Israeli FM Accuses ‘Octopus’ Khamenei of Smuggling Weapons into West Bank via Jordan

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (AFP)
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (AFP)
TT

Israeli FM Accuses ‘Octopus’ Khamenei of Smuggling Weapons into West Bank via Jordan

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (AFP)
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (AFP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused on Thursday Iran of attempting to establish an “eastern terror front” against Israel via Jordan, the Times of Israel reported.

Katz — who has faced some criticism for his style of online diplomatic attacks — published an AI-generated image showing Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as an octopus with many tentacles.

The foreign minister said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is smuggling weapons from Syria into Jordan, “attempting to destabilize the regime and turn the Israel-Jordan border from a peaceful one into a volatile front.”

The weapons are then brought into the West Bank, he added, “where an Iranian-Hamas terror infrastructure is being established.”

Katz called for a security fence to be built “quickly” along the Israel-Jordan border, something that has been promised for more than a decade by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has been dismissed by security officials as a pipe dream.



Russia’s Attack Kills One, Injures Eight in Ukraine’s Sumy, Authorities Say 

Ukrainian servicemen ride atop a tank after returning from Russia, near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP)
Ukrainian servicemen ride atop a tank after returning from Russia, near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP)
TT

Russia’s Attack Kills One, Injures Eight in Ukraine’s Sumy, Authorities Say 

Ukrainian servicemen ride atop a tank after returning from Russia, near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP)
Ukrainian servicemen ride atop a tank after returning from Russia, near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP)

A Russian attack overnight damaged a factory in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy, killing a 48-year-old woman and injuring at least eight people, local authorities said on Friday.

The airstrike caused a fire, prompting regional authorities to ask residents to stay inside and close the windows.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office said that the factory manufactured packaging for baby food, juices and household products.

A drone attack hit an industrial facility in Poltava in central Ukraine without causing any casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 12 out of 18 Russia-launched drones overnight over five Ukrainian regions. Four more drones fell over the Ukrainian territory.

Russia also used an Iskander-M missile during the attack, the air force added.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbor in February 2022.