Two More Die as Israel-Palestinian Unrest Simmers, Political Faultlines Widen

Clashes broke out in the town of Jenin during the Israeli raid, according to witnesses. (File/AFP)
Clashes broke out in the town of Jenin during the Israeli raid, according to witnesses. (File/AFP)
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Two More Die as Israel-Palestinian Unrest Simmers, Political Faultlines Widen

Clashes broke out in the town of Jenin during the Israeli raid, according to witnesses. (File/AFP)
Clashes broke out in the town of Jenin during the Israeli raid, according to witnesses. (File/AFP)

A growing wave of unrest between Israelis and Palestinians claimed two more lives on Monday, after a poll showed plummeting support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party amid a divisive plan to rein in the Supreme Court's powers.

A Palestinian teen was killed during a military raid in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, while hospital officials said the mother of two Israeli sisters killed last week in their car by a suspected Palestinian gunman had died of her injuries.

The poll, for Channel 13 News, showed Likud would lose more than a third of its seats if an election were held now, and Netanyahu would fail to gain a majority with his hard-right coalition partners.

In a sign of Israel's fracturing political faultlines, thousands of Israelis marched towards Eviatar, an evacuated outpost in the West Bank, in support of the expansion of settlements.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged this year, with frequent military raids and violence by Israeli settlers amid a spate of Palestinian attacks. More than 90 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed since January.

Tensions have risen following Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last week, which triggered rocket attacks on Israel that were met with Israeli strikes in Gaza, south Lebanon and Syria.

The Palestinian health ministry said 15-year-old Mohammad Balhan sustained gunshot wounds to his head, chest and abdomen after an Israeli raid near the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces operated in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, adjacent to Jericho, to apprehend Palestinians suspected in involvement in attacks against Israelis.

The military said that during the raid suspects opened fire and hurled explosives at its forces, who responded with live fire and hit some of the suspects, but no soldiers were wounded.

An eyewitness said he saw some people hurling rocks at the military after they raided the camp.

"I had just left my house when I saw military forces and people throwing stones," said Fayez Balhan, the teen's father.

After carrying another wounded person to an ambulance, the father noticed a young man lying on the ground, who turned out to be his son, he told Reuters.

The Palestinian Prisoners Association said the Israeli military arrested at least two people during the raid.

"We urge the world to hold this (Israeli) government accountable for its crimes," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said at the start of the weekly government session.

Pro-settler march

Separately, hospital officials said the mother of two Israeli sisters who were killed last week in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank had died of her wounds.

Lucy Dee, 48, succumbed to her wounds, Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital said in a statement.

Her daughters Maia and Rina Dee, 20 and 15, were killed on Friday when their car was shot at by a suspected Palestinian gunman. Israeli forces are still trying to track the assailant down.

In a separate part of the West Bank, thousands of Israelis, including government ministers, marched towards Eviatar waving Israeli flags and chanting religious slogans and songs as a Palestinian counter-protest was held nearby. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 191 Palestinians were injured by Israeli security forces.

"Now they understand why I have been pushing for the establishment of a national guard," far-right security chief Itamar Ben-Gvir said at the demonstration.

Ben-Gvir, a hardline Jewish settler, joined Netanyahu's coalition with an expanded law-and-order portfolio including a beefed-up national guard for use mainly in crime- and rioting-hit Arab communities.

Netanyahu agreed to bring Ben-Gvir's initiative for cabinet approval after the security chief backed Netanyahu's pause of the judicial overhaul proposal, which has triggered nationwide street protests.

Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital - territories Israel captured in a 1967 war.

US-sponsored statehood talks have been stalled since 2014 while Jewish settlements have expanded, developments which Palestinians say have undermined the chances of a viable state being established.



Lebanon Revokes Bank Saderat Iran’s License amid US Pressure

The Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut (Banque du Liban). 
The Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut (Banque du Liban). 
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Lebanon Revokes Bank Saderat Iran’s License amid US Pressure

The Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut (Banque du Liban). 
The Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut (Banque du Liban). 

Lebanon’s central bank has revoked the local license of Bank Saderat Iran, one of Iran’s largest banks, as Washington intensifies pressure on countries to sever commercial ties with Tehran.

Banque du Liban Governor Karim Souaid told Bloomberg that the decision, taken this week, was intended to demonstrate Lebanon’s determination to protect its banking sector from institutions that could expose it to financial and regulatory risks.

The move follows tighter restrictions imposed on Iran’s financial system by other regional central banks and coincides with mounting US pressure worldwide, according to the governor.

Bank Saderat is one of Iran’s oldest commercial banks, with several branches overseas. In Lebanon, however, it did not operate as a full-scale commercial bank serving the general public or offer the extensive retail banking services typically provided by major Lebanese lenders.

Its operations were largely confined to facilitating certain transfers and financial activities linked to specific networks or entities.

Sanctions targeting Iranian institutions had effectively isolated the bank from major international banking messaging networks, including SWIFT, and global payment systems.

Washington is pursuing a campaign to isolate Iran economically in an effort to force Tehran to accept US terms for ending the war.

