Benjamin Netanyahu traveled secretly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to ask its leader to deny reports he’d warned the Israeli prime minister about a looming Hamas threat ahead of the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The meeting between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan took place on Sunday, two people who were briefed on the Israeli leader’s trip confirmed on Monday.
Mossad Director Roman Gofman travelled with Netanyahu to the UAE on Sunday, according to Israel Hayom. The paper said the delegation also included Shmuel Ben Ezra, who heads the National Security Council and serves as national security adviser, a senior official from the Shin Bet‘s VIP Protection Unit, and senior members of the prime minister‘s own team. The report does not say whether any of them sat in on the meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed.
After initial reports of a warning from Bin Zayed, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that it “does not comment on media stories or speculation regarding conversations between government leaders,” but it did not deny the call. “When necessary, all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated between the relevant entities,” the statement said.
At the time, an Israeli source familiar with the matter said Netanyahu’s office tried to get the UAE to deny the report, but the UAE only agreed to issue a statement about intelligence sharing.
Der neue Bericht beruft sich auf Regierungsvertreter in Israel, Ägypten und weiteren arabischen Ländern sowie auf Vertreter in den USA und Europa. The Atlantic schreibt, dass Ägyptens damaliger Geheimdienstchef Abbas Kamel Israel bereits elf Tage vor dem 7. Oktober vor einer drohenden Eskalation gewarnt habe. Kamel sei dafür eigens nach Israel geflogen. Sein Flugzeug habe sich 67 Minuten am Flughafen Ben Gurion aufgehalten.
(September 25, 2026)
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood–aligned terrorist group that controlled Gaza, appeared to be mobilizing for a major attack, Kamel said, according to Israeli, Egyptian, Arab, U.S., and European officials who were briefed about his visit after October 7. The window to prevent a disaster was closing. He recommended that the Israeli government grant Hamas economic concessions to avert conflict. His message, according to one former Israeli official later briefed on the visit, was: If you don’t change course, Gaza is going to blow up in your faces.
Kamel didn’t provide Israeli officials with a date or specific information on what turned out to be a multipronged attack on Israel less than two weeks later, on October 7. And it’s not clear exactly with whom he met. The Egyptian plane remained on the ground in Israel for 67 minutes, according to an Israeli-airport-authority flight log, before returning to Cairo. (Independent flight-tracking applications confirm the plane’s journey.)
(September 25, 2026)
Mr. Netanyahu has denied the report.
But a person who said they had spoken with Sheikh Mohammed and another person who said they had been briefed by someone on the call between the two leaders told The New York Times that the Emirati leader had secretly reported to Mr. Netanyahu that Hamas was considering a major attack.
The warning from the Emirati leader, however, never reached the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, according to five former senior Israeli officials.
We live at a dangerous moment.
But our future is not predetermined.
War is a choice.
Peace is also a choice.
And sometimes —
the greater courage, lies, not in starting a war —
but in preventing one.
Pakistan has made its choice.
We have chosen dialogue over confrontation.
We have chosen cooperation over coercion.
We have chosen peace over war.
Let this eighty-first General Assembly make it unanimous choice.
For ourselves.
For our children.
And for generations yet unborn.
Let us restore trust. Let us preserve peace.
And let us prove that even in a divided world —
humanity can still choose to stand together.
I thank you.
Transcript & summary
Continuing his remarks to the UNGA, Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif called the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait “arteries of the global economy” that should remain free and safe.
“They must remain open, connecting nations, not becoming chokepoints of confrontation,” said Sharif. “These waters must carry the promise of prosperity, not the perils of war.”
Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu (R), Marshal Syed Asim Munir (L), Commander of the Pakistan Defence Forces and the Army, and General Fayyadh Bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili (C), Chief of the General Staff of Saudi Arabia, posing during a meeting in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia
Macron emphasized that the French military did not intend to take part in any fighting. „Not to involve ourselves in any conflict, but to protect the site,“ he clarified. Macron also repeated that France was seeking to achieve the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic means, in particular by holding talks with „the Iranians“ and „the Omanis.“
There is another crucial consideration: the Houthis have so far avoided attacking American ships under an understanding reached with Washington.
Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the United States remained in communication with the group and said the Houthis had agreed not to fight the US.
A senior Houthi official separately told AP that the group did not intend to target American vessels. Oman-mediated discussions have also reaffirmed the 2025 US-Houthi ceasefire arrangement.
Trump initially resisted launching airstrikes during meetings with advisers Wednesday but later ordered the Pentagon to prepare for military action following a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday, the report said.
The Saudi crown prince urged Trump to intervene directly amid rapid territorial gains by the Houthis in Yemen, according to the newspaper.
The administration did not give a reason for the change of plans. Trump was originally scheduled to depart Camp David later on Sunday local time.
