Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's policies would remain the same whether or not war resumes, after renewed threats from US President Donald Trump to begin bombing again. The remark lands amid persistent tension between the two nations.

Israeli air strikes hit the Islamic University in Gaza City along with several other sites on Friday. At least seven people were killed, including three security guards stationed at the campus.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s high-stakes election on Oct. 27 pits the longest serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, against the highly decorated retired Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. While fairly new to politics, Eisenkot has an impressive resume that could help him become the Jewish state's next leader.

According to a number of polls, Eisenkot's centrist political party, Yashar, has a narrow lead over Netanyahu's Likud. To form a government, Yashar or Likud will need to cobble together a 61-seat majority of parties to be able to form a new coalition government.

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Who is the 66-year-old Eisenkot? 

He was born in Tiberias in Israel’s north to a Jewish-Moroccan family who relocated to Israel’s southernmost city, Eilat, on the Red Sea when he was a toddler.

A career soldier, he opted to serve in the infantry. He was part of the elite Golani Brigade and reached the zenith of the military with his 2015 appointment to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff in 2015 until 2019.

Yossi Melman, one of Israel’s most respected journalists on intelligence and defense reporting, told Fox News Digital that Eisenkot, "Is 100% a soldier. He is very brave and humble. He is an officer and gentleman."

Melman noted that when Eisenkot was chosen to be the next IDF chief of staff, he declined because he felt that then General Benny Gantz should receive the appointment. Melman asked, "How many people would do that? He was selected after Gantz. It shows his traits of modesty, honesty and not arrogant."

Melman said, "It is a miracle he is leading in the polls. He is the antithesis of a what a politician should be. He is not a great orator when you compare him to Netanyahu. He radiates honesty."

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Eisenkot’s Mizrahi background — Jews who originate from North Africa and the Middle East — would mean, if he prevails, that he would be the first Israeli Prime Minister of Moroccan origin. The Prime Minister’s office has been held by Israelis of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi) since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948.

After Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet as a minister without portfolio.

Melman said Eisenkot "did not set any political conditions" and "his presence in the cabinet saved Netanyahu." After eight months of serving in the war cabinet, Eisenkot resigned, blaming the prime minister for failing to implement a comprehensive strategy.

The war against the Iran-backed terrorist movement Hamas took an enormous toll on the battle-hardened General Eisenkot and his family. Hamas killed his son, 25-year-old Master Sergeant Gal Eisenkot, in Dec. 2023. The terrorist organization also killed two nephews of Eisenkot. Netanyahu and his wife Sara said at the time that they were devastated by Gal’s death and Eisenkot was a "true hero."

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Danny Orbach, a military historian from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave his take on the leading contender to replace Netanyahu. "I think his military record and his prospects as a national leader have both significant strengths and serious weaknesses. He bears considerable responsibility for shaping the IDF that existed on Oct. 7, 2023. And that was, paradoxically, both the army that proved capable of defeating Hezbollah, striking Iran and achieving unprecedented military successes in the extraordinarily difficult, tunnel-ridden battlefield of Gaza and the army that failed so miserably on Oct. 7."

He continued that, "Like other chiefs of staff, Eisenkot bears responsibility for the decisions that reduced the army's size and for the infamous ‘conceptzia’ [Hebrew word for concept] regarding Hamas. In that respect, I consider him just as culpable as Netanyahu."

Israel’s military, intelligence and political establishments bought into the ‘conceptzia’ that Hamas could be housebroken with massive infusions of economic aid. Hamas, however, was wedded to its radical Islamist ideology —the destruction of the Jewish state — and used the funds to advance its war aims.

Orbach noted that "I don't think most of Eisenkot's support stems from his energy, enthusiasm or even his political platform. My impression is that Eisenkot has emerged as the default ‘non-Bibi’ candidate, the politician who currently channels much of the camp's hopes and expectations."

Orbach added that "I also doubt that Eisenkot would have had the political determination to stand up to the Biden administration on such matters."

Netanyahu and former President Biden repeatedly clashed over Biden’s attempts to rope in Israel’s efforts to defeat Iran’s seven-front war against the Jewish state.

The military historian, however, noted that "I believe an Eisenkot government could address several of Israel's most urgent problems. It would remove Ben Gvir from power, confront the growing problem of Jewish extremist violence and terrorism in the West Bank, and begin repairing Israel's severely damaged international legitimacy."

Itamar Ben-Gvir is a controversial right-wing firebrand politician and the current minister of national security since 2022, who has outraged many Western European and foreign leaders with his heated rhetoric against the Palestinians.

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Eisenkot’s wife, Hannah, comes from an American Jewish family. U.S. General Joseph Dunford awarded Eisenkot the Commander of the Legion of Merit because of his "exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the General Staff of the IDF" and his "contribution to the strategic cooperation between the United States and Israel [that] will have a lasting effect on both countries," according to the Washington Institute, where Eisenkot served as a military fellow in 2019.

Nadav Eyal, an Israeli analyst and journalist for the mass circulation Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, told Fox News Digital, Gadi Eisenkot is widely considered one of the most successful Chiefs of Staff that Israel has had in the last thirty years."

