Israelis held a final large rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of what has been described as the most consequential election in the country’s history. Meanwhile, the death toll rose from Friday’s attack on a church in Jordan. And an Iranian military commander said his country will not allow U.S. warships to enter the Persian Gulf as concerns grow of a return to all-out war. Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here. Thousands rally in Tel Aviv days ahead of Israel’s election A large crowd gathered in a final protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ahead of Tuesday’s close election. The crowd heard calls for a commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. Netanyahu has refused such an inquiry. Netanyahu’s chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, attended the rally that was an echo of the weekly ones once held to call for the release of hostages taken into Gaza. All hostages or their remains were eventually released, but Netanyahu has been accused of delaying deals to free them sooner. Trump weighs more strikes or a deal with Iran U.S. President Donald Trump bristled when asked how far he was from a possible attack on Iran. He recently said on social media he would not hit Iran again before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “Do you really think I’m going to tell you if I’m going to do it?” Trump responded. “And there’s a possibility I will. There’s also a possibility we’ll have a nice, big, beautiful agreement.” Trump repeated his assertion that Iran wants to make a deal, “but the problem is, will they hold the deal?” Iran’s president accuses the U.S. of disrupting negotiations Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of disrupting negotiations to end the war but said he still believes “we have to go and finish it.” In comments aired on state television, he said Iran’s supreme leader had instructed Iranian officials to “go and finish it (the deal),” but “these scoundrels broke the rules of the game. We were holding talks, and they disrupted them.” Anxiety has been growing in Iran and elsewhere that the U.S. or Israel will resume attacks before or just after Tuesday’s elections in Israel or the U.S. midterm elections. Israel carries out arrests across Hebron after attack Israeli forces carried out arrests and demolitions in Hebron in the occupied West Bank a day after two Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded three others. Up to 300 families left Deir Baha, and two adjacent neighbourhoods, according to a tally from Hebron’s municipality. Israel’s army didn’t respond to questions about the operation. On Friday, it said its forces had begun “conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area from where the gunmen operated. Death toll from church attack in Jordan rises to 9 An ninth person died after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan, state television reported. More than two dozen people were receiving treatment in hospitals. Gunmen on Friday opened fire at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, south of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Karak is home to a minority Christian population. Airstrikes kill 15 people in Yemen, including a child Strikes killed 11 people, including four children, in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, according to the Health Ministry run by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. And an airstrike hit homes in Hodeida province, killing at least four people, health authorities said. The Houthis blamed neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which backs forces fighting the rebels. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the claims. At least two explosions were later heard near the international airport in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government. The Houthi military spokesperson said a military camp and a naval base were targeted. The government’s interior ministry said the Houthis attacked the coast guard headquarters at its complex with two ballistic missiles. The Saudi-led coalition earlier said it intercepted three ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and Taif and Yanbu cities. The UAE closes beaches after oil spill from tanker The United Arab Emirates closed beaches after an oil spill from a tanker. The spill impacted beaches of Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven emirates making up the federation, and cleanup efforts were underway, the Climate Change and Environment Ministry said. The ministry said the spill poses no health risks but did not provide details about its scale. It came two weeks after Iran’s state-run broadcaster reported an oil tanker had struck a naval mine and caught fire while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz without coordinating with Tehran. Iran says it will not allow U.S. warships to enter Persian Gulf An Iranian military commander said Iran will not allow U.S. warships to enter the Persian Gulf or approach Iran’s territorial waters, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and commander of its joint military command, also warned U.S. President Donald Trump that U.S. forces would never return to the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. reissues Mideast travel warnings over Houthi threats The State Department reissued travel advisories for Americans in or traveling to the Middle East, citing threats posed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are covered by the warnings and have appeared in previous travel alerts since the start of the Iran war. The department has reduced staffing at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East after receiving intelligence that Iran has stepped-up efforts to target American personnel. This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
