Orientul Mijlociu

Israeli and Arab military officials have come together for meetings and trainings, facilitated by U.S. Central Command, on regional threats, Iran and underground tunnels.

Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza.

Latest Developments

• Hamas Attacks in Rafah: Hamas terrorists attacked IDF troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on October 28, violating the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group. During the attack, the terrorists reportedly used small arms and an anti-tank missile to fire at Israeli forces. The attack marked the second incident of its kind since October 19, when two IDF soldiers were killed by a Hamas cell operating in the area. In the aftermath of the attack in Rafah, Hamas released a statement denying responsibility.
• Renewed Airstrikes After Attack: In response to the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip.” Airstrikes were reported in both Deir al-Balah and Rafah in the hours following the Hamas attack. An Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post, “The response to the current violations by Hamas will be significantly greater than the response last time,” referring to a series of airstrikes carried out by Israel following the October 19 attack in Rafah.
• Israel Set to Expand “Yellow Line”: Israeli media reported later on October 28 that Netanyahu had ordered the expansion of the “Yellow Line,” which delineates Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza from territory under IDF control. In future negotiated phases of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, the IDF is expected to gradually relinquish control of the territory to a transitional authority in Gaza, handing it over to be secured by the International Stabilization Force.

In the quiet corridors of Syria’s emerging republic—where the embers of revolution still flicker beneath the veneer of reconstruction—the saga of the so-called “Strangers’ Brigade” has once again resurfaced. Far from a transient disturbance, it remains a persistent quandary that continues to haunt the evolving Syrian polity. First surfacing in late 2024, the issue drew attention when the nascent General Command integrated several senior military officers into the army’s leadership ranks, including six foreign nationals—a move that symbolised the formal absorption of once-transnational fighters into the structure of a newly envisioned state.

A fierce standoff between Syrian security forces and a French-led jihadist battalion has reignited questions about the future of foreign fighters in post-war Syria—and about whether President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s government is turning against the very elements that once underpinned its military ascendancy.

The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement

In The Name Of The Most Merciful Allah

“Ye are the best nation that hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in Allah. And if they who have received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for them: there are believers among them, but the greater part of them are transgressors. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you, and they shall not be helped. They are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with Allah, and a treaty with men; and they draw on themselves indignation from Allah, and they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they disbelieved the signs of Allah, and slew the prophets unjustly; this, because they were rebellious, and transgressed.” (Al-Imran – verses 109-111).

Al-Qurayshi was a shadowy and brutal figure who led ISIL when under intense military pressure from the US and allied forces.

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi led ISIL (ISIS) from the shadows for a little more than two years before he was killed during a raid by US forces on a house in northern Syria.

In an October 4, 2025 interview on Spot Shot on YouTube, UAE political science professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla said that Hamas has lost, not the Palestinian cause, and that it must admit its loss and apologize for its “act of stupidity.” He suggested that Lebanon sign a peace agreement with Israel, like Jordan and Egypt, which both border Israel and have benefited from such agreements.

In a September 1, 2025 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia), Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected claims that the Palestinians made any concessions in the Oslo Accords. He said that, on the contrary, the Oslo Accords achieved the return of 1,850,000 Palestinians to their homeland. Abbas added that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which deemed Israeli settlements illegal, was a parting gift from President Obama and his administration. He said that then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice was behind the resolution, and that it was coordinated between the Palestinians, the United States, and Britain. Abbas stated that the resolution passed unanimously, except for an American abstention.

Some of the Hamas terrorists who guarded the hostages in Gaza were teachers, university professors and even doctors who had been radicalized, a former Israeli captive said.

In the wake of this week’s hostage release, Tal Shoham — who was among the hostages freed in February — relived his 500 days of captivity under Hamas, forcing him to contend with just how deep-rooted the hatred for the Jewish state had grown in Gaza over the two years of war.