An attack by Iran on Israel is imminent. The USA is warning – and sending fighter jets to the Middle East. All developments in the news blog.
3.15 am: In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command forces say they have destroyed two unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi group, a Houthi ground control station and three cruise missiles in areas controlled by the terrorist group in Yemen.
0.55 am: The Islamist terror group Hamas is said to have appointed a new negotiator for the talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip following the killing of its foreign chief Ismail Haniya. Khalil al-Haya will represent Hamas in the indirect negotiations and will be subject to the instructions of its new leader Jihia al-Sinwar, reported the Saudi Arabian television station Al Hadath, citing three Palestinian sources, including a Hamas official. The frontman Haniya, who was recently killed in Tehran, had been considered Hamas’s chief diplomat.
Unlike his predecessor Haniya, who led a life of luxury in Qatar as head of the Politburo, Sinwar has been in hiding since the Hamas massacre he commanded in the Israeli border region on October 7 last year. He is believed to be somewhere in the extensive network of tunnels under the blockaded coastal strip. While Hamas leadership was previously divided between a leader for the Gaza Strip and one outside the coastal region, power is now concentrated in Sinwar’s hands.
21:44: The UK Aviation Safety Authority advises UK-registered airlines not to fly over Lebanese airspace due to possible military activities in the area. The recommendation is valid from now until November 4.
20:26: Egypt has banned its airlines from flying over the Iranian capital Tehran overnight into Thursday. “All Egyptian airlines should avoid flights over Tehran,” says a safety notice from the civil aviation authority in Cairo. The order is valid for three hours from 3 a.m. on Thursday (CEST). Egypt’s civil aviation authority referred in a statement to a warning from the Iranian authorities that military exercises were planned in the country at around the same time. Plans for flights over this area were rejected by Iran.
Such a warning from Egypt is “very unusual,” writes the OPS Group, an organization that informs its members about risks and changes in international air traffic. “It is possible that this is an indication of an Iranian response to Israel,” writes the group, referring to a possible impending attack that has been speculated about for days. In such a case, there could be many disruptions in air traffic.
Jordan had previously prepared aircraft in its airspace for a possible Iranian attack on Israel. All incoming aircraft were temporarily asked to be filled up with fuel for an additional 45 minutes of flight. An Iranian attack on Israel could take place in the skies over Jordan, as happened in April.
17:53: According to Islamic countries, the fight for justice for the Palestinians is now being intensified following the killing of the terrorist Hamas foreign chief Ismail Haniya. This was said by Gambia’s Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara at an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which Gambia currently chairs.
The killing will “not suppress” the Palestinian issue, but will highlight its urgency even more, Tangara said at the meeting in Saudi Arabia. “Those who seek peace and justice” will only act more decisively through actions such as the Haniya killing.
Iran had requested the emergency meeting of the OIC, which is made up of 57 Islamic countries, together with Pakistan. The organization sees itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world. Unlike the smaller Arab League, it also includes influential non-Arab states, including Iran and Turkey.
