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Bennett Reverses Netanyahu’s Decision to Release Palestinian Prisoners

Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a protest marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day in Maasara village, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a protest marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day in Maasara village, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
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Bennett Reverses Netanyahu’s Decision to Release Palestinian Prisoners

Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a protest marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day in Maasara village, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a protest marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day in Maasara village, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem April 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Army Reserve General Moshe Tal revealed Sunday that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed twice to conclude a prisoner swap deal with Hamas but then backed out.

However, he affirmed that PM Naftali Bennett has reviewed the file and figured that the deal includes releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, so he refused to proceed with the matter, hindering its implementation.

Tal, a former army official responsible for prisoners, resigned from his post on Tuesday. He left the army intelligence in 2019 and remained as the chief-of-staff’s representative for dealing with captives and missing soldiers at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In an interview with Army Radio, Tal said he resigned because he felt Israel doesn’t want to return the Israeli prisoners held by Hamas, especially the political leadership, which gets to decide in this matter.

The Israeli decision-makers do not have enough “will and motivation to carry on the process,” Tal said, noting that when the former leadership reached an agreement to release Gilad Shalit in exchange for Israel releasing 1,050 Palestinian prisoners it was due to a great public pressure.

“However, the situation is currently in favor of Hamas and pressure is being exerted on us (Israel).”

Tal further referred to several missed opportunities to release Israeli soldiers and citizens, even with military operations against the Gaza Strip to put pressure on Hamas.

He pointed out that the replacement of the US administration had eased pressure, and that the Egyptians are pushing for a deal.

When asked about Bennett, and whether he had changed his predecessor's approach to this issue, Tal said, “if he is a leader, he must make decisions.”

He underlined the obligations of previous governments that agreed to release many Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas is holding the bodies of soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in the 2014 Gaza War, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

Israel has presented the return of the captives and missing soldiers as a condition for making any progress in negotiations over the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the repair of infrastructure damaged during May’s hostilities with Hamas.

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Arab World

UN Raises ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Concerns Over Israel’s Operation in Hebron

Israeli soldiers stand guard at a closed military gate at an entrance to the West Bank city of Hebron, 25 October 2026, as the military enforced a closure on the city and surrounding villages for a third consecutive day. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers stand guard at a closed military gate at an entrance to the West Bank city of Hebron, 25 October 2026, as the military enforced a closure on the city and surrounding villages for a third consecutive day. (EPA)
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UN Raises ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Concerns Over Israel’s Operation in Hebron

Israeli soldiers stand guard at a closed military gate at an entrance to the West Bank city of Hebron, 25 October 2026, as the military enforced a closure on the city and surrounding villages for a third consecutive day. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers stand guard at a closed military gate at an entrance to the West Bank city of Hebron, 25 October 2026, as the military enforced a closure on the city and surrounding villages for a third consecutive day. (EPA)

Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, launched after a deadly attack by Palestinian gunmen, raises serious concerns of "ethnic cleansing", the United Nations warned Monday.

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Threats to empty and erase entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday that he was “deeply alarmed” by surging Israeli settler violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank. 

Speaking in Cairo on one of his final trips as UN chief, Guterres said Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza must be lifted and obstacles to the Security Council’s peace plan must be removed with “the specter of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger.” 

He said lasting peace in the region depends on Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and that a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the capital of both, is the only viable path. 

Arab World

Taiz under Siege, Health Sector on Verge of Collapse

Smoke billows from a site that was targeted during battles between Yemeni government fighters and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis at the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz, on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site that was targeted during battles between Yemeni government fighters and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis at the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz, on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Taiz under Siege, Health Sector on Verge of Collapse

Smoke billows from a site that was targeted during battles between Yemeni government fighters and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis at the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz, on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site that was targeted during battles between Yemeni government fighters and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis at the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz, on October 21, 2026. (AFP)

Clashes persisted across the fronts of the Yemeni city of Taiz on Monday, marked by continuous Houthi shelling of residential areas and a tightening of the siege, though no territorial advances were made. Meanwhile, airstrikes targeted the Iran-backed group's reinforcements, command centers, and supply lines, even as humanitarian and health crises worsen for millions of residents.

