Israeli activists from Standing Together, Rabbis for Human Rights and Bnei Avraham who had come to assist Palestinians in the West Bank village of Janta with the olive harvest.
Graphic footage from the scene shows at least five masked individuals carrying clubs, beating activists, and hurling stones at them.
Amit Yaakobi, a field coordinator with Standing Together’s protective presence initiative who was struck in the head, tells The Times of Israel: “We started preparing the land for the olive harvest and had been working for maybe half an hour. I saw a white pickup truck belonging to settlers on the hill opposite us. Within 10 minutes, 10 masked men arrived, all dressed in black and wearing gloves. They came down very quickly and immediately attacked us.”
He says he was struck with a club in the head and shoulder and hit in the stomach by a stone. In footage from the scene, he can be seen lying on the ground with blood coming out of his head. Yaakobi adds that the settlers also stole equipment belonging to the activists, including phones, bags and wallets, and shouted “Don’t come back here,” “Get out of here,” and “This is ours.”
The Palestinian landowners were situated behind their Israeli supporters, closer to the village’s built-up area, and were not injured.
Yaakobi also says that the activists called the IDF as soon as they spotted the white pickup truck, but the troops only arrived after the attack.
Footage shows two activists, including Yaakobi, with head injuries and bleeding. Four activists were injured in total, three of whom were taken to an Israeli hospital for medical treatment, of whom two had head injuries.
Transportation Ministry says repatriation flights from Dubai to start Friday after flydubai flights halted, warns airlines not to exploit situation
Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir are gearing up to start operating partly subsidized one-way repatriation flights on Friday to bring Israelis home from Dubai, the Transportation Ministry announces.
Upon receiving final approval from security authorities, Israeli carriers will operate commercial flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai without passengers and return with Israelis who were originally scheduled to travel back with flydubai.
The Dubai-based carrier suspended all flights to and from Israel amid a probe into the apparent attempt by one of its copilots to crash a plane en route to Israel yesterday.
At the prime minister’s direction and following a request from Transportation Minister Miri Regev, an agreement was reached with the Finance Ministry for the government to compensate Israeli airlines for operating one leg of the flight service without passengers.
“Israeli airlines are therefore required to maintain fair pricing and refrain from exploiting the situation,” the Transportation Ministry says in a statement.
The Transportation Ministry is urging Israeli passengers with flydubai tickets to contact flydubai to exercise all their statutory rights for compensation — including accommodation, flight refunds, and any additional necessary assistance.
El Al will be selling one-way tickets at a flat fare of $249, including a piece of carry-on luggage, and Israir at $299.
Additionally, an urgent request was submitted Wednesday night to increase the volume of flights operated by Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi to Israel, the Transportation Ministry says.
As Dubai-Tel Aviv flights stop, Emirates airline says won’t allow travelers headed to Israel to fly first leg into Dubai
The Emirates airline says it is suspending all codeshare flights with flydubai to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport until further notice, after flydubai flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv were suspended to investigate Thursday’s apparent attempt by the co-pilot to crash the plane.
“Passengers whose final destination is Tel Aviv will not be accepted for travel at the point of origin,” the UAE carrier says. “Customers already en route to Tel Aviv will be accommodated and provided with all possible support to complete their journeys.”
In practice, this means anyone who booked a flight to Israel through Emirates, which always requires a stopover in Dubai and a transfer to a flydubai jet, will now also be unable to board the Emirates plane for the first leg of their journey to Dubai.
This appears to be a step intended to prevent passengers from reaching Dubai and then becoming stranded there.
Affected customers need to contact their travel agent or the Emirates contact center, or visit emirates.com for the latest updates, the airline says.
IDF says it will reveal ‘unprecedented number’ of slain Gaza journalists who were members of terror groups
The Israeli military says it will reveal “an unprecedented number” of Palestinian journalists killed during the war in the Gaza Strip who were actually members of terror groups.
“Following extensive research, the IDF is now revealing the identities of Gazans killed during the war who were presented around the world as innocent journalists and media personnel, but who also held roles in the military wings of terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,” the military says.
The first ten cases of such individuals are published by the IDF on a dedicated website. Each case includes the name and role of the journalist/terror operative, along with their civil and military ID numbers.
“In the next few hours, the IDF will reveal a large number of additional cases in which individuals who were presented as innocent journalists operated as military operatives. Their names will be published alongside intelligence information, documents, photographs, and additional evidence exposing their terrorist affiliations and the roles they held within the military wings of terrorist organizations,” the IDF says.
A Times of Israel investigation published in June identified multiple Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives previously reported as slain journalists. Another study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center published last year asserted that a majority of Gaza-based journalists killed since the outbreak of the current war were operatives in, or closely affiliated with, terrorist organizations.
Man charged with assault for tossing salt shakers at Bennett during Bnei Brak election event
Police announce they have filed an indictment against 26-year-old Bnei Brak resident Eliya Azard, who allegedly hurled two glass salt shakers at former prime minister Naftali Bennett when the B’Yachad party chief spoke with voters in the Haredi city last Thursday.
Azard, who has been in custody since the incident, is charged with simple assault and conduct that could disrupt public order, police say, adding that they have requested the suspect be kept under house arrest until the end of the legal proceedings.
According to police, the first salt shaker Azard tossed hit two women on Bennett’s staff, while the second salt shaker fell short. The B’Yachad party has said one of the women was treated by medics on the scene.
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