LONDON: Young Palestinian men armed with slingshots and stones helped save Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine from Israeli settlers who beat her while she was covering the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, The Guardian newspaper reported. Levine, 64, suffered four fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs and four puncture wounds during the assault on Friday in Abu Falah, a Palestinian village north of Ramallah. She said masked settlers knocked her down and hit her repeatedly with wo
The Trump administration has ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as deadly Houthi attacks intensify across the kingdom, raising the stakes as President Donald Trump weighs direct military action against the Iran-backed group.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed Wednesday that the mandatory departure order applies only to Saudi Arabia, pushing back on reports that Washington was preparing a broader evacuation of diplomatic personnel across the Gulf.
"The U.S. Department of State issued an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only," Pigott said.
The order comes amid a surge in Houthi missile and drone attacks that has left civilians dead, disrupted air travel and sent Saudi Arabia scrambling for additional missile defenses.
"Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions," Pigott added.
President Donald Trump is weighing whether to launch direct U.S. military strikes against the Houthis, whose expanding missile and drone campaign has increasingly threatened Saudi cities, airports and energy infrastructure.
Houthi strikes and attempted strikes on Saudi Arabia more than doubled in a single week this month, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, with airports in Riyadh, Jizan, Najran, Dammam and Abha targeted since Oct. 5.
The deadliest barrage struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 300.
The escalating attacks have prompted Saudi Arabia to seek additional military support from its allies. Britain announced Tuesday that it would deploy Typhoon fighter jets to help defend Saudi cities and critical infrastructure, while Egypt is assisting the kingdom and Israel has offered to help.
Riyadh has also asked Washington for additional missile interceptors, though U.S. officials have warned that global demand is straining available supplies.
"I also talked to Saudi Arabia today; they'd like interceptors. Israel would like interceptors. We would like interceptors. Every country in the world would like interceptors," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday.
Rubio described the weapons as "probably the most in-demand product right now in the defense field," acknowledging that the United States must balance requests from allies against its own military requirements.
The growing threat has exposed the difficulty of defending Saudi Arabia's vast territory against relatively inexpensive missiles and drones, even with some of the world's most sophisticated air defenses.
"Saudi Arabia is a huge geography to protect, and this speaks to a larger threat we're facing globally: a relatively small nonstate actor can pose a serious challenge to even a sophisticated and extremely expensive military," Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, told Fox News Digital in an interview published Wednesday.
"The Houthis can impose enormous costs without having to spend very much themselves," he said.
Trump has left open the possibility of direct military intervention against the Houthis, telling reporters earlier this month that the U.S. could join Saudi strikes against the group.
"We may. We're gonna look at it," Trump said. "We'll make a decision. We move very quickly."
The U.S. conducted a roughly two-month bombing campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen in 2025 before Trump halted the operation following an Oman-brokered agreement.
The U.S. continues to provide intelligence and targeting support to Saudi Arabia as Trump weighs whether to launch another round of strikes against the Houthis.
The Palestinian Authority is set to repatriate the bodies of five Palestinians who drowned when two boats capsized near the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos. The recovery was confirmed by the Hellenic Coast Guard, and the identities of the victims remain unspecified. Authorities are warning Palestinians against irregular migration due to its dangerous risks.
JERUSALEM: Israel’s opposition chief on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dangerously politicizing the country’s security ahead of elections, after he made a series of threats against Iran. “I’m just stunned at hearing Netanyahu recklessly hurling around security threats,” said former prime minister Yair Lapid, the centrist chief of Israel’s parliamentary opposition and a contender in next Tuesday’s election. “Netanyahu is turning Israel’s security into an electoral circu
Journalist celebrated for war reporting has been criticized by some Jewish viewers who have accused her of mischaracterizing events, not giving weight to Israeli security concerns
Senior UAE diplomat Lana Nusseibeh has announced her candidacy for the position of United Nations secretary-general. Her entry adds a significant Middle Eastern presence to the race.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he has directed the military and the Mossad to bring down the Iranian government.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for IDF officer cadets, Netanyahu said his instruction to the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad was “to overthrow the regime in Iran”, saying that Tehran “has not yet learned its lesson”.
He accused Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei of following in his father’s footsteps by “unlocking the weapon”, and said Iran was again trying to build a nuclear bomb.
The remarks follow similar language in September, when Netanyahu told the IDF General Staff that toppling the regime was “within reach”.
Israel and the United States have been in an intermittent conflict with Iran since earlier this year, during which Ali Khamenei was killed.
