Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled covertly to the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, holding an hour‑long meeting with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to two sources briefed on the trip.
During the discussion, Netanyahu asked the Emirati leader to publicly deny a recent Haaretz report that claimed Sheikh Mohamed had warned Israel of an imminent Hamas attack ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023 assault. Netanyahu’s office had already rejected the report, and the UAE’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment, emphasizing its “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and the sharing of relevant intelligence.
EU seeks observer role in Saudi‑led maritime coalition
European Union top diplomat Kaja Kallas announced that the bloc is applying for observer status in a Saudi‑led maritime defense coalition formed to protect Saudi energy exports. The EU already has six vessels operating in the Red Sea to safeguard commercial shipping.
Kallas said the EU will request an expansion of its own modest naval force, ASPIDES, to escort cargo ships through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait and defend them against attacks by Yemen’s Iran‑backed Houthi rebels. She described the need for additional ships as “bigger than it’s ever been,” though the exact operational implications of observer status remain unclear.
Regional developments
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei praised Iranian forces for preventing “enemy forces” from roaming freely in the Strait of Hormuz, stating that enemies now “do not come” closer than the Arabian Sea and that the sea will soon be rid of them.
The World Health Organization reported 164 deaths and 645 injuries in Yemen between Sept. 19 and Sept. 26, bringing total war‑related casualties since Aug. 6 to 4,481, with 838 fatalities and more than 180,000 displaced.
In Gaza, an Israeli strike on a rooftop in Gaza City killed one woman and wounded her husband and two others, according to Shifa Hospital officials. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 1,400 Palestinians have died since the ceasefire began nearly a year ago, with roughly half being women and children.
Israeli settlement controversy and diplomatic row with Spain
Nationalist Cabinet minister Bezalel Smotrich condemned Attorney General Gali Baharav‑Miara’s decision to freeze the contentious E1 settlement project near Jerusalem until after the Oct. 27 elections, accusing her of interfering in the campaign and serving political opponents.
Israel also summoned Spain’s chargé d’affaires after Spanish Youth Minister Sira Rego declared public support for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” a slogan the Israeli Foreign Ministry labeled part of a systematic anti‑Israel policy. Rego was barred from entering Israel in Sept. 2025.
Original reporting: KTSA News/Talk (San Antonio) — read the source article.
