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Ben Gvir Threatens to Abandon Netanyahu if Gaza Offensive Lowered

An Israeli artillery unit shells targets in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza border on Thursday (EPA)
An Israeli artillery unit shells targets in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza border on Thursday (EPA)
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Ben Gvir Threatens to Abandon Netanyahu if Gaza Offensive Lowered

An Israeli artillery unit shells targets in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza border on Thursday (EPA)
An Israeli artillery unit shells targets in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza border on Thursday (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered firm stances last Wednesday saying Israel intends to “continue the war on the Gaza Strip until the end” only following threats of the far-right wing in his government, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, political sources in Tel Aviv revealed.
Ben Gvir spoke directly to Netanyahu and said his Otzma Yehudit party is the most loyal to him in the ruling coalition, even more than the Likud.
However, the minister affirmed that if anyone intends to halt the Israeli Army before Hamas has been defeated and all the hostages have been returned, then the PM should take into account that Otzma Yehudit will not be with him.
Netanyahu therefore understood that Ben Gvir would join efforts by some right-wing parties to change Netanyahu and to appoint a new Likud leader.
This is the reason why the Israeli PM said Wednesday there would be no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip until the “elimination” of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Netanyahu's remarks came amid reports saying Israel is negotiating in an attempt to reach a new prisoner swap deal with the Hamas group.
In a statement to the media on Wednesday, Netanyahu said, “We’re continuing the war to the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed — until victory.”
He added: “Anyone who thinks we’ll stop is unmoored from reality... We’re raining fire on Hamas, hell fire. All Hamas terrorists, from first to last, face death. They have two options only: surrender or die.”
But it seems that Ben Gvir and his partner, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are not satisfied with Netanyahu’s announcements. They want more.
“The idea of reducing activity in Gaza is a failure of war management by the small [war] cabinet. It should be dismantled immediately,” Ben Gvir said in a statement.
“The time has come to restore the reins to the wider [security] cabinet,” he added.
Smotrich, who is also a member of Israel’s war cabinet, expressed his rejection that Mossad spy agency chief David Barne be sent to Egypt to discuss freeing high-level Palestinian security prisoners in return for Israeli captives in Gaza.

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World

Germany Blames Russia for Airport Drone Incident, Hits Back with Sanctions

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt R) and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attend a press conference on the drone incident at Leipzig Airport in Berlin, Germany 01 September 2026. (EPA)
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt R) and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attend a press conference on the drone incident at Leipzig Airport in Berlin, Germany 01 September 2026. (EPA)
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Germany Blames Russia for Airport Drone Incident, Hits Back with Sanctions

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt R) and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attend a press conference on the drone incident at Leipzig Airport in Berlin, Germany 01 September 2026. (EPA)
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt R) and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attend a press conference on the drone incident at Leipzig Airport in Berlin, Germany 01 September 2026. (EPA)

Germany on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted "hybrid attack" involving an explosive-laden drone at a strategic airport last month and announced diplomatic counter-measures.

The European Union expressed "full solidarity" with Germany, NATO assured that it would defend its members and countries including Britain, Estonia and Poland offered strong backing.

Germany will close Russia's consulate in the former capital Bonn later this month, and cancel the contract for the Russian House, a cultural center in Berlin, said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

"We are tightening entry controls for Russian nationals" and Germany would propose the listings of more Russian individuals for European Union sanctions, he added, as the Russian ambassador to Berlin was being summoned.

Germany's top diplomat also vowed that "we are increasing pressure on the Russian shadow fleet" -- a term for the old oil tankers and other cargo ships with opaque ownership Russia uses to get around Western sanctions.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that after assessing the drone technology used and other intelligence, "the government concludes that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on August 4".

He blamed "low-level agents" for the operation and said "the drone configuration -- various components, explosives and ignition systems -- are known to us from other hybrid operations by Russia and its war against Ukraine".

"We do not view the Leipzig incident in isolation, but rather see it in the context of other hybrid actions," he said. "We assume that Germany is the target of further hybrid attacks by Russia."

"We are not at war, but we are a daily target of hybrid warfare."

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc stands in "full solidarity" with Germany, while NATO chief Mark Rutte said the alliance "will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Allies against any threat."

Germany, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, has for months reported suspicious drone sightings over military and industrial sites, but the Leipzig incident raised the alarm as a drone found there carried explosives.

Police used a robot to defuse the device near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.

The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German military and NATO allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines.

- 'Hub for espionage' -

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week that Germany has "found itself in the crosshairs of hybrid attackers" and warned that the perpetrators would "pay for them", without naming a target.

There had been much discussion of whether Germany should shut down Berlin's Russian House, which security services believe is both a center to spread propaganda and an intelligence hub.

The Russian House of Science and Culture, a seven-storey building opened in 1984 in what was then East Berlin, is located near the Russian embassy.

Conservative MP and security policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter recently told Welt TV that the facility is assumed to be a hub for espionage.

He said more than 100 people lived there "with no one knowing who they are" and that the building's power consumption is unusually high.

It was "presumably filled with technical surveillance equipment", he said, and used by "people who are not well-disposed toward Germany".

In recent weeks, the German government had explained it was so far keeping the Russian House open by pointing to its bilateral contractual link to the Goethe Institute in Moscow.

Kiesewetter had dismissed concerns about Russian countermeasures.

"Are we not closing it because we believe the Goethe Institutes in Russia would then be closed in retaliation?" he asked. "Then they'll just get closed."

World

US Strikes Iran After Attempted Attacks on Shipping, Says US Military

A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Strikes Iran After Attempted Attacks on Shipping, Says US Military

A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. (Reuters)

US forces launched strikes Tuesday against Iran's Revolutionary Guards in response to attempted attacks on commercial shipping and American forces, the US military said.

The strikes -- which began at 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) -- came after "recent attempted attacks by (the Guards) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region," US Central Command said on X.

After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the United States persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

On Sunday, the United States carried out its first known strikes on Iran in several weeks, hitting an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran quickly retaliated by attacking US military targets in the Middle East.

Washington said its forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak to prevent Tehran planting mines in the key shipping lane.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks aimed at Jordan, saying they targeted US forces there.

US President Donald Trump vowed at the time to "hit them hard," telling a Fox News reporter that "there will be a response."

World

Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Citizens to Cut Petrol Use

Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Parliament Speaker Urges Citizens to Cut Petrol Use

Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)

A top Iranian official called on citizens to curb their petrol consumption on Tuesday, as the country faces difficulty importing enough fuel to meet demand due to a US naval blockade.

"Of course, part of the responsibility for this high consumption does not lie with our people; it lies with our industry," parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised address. "But in any case, what is clear is that we need to save gasoline in our consumption."