While the government's Giants Brigades and National Shield forces continue to secure their positions in the Kahbub mountains and the vicinity of Bab al-Mandeb, an escalation in Houthi missile attacks has introduced a new threat to displaced persons and civilians within areas controlled by the Yemeni government.

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced that 753 precise, direct strikes were carried out over the past 24 hours under Operation "Dawn of Yemen," targeting Houthi military capabilities, according to the military's official spokesperson, Colonel Majed Al-Nuzaili.

The operations struck field command and control centers, commanding terrain, fortifications, and firing positions, alongside troop concentrations, reinforcements, and transport and supply assets, he added.

The operations helped disrupt the militants' efforts to deploy fighters into battle while supporting government operations across various fronts, he explained.

Al-Nuzaili said that the strikes neutralized 218 Houthi members and field commanders, and destroyed or disabled 78 vehicles, pieces of machinery, and military transports, in addition to heavy and medium weaponry.

Operations will continue to target the Houthis' capacity to mobilize and reorganize, while maintaining all necessary precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects, he vowed.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented 42 crimes and violations committed by the Houthis in Taiz governorate over a 48-hour period, coinciding with the firing of approximately 369 projectiles at residential areas.

A man carries a boy at a hospital in the southwestern city of Taiz, Yemen, October 25, 2026. (Reuters)

According to a report Monday, the network said the attacks resulted in the deaths of four civilians and injuries to seven others, including two 14-year-old girls.

The network reported that the violations included the abduction of citizens from their homes. The report also highlighted raids, intimidation, and pressure to recruit dozens of local residents, alongside the looting of eight homes and assaults on residences.

The repercussions of the Houthi shelling and siege extend beyond direct casualties; the rights network stated that restrictions on movement and supplies hamper the access of patients and the wounded to hospitals, while limiting the capacity of health facilities to operate amid shortages of medicine, fuel, and medical supplies.

The network warned that the health sector in Taiz faces mounting pressures that threaten the continuity of essential services, noting that some 1,280 kidney failure patients are at risk of having their treatment interrupted due to a shortage of dialysis supplies.

Furthermore, the shortage of fuel and medical supplies threatens the lives of 192 patients in intensive care units and 154 infants in incubators.

The report stated that two hospitals, four medical centers, and three medical storehouses sustained damage, including Al-Safwa Hospital, which serves over 50,000 patients.

It noted that 42 health facilities face acute supply shortages, and that hospitals and ambulances require more than 156,000 liters of fuel per month to ensure service continuity amid generator failures and public power grid outages.

Arab World

Arab Interior Ministers Council Condemns Houthi Attacks Targeting Makkah and Madinah Regions

Arab Interior Ministers Council Condemns Houthi Attacks Targeting Makkah and Madinah Regions
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Arab Interior Ministers Council Condemns Houthi Attacks Targeting Makkah and Madinah Regions

Arab Interior Ministers Council Condemns Houthi Attacks Targeting Makkah and Madinah Regions

The General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks carried out by the Houthi militia using missiles and UAVs against civilians, civilian objects, and holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

In a statement issued from its headquarters in Tunis, the secretariat also condemned the militia's recent attempt to target Makkah and Madinah regions with ballistic missiles, which were intercepted and destroyed by Saudi air defenses, SPA reported.

The secretariat said the attacks constituted a flagrant violation of international law, a grave breach of the sanctity of holy sites, and an affront to the sentiments of Muslims worldwide.

It added that the attacks reflected the militia's continued efforts to undermine regional security and stability.

The secretariat reaffirmed its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its support for all measures taken by the Kingdom to protect its territory and holy sites, maintain its security and stability, and safeguard the lives and safety of citizens and residents.