Two children were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Sunday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, as reported by Sky TG24. A girl aged seven died near the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the morning, and a boy whose age was not given was killed west of Beit Lahiya in the northern part of the Strip.
Wafa put the total number of Palestinians killed by Israel Defense Forces fire since Sunday morning at five, Sky TG24 reports.
The deaths came on the same day US President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's legislative elections on October 27. In remarks to Axios, Trump said he had always planned to back the prime minister and had simply held off on announcing it.
Why it matters
The endorsement ties Washington's preference directly to a vote that will shape Israel's government and, with it, the direction of the war in Gaza. Trump framed the choice in stark terms, saying that if Israel ended up with a leader other than Netanyahu, the US would be left to handle the region alone — something he said he had no intention of doing.
His comments also carry weight because of what they suggest about US support for a sitting Israeli leader at a moment when civilian casualties in Gaza continue to be reported daily.
Trump's reasoning, and his standing at home
Trump told Axios that he and Netanyahu have a good working relationship and would keep cooperating if the prime minister is returned to office. Asked whether he could work with a different Israeli leader, he was dismissive, asking who would want to take that risk.
The endorsement was not universally welcomed in the US press. Il Messaggero reported that Trump's approval ratings are at their lowest point, a detail that complicates the political value of his backing for Netanyahu.
In Israel, HuffPost Italia reported that speculation about a possible surprise move by Netanyahu was dominating political discussion.
A helicopter crash, and competing claims
Two officers of the Saudi National Guard were killed when an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the Najran region of southern Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen. Arab News reported the deaths, citing General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, who said a technical fault caused the crash.
Yemen's Houthi rebels gave a different account, claiming they had shot down a Saudi Apache military helicopter in the Najran area. The two versions have not been reconciled.
The crash marks the first deaths among Saudi military personnel since hostilities resumed in July after years of truce, according to the reporting.
Cross-border strikes and civilian toll
Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis exchanged further deadly attacks on Sunday. A Saudi bombardment hit a home in the Saada region, a Houthi stronghold inside Yemen, killing nine people and wounding at least 16, most of them women and children, according to the rebel movement.
In Saudi Arabia, civil defence authorities issued brief air-raid alerts in the Riyadh region and the south of the country, where drones and missiles launched by the Houthis are intercepted regularly. A projectile later wounded six people and caused material damage in a residential area of Najran, near the Yemeni border.
Iran signals openness to talks while warning of consequences
Iran's foreign minister told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's council of foreign ministers in Baghdad that Tehran rejects coercion, threats and intimidation but remains ready for dialogue built on mutual respect and credible guarantees, according to the reporting.
Iranian lawmakers meanwhile approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi as the country's new defence minister, replacing his predecessor, who was killed on the first day of the war with the United States. Akhlaghi warned that any further American miscalculation would meet a response from Iran and its allies that he described as surprising and far-reaching.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, also used social media to criticise French President Emmanuel Macron, contrasting Macron's past comments about peaceful protest with his current stance on unrest inside France. Baghaei accused Macron of having offered, before the campaign against Iran, to do "great things" against Tehran with the US, and said the consequences had since spread across the region.
Attack on a diplomatic delegation
A delegation that included diplomats from Belgium, Poland and France, among them the French consul in Jerusalem, was attacked near the Palestinian village of Taybeh, close to Ramallah. Israeli police opened an investigation, and the IDF condemned the assault while noting that the visit had not been coordinated with the army. Netanyahu urged waiting for the results of the inquiry.
Ben Gvir accuses Netanyahu of a European pledge
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, accused Netanyahu of having committed to several European Union countries to exclude his party from a future government, according to the reporting. The claim adds to friction within Israel's governing coalition as the election approaches.
What to watch: the October 27 vote and whether Trump's endorsement shifts anything, along with the pace of reported casualties in Gaza and the risk of further escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