Last month, Britain announced it would reject new license applications from Iranian banks subject to US sanctions, including Bank Saderat, which operates a branch near the Bank of England in London’s financial district.

Avoiding financial risks

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Souaid noted that larger economies, including the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye, had complied with similar demands to preserve their banks’ ties to the international financial system".

He stressed that Lebanon could not afford the risks associated with failing to take such measures.

The governor acknowledged that some decisions could be politically sensitive but maintained that protecting Lebanon’s banking sector from foreign sanctions and external pressure must take priority.

Souaid also emphasized the need for Lebanon to secure its removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) gray list, where it was placed over shortcomings in combating illicit financial flows.

He called for eliminating illicit funds and money-laundering proceeds from the Lebanese economy.

The central bank has hired a specialized US firm to map Lebanon’s cash economy and identify suspicious financial activity, according to the governor.

For years, Bank Saderat and its operations had faced scrutiny from international financial authorities, particularly the US Treasury Department, which regarded it as a potential financial conduit for regional groups such as Hezbollah.

Despite that pressure, its Lebanese branch maintained a legal presence under a longstanding license issued by Banque du Liban, even as Washington repeatedly called for its closure and the complete severing of its financial channels.

IMF negotiations

Lebanon is seeking to revive its economy after a financial collapse that led it to default on approximately $30 billion in international bonds in 2020.

The country is holding talks with the IMF over a potential loan, seen as a crucial step toward economic recovery.

Souaid described efforts to clean up the financial sector as an important issue in those negotiations.

Although such measures are not among the IMF’s formal conditions for a potential support package, he explained that international lenders and donors participating in any program would nevertheless expect Lebanon to maintain a financial sector free of illicit activity.

 

 

 

 


China Says Israel Should Stop Its 'Forced Establishment' of West Bank Settlements

Cattle gather in an enclosure at a farm run by Israeli settlers near the Palestinian town of Duma in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Cattle gather in an enclosure at a farm run by Israeli settlers near the Palestinian town of Duma in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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China Says Israel Should Stop Its 'Forced Establishment' of West Bank Settlements

Cattle gather in an enclosure at a farm run by Israeli settlers near the Palestinian town of Duma in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Cattle gather in an enclosure at a farm run by Israeli settlers near the Palestinian town of Duma in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that Israel should stop and reverse its "forced establishment" of West Bank settlements, China's foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

China has consistently held that the Palestinian question is the greatest historical injustice of this ‌century, Wang ‌told Herzog during a meeting ‌in ⁠Azerbaijan, the ministry ⁠added.

Wang had earlier said that promoting peace and reconciliation in the region is the "cornerstone" of China's Middle East policy

China believes that the "two-state solution" is the right path ⁠to a resolution and the ‌immediate priority ‌is to fully open access to the ‌Gaza Strip so a humanitarian "catastrophe" ‌is not allowed to spread, Wang added

At the same time, Israel should stop and reverse its forced establishment of ‌settlements in the West Bank, he said

China is ⁠willing ⁠to work with the international community to push all parties to return to dialogue and consultation as soon as possible and seek a political settlement of the conflict, Wang added

China has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and Beijing also has close ties with Israel's main regional foe, Iran.


Jbessa Gas Export Pipeline Targeted in Northeastern Syria, Fire Erupts, SANA Reports

File: Flames rise at Tishreen thermal power plant following an explosion, near Otaybah, Syria, September 30, 2026, in this screengrab from video obtained from social media. Social Media/via REUTERS
File: Flames rise at Tishreen thermal power plant following an explosion, near Otaybah, Syria, September 30, 2026, in this screengrab from video obtained from social media. Social Media/via REUTERS
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Jbessa Gas Export Pipeline Targeted in Northeastern Syria, Fire Erupts, SANA Reports

File: Flames rise at Tishreen thermal power plant following an explosion, near Otaybah, Syria, September 30, 2026, in this screengrab from video obtained from social media. Social Media/via REUTERS
File: Flames rise at Tishreen thermal power plant following an explosion, near Otaybah, Syria, September 30, 2026, in this screengrab from video obtained from social media. Social Media/via REUTERS

The Jbessa gas export pipeline in northeastern Syria was targeted in the al-Arabidi area, causing a fire, state news agency SANA reported on Thursday citing the director of the Syrian Petroleum Company's media office.

The company said in a statement that the 16-inch ‌pipeline exploded at ‌5.15 p.m. in an ‌area ⁠about 60 km ⁠from the city of Shaddadi. It did not specify the cause of the explosion, according to Reuters.

Technical teams isolated the damaged section by closing valves at the Jbessa gas plant and the ⁠Deir Ezzor gas station ‌in the al-Bughailiya area, ‌while firefighting and safety crews headed to ‌the site to secure the area, ‌the company said.

The extent of the damage and whether gas supplies had been disrupted were not immediately clear.

The explosion ‌followed a separate incident on Thursday morning in which the Baniyas-Homs ⁠oil ⁠products pipeline was damaged near the village of Hudeida in the western Homs countryside in what the company described as sabotage aimed at stealing fuel.

That incident caused a gasoline leak, the company said, adding that work was continuing to repair the damage and restore the line to service.