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He continued that "Chiefs of Staff in Israel, unlike in other countries, are really extremely capable, in general, to be prime minister. They are leading the country’s biggest organization, the IDF."

Eyal, who writes extensively about the IDF, credited Eisenkot’s military planning against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon and the significant defeats the Lebanese Shiite entity experienced, including the "discovery of tunnels that Hezbollah built" to enter Israel. Hezbollah immediately joined Hamas’s war against Israel in Oct. 2023.

Given the nature of Israel’s electoral system, an outright winner won’t likely be known for several days, since the leading party will need to form a coalition to get to the 61-seat mandate to run the country.

A Saudi-led military coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi movement toward Saudi territory. The intercept is the latest in a monthslong escalation of Houthi strikes on Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and military sites.

Israel said all land crossings with the West Bank will be closed on the day of next week's election, a day after its forces entered Hebron and displaced an estimated 2,000 residents. The closures follow the killing of two Israeli soldiers in the territory and a pledge by officials for a tougher stance on militancy.

Houthi forces launched a missile attack on Aden's airport and a coastguard base in Yemen. The same wave of strikes reportedly also hit targets inside Saudi Arabia.

Iran blamed the United States for the collapse of nuclear negotiations and urged a new attempt at talks. Tehran warned that even limited strikes would trigger a response several times greater.

Israeli forces began demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron after two Israeli soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint, launching a wide operation that has left the city under lockdown. More than 2,000 people have been forced from their homes, according to local reports.

Houthi media reported that Saudi air strikes killed 11 people in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, shortly after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two missiles aimed at Saudi cities. One strike hit a house and another hit housing for cement-factory workers, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah outlet.

A group of gunmen stormed a Christian church in Jordan during a funeral Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than two dozen, according to authorities.

The shooting took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 55 miles south of the capital, Amman.

Jordanian Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said Saturday that one critically injured patient remained hospitalized at Prince Ali Military Hospital in unstable condition.

Government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said Saturday the attackers subscribed to "extremist takfiri ideology," which brands people who reject a strict interpretation of Islam as apostates or nonbelievers. Terrorist groups such as ISIS have invoked takfiri beliefs to justify killing Muslims, Christians and Jews.

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Karak is home to a sizable Christian minority, and Momani sought to emphasize that Christians are "part of Jordan's national fabric."

It remains unclear whether the gunmen were affiliated with any terror group, and Jordanian authorities have not announced any arrests in connection with the attack.

Footage shown on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen armed with what appeared to be pistols approaching the church and opening fire, The Associated Press reported.

A third man carrying what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle joined them moments later, before all three rushed toward the church.

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Photos and videos from witnesses show broken glass and pools of blood inside the church. After the location was secured by police, two bodies covered with blankets were seen outside the church.

Dorgham Halasa told the AP that intense gunfire erupted in the church some 15 minutes after the funeral service began. People began running, he said.

Halasa said he didn't see the gunmen but said others he spoke with reported seeing at least four of them. Jordanian authorities had not confirmed the number of attackers as of Saturday.

On Friday, King Abdullah II said Jordan will "confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties."

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"Whoever imagines that the bullets of treachery can divide the ranks of Jordanians will fail in his endeavor before our steadfastness and unity," he added. "Our deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded."

Jordan announced three days of national mourning after the attack, according to the state-run Petra News Agency.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As fighting between Houthi and government-aligned forces continues, a Yemeni family's newborn twins are battling severe malnutrition after fleeing their home on foot. Aid groups warn that hunger is deepening across the country.

A senior US intelligence official has warned that Iran is intensifying efforts to target American personnel across the Middle East. The State Department is adjusting staffing levels at diplomatic posts in the region in response.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday his country may launch 'another little Epic Fury' on Iran, referring to the joint Israeli-American operation that triggered the war with Iran at the end of February. The remark comes amid continued military tension in the region.

An attack on an airport in eastern Saudi Arabia killed two people. It is the latest in a series of strikes attributed to Yemen's Houthi movement targeting airports and other sites across the kingdom in recent weeks.

Israeli forces began demolishing Palestinian-owned buildings in Hebron after two Israeli soldiers were shot dead by two Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city. The attack took place on Friday morning.

Gunmen opened fire at a funeral inside a church in Jordan's southern Karak governorate, killing seven people and wounding 34 others, officials said. A manhunt for the attackers is under way.

Israeli forces are accused of shooting dead a Syrian man with an intellectual disability and hearing impairment during a raid, Al Jazeera reported. The incident comes amid a continuing pattern of Israeli military operations inside Syrian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of the West Bank after a prolonged shoot-out at a checkpoint wounded five Israelis and left two gunmen dead. The decision came days before Israeli elections in which Netanyahu is fighting for a new term.

The European Parliament has called for Yemen's Houthi movement to be added to the European Union's terrorist list. The non-binding resolution urges a freeze on the group's funds as the EU struggles to counter the threat to civilian shipping in the Red Sea.

The United States has ordered some diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks on the kingdom intensify. The warning follows strikes on an airport and an oil field that killed at least three people.