(…)
Trump’s return to the White House came after the US State Department issued an alert to US citizens in the Middle East, warning that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen have “the potential to escalate rapidly”.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed that Yemen’s Houthi rebels tried to attack its capital with a ballistic missile, the first targeting of Riyadh since the escalation in fighting with the Tehran-backed rebels that has opened a new front in the Iran war.
The statement by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis came long after the dawn attempt, which the coalition said was intercepted. Some residents in Riyadh heard an explosion. Later, some saw a plume of smoke near the airport. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Die im Golf von Aden stationierte Marineeinheit Cheonghae schütze bereits Seewege und südkoreanische Staatsbürger vor Bedrohungen wie Piraterie, erklärte Lee. Die Regierung prüfe ernsthaft eine Verstärkung dieses Einsatzes.
Report: President Lee Jae Myung did not rule out the possible deployment of South Korean troops to the region, but he cautiously set limits on what Seoul can do.
The Commission condemns the attacks carried out by the Houthis against civilian targets and economic infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, as well as attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The Commission expresses particular concern over reports of attempted attacks targeting Makkah and other holy cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It stresses that holy sites, as well as civilians and pilgrims visiting them, must be fully protected and must under no circumstances become targets of military action.
The Commission further strongly reaffirms the principle of freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in accordance with international law. Any action aimed at obstructing or threatening navigation along this strategic maritime route poses a serious risk not only to the littoral States, but also to international trade, global supply chains, energy security and African economies.
The organisation also emphasised that the security of the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait was “a major strategic interest for Africa, particularly for the States of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea littoral States”.
The commission joined a number of other states, global organisations, and individuals that also came forward to condemn ongoing attacks.
Italy will deploy warships to ensure safe passage for its commercial vessels through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said, adding that Rome would not wait for a joint decision from the European Union.
“We have the capabilities to protect the passage,” Crosetto said, warning that if the waterway became impassable, the economic consequences would be severe.
(September 16, 2026)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani had a telephone conversation today with the Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Al-Zouba. During the conversation, Tajani expressed Italy’s concern at the ongoing escalation in the country, reiterating its firm condemnation of the recent attacks by Houthi militias against the civilian population, the Yemeni regular forces and Saudi Arabia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs then expressed Italy’s full support for the internationally recognised government of Yemen, as well as Italy’s commitment to facilitating the resumption of the peace process and to providing humanitarian assistance to the local population, which has been ravaged by years of conflict.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-Nato ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region,” the State Department said in its official notification.
Officials said the proposed deal would enhance Saudi Arabia’s ability to deter existing and future threats, strengthen its homeland defence and improve interoperability with US, regional and Nato forces.
Fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces and their Saudi backers has killed 63 people in the last 24 hours, AFP reported on Thursday, citing military sources from both sides.
At least 23 government soldiers were killed in missile and drone attacks by the Houthis in two southwestern provinces, a government official said, while Houthi military sources reported 40 fighters killed in Saudi air strikes and fighting on the ground.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as the spreading West Asia war created new threats to global oil supplies.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen‘s Houthis said on Wednesday it had shot down a drone south of Mecca a day earlier, before it could enter the restricted airspace over Islam‘s holiest city. The coalition said „the security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line“ and promised deterrent measures against the Iran-backed group.
In der internationalen Berichterstattung wird das Ergebnis überwiegend als militärischer Erfolg AnsarAllahs dargestellt. Ein genauerer Blick auf die von CNN rekonstruierten Abläufe zeigt jedoch ein anderes Bild: weniger einen Sieg der einen Seite als einen aussergewöhnlichen Zusammenbruch der anderen – mit direkter saudischer und US-amerikanischer Beteiligung an diesem Zusammenbruch.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is “not at war with Saudi Arabia”, as tensions rise over Houthi attacks on the kingdom, Al Jazeera reported.
Pezeshkian said the Houthis have “their own issues”, distancing Iran from the group’s actions.
A 2022 truce had reduced large-scale combat and allowed Saudi Arabia to distance itself from the conflict, but it left the capital under Houthi control and did nothing to establish centralized control over the country and its heavy weapons.
Now, as the Houthis advance rapidly toward government strongholds in the south, Yemen’s military is scrambling to regroup and make progress on its planned offensive in the north. The question now is whether Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and other powers will now intervene to help blunt the Houthis’ rapid advances.
Sultan al-Arada, a member of the ruling presidential council, described the collapse of government forces in the port city of Mocha and elsewhere on Yemen’s west coast as “painful and regrettable”.
Al-Arada, also governor of central Marib province, said in a TV interview that government fighters “are currently regrouping and will return to the battle in one form or another”.
Obock, a city only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across the water from the Yemeni coast, has for several years been a preferred arrival point for those seeking refuge from war-torn Yemen. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is also used in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa, who transit through Yemen on their way to Gulf countries.