Israel’s Channel 12, citing US officials, reported that dozens of Israeli fighter jets and refuelling aircraft flew over Syria and Iraq towards the Iranian border earlier this week on a route suggesting an attack, though the aircraft turned back shortly before reaching Iranian territory.
According to Channel 12, Israel told Washington in advance that the flight was an exercise and a show of force meant to deter Iran.
The channel said some sources believe certain Israeli officials may have hoped Iran would fire on the aircraft, giving Israel a pretext to attack.
The Financial Times has reported that Netanyahu sought to launch strikes against Iran earlier this month, but that US president Donald Trump opposed a new conflict ahead of the US midterm elections.
Channel 12 also reported that IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir warned his American counterpart, General Dan Caine, that a war before Israel’s elections next week would probably force a postponement of the vote.
LONDON: Britain and Oman are set to expand investment ties during Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s state visit, with a planned artificial intelligence data center in Oman expected to attract more than $1.3 billion in initial investment and create more than 100 highly skilled jobs in Britain, the UK’s government said on Wednesday. The announcement came ahead of the sultan’s meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham at No. 10 Downing St., as the countries prepared to sign an agreement to accelerate inves
TEHRAN: Iran’s state media reported the sound of explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. “A few minutes ago, the sound of several explosions was heard in the Karpan area of Sirik, in Hormozgan Province,” the official IRNA news agency said, without specifying whether the area was targeted by attacks or possible missile launches were carried out from the area. “Local sources have not yet disclosed the nature of these explosions,” IRNA noted. The
The US State Department is preparing to issue an ordered departure of some personnel and family members from US embassies across the Gulf region, three US officials said on Wednesday.
The move was due to a possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen, two of the US officials said.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.
Two of the US officials said the ordered departures would potentially involve the evacuation of all personnel and their families from the US Mission to Saudi Arabia.
Turkey’s ruling AKP party is reportedly seeking a mandate from Parliament to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to protect it from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen, thus fulfilling the mutual defense obligations of the treaty signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan in August.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “11th Hour,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said that the United States’ approach to the Russia-Ukraine war is moving “away from the historic role as leader of the free world,” and that cutting off funding
Data centers are increasingly under attack in the Ukraine-Russia war, as well as Iran’s wanton drone and missile attacks on neighboring states like Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a study revealed this weekend.
The UN envoy stated that a military approach is not the answer to the Sudan conflict. The statement came after discussions among 21 countries and five international organizations in Geneva, though Sudan’s warring parties were absent.
Egypt said on Wednesday that it categorically rejects the ratification by the Libyan parliament of a 2019 maritime memorandum with Turkey, warning Ankara that it will not allow its sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean to be questioned.
In a Foreign Ministry statement, Cairo said the memorandum is “absolutely null and void” and produces no legal effect for Egypt.
It said the deal violates the principles of the law of the sea and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which govern the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.
The ministry described the memorandum as a clear violation of Egypt’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.
It said Egypt had opposed the agreement before and rejects any act by any party based on it.
As the memorandum contradicts Egypt’s declared maritime borders, Cairo said it “reserves its right to protect its rights” under international law and to confront any attempt to violate them.
The Libyan parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ratify the agreement, about seven years after it was signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey.
Israel also condemned the vote, with its foreign ministry saying on X that the decision “violates the sovereign rights of our close allies in the region”, and that “unfortunately, once again we see Turkey acting with the aim of destabilising the Eastern Mediterranean region,” it said.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas raised the issue with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Brussels on Wednesday.
She said she told him the vote “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”.
European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier said they “deeply regret” the ratification.
They likewise said the deal “does not comply with the law of the sea” and “is null and void”.
Greece and Cyprus object to the agreement on the grounds that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border, since islands are each entitled to a full exclusive economic zone.
MAJDAL SHAMS: For many Druze in the Golan Heights, participating in an Israeli election used to be done in secret, but when Israel holds national polls next week, Fadi Damaqsi will be casting his ballot proudly. “It’s crucial for all Israeli citizens to vote,” said Damaqsi, from the Golan Heights town of Ein Qiniye. “It’s a right, but it’s also an honor.” The Golan’s 26,000 Druze have historically rejected outward displays of allegiance to Israel, which captured the territory from Syria in 19
By Julian Lee (Bloomberg) — Oil shipments from the Middle East are showing little sign of buckling in the face of Iran’s more frequent and damaging attacks on merchant ships in the...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to prepare plans for potential strikes on Iran, the Financial Times reported, citing three sources. The report said US President Donald Trump opposed resuming hostilities ahead of the midterm elections.
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