• Netanyahu faces tight race against Bennett, Lapid, Eisenkot in tomorrow’s polls
• Warns Iran against attempts to disrupt elections
• Israeli strikes kill seven people in Gaza, including three at university

HEBRON: With just one day to go before Israel’s Oct 27 general election, Israel said Sunday that all land crossings with the West Bank would be closed on election day, as an Israeli strike on a university in Gaza City killed three people, according to staff and a local hospital, while the civil defence agency reported four more deaths elsewhere in the territory.

The announcement came a day after Israeli forces pushed into the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and displaced around 2,000 residents, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying, “they will not be allowed to return... until we’ve finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron.”

Hamas, while not claiming credit, hailed Friday’s killings at a checkpoint near the Palestinian city.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exact a heavy price for the attack just days before polls and said he was planning an operation on a scale not seen since Israel first occupied the West Bank in 1967.

He said that Iran and its allies might try to disrupt Tuesday’s Israeli elections, warning the Islamic republic against any hostile acts.

Israel’s longest serving prime minister Netanyahu is facing a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s polls, with his security-first reputation all but shattered by the Oct 7, 2023 attack.

With just one day to go before general election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough contest as several prominent rivals seek to end his long hold on power. Among his main challengers are former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, veteran politician Avigdor Lieberman, Arab party leader Mansour Abbas and Yair Golan. The election is shaping up to be a crucial test of Netanyahu’s leadership, with the opposition seeking to challenge his governing coalition.

The Israeli army said that from Sunday, Palestinians would “not be permitted to enter Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley for work”, using terms many in Israel use to refer to the West Bank.

The army also said it would enforce “a ban on the entry and exit of Pale­stinian workers throughout Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including industrial zones, as well as the closure of all land crossings throughout Election Day” on Oct 27, it added.

The Palestinian Authority called for international pressure on Israel to protect residents affected by the military operation.

The Israeli army said that over Friday and Saturday, it operated in 40 areas throughout the territory, with locals reporting that soldiers announced evacuations over loudspeakers late at night.

Israeli forces said they “apprehended approximately 40 suspects”.

Right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he personally ordered “the immediate demolition of a row of illegal structures” following Friday’s shooting.

“Anyone who messes with us will quickly understand that he will pay a painful price,” he wrote on X.

Strike on university

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a university in Gaza City killed three people on Sunday, staff and a local hospital said, while the civil defence agency reported four others killed elsewhere in the territory.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said four other people were also killed, two in an airstrike in the southern city of Khan Yunis, one in central Deir al Balah and one in the north of the Strip.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2026

• Houthi media says air raids leave casualties in Sanaa, Hodeida and Mocha
• Rebel group claims strikes on Aden, airports, oil installations; Washington warns travellers
• Falling debris reported near Makkah, Madina; Two ballistic missiles intercepted en route to Taif, Yanbu

RIYADH: Saudi-led coalition forces launched deadly airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Saturday, killing at least 16 people, according to Houthi media.

In response, the Houthi forces launched their own attacks targeting Saudi oil facilities, airports and military sites in the southern Yemeni city of Aden.

The Houthis’ Al-Masirah television channel reported a series of “Saudi enemy airstrikes” targeting Sanaa and its surrounding governorate, while also reporting around 20 strikes on Mocha.

In Sanaa, one strike hit a house, killing at least four people and wounding several others. A separate strike on a residential building for cement factory workers in the Sanaa governorate killed six women and one child and wounded three others, the broadcaster said.

In the western port city of Hodeida, Al-Masirah reported that a Saudi strike killed five members of the same family.

“Five people, the head of the family, two of his children and his two wives, have been martyred, and his daughter wounded, as a result of a Saudi enemy air strike on the home of citizen Abdulwahed al-Wasabi in the Al-Tuhayta district,” the channel reported.

Earlier on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition announced it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the western Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence Agency briefly broadcast warnings of “potential danger” for four western regions, including Taif, Yanbu, Jeddah and Makkah, home to Islam’s holiest city.

Residents were instructed to “proceed to the nearest safe place,” and the agency repeated a legal warning against sharing images or information related to “countering missiles and drones.” The alerts were rescinded about 10 minutes later after the agency said the threat had passed.

In a post on X, the agency said it responded to falling debris following the interceptions in the Makkah and Madina areas.

“Civil defence in the Makkah and Madina regions began to respond to the falling debris from the interception of two ballistic missiles launched by Houthis,” the agency said, adding that some shrapnel fell in Wadi Mughamas outside Makkah.

Following the Saudi strikes, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched wide-scale attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an airbase in Khamis Mushait.

Saree added that Houthi forces targeted an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, crude oil pumping stations and the East-West Pipeline. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities on those reported strikes.

On another front, explosions rocked Aden, the interim seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government.

Yemen’s Interior Ministry told the state-run Saba news agency that three Houthi ballistic missiles struck coast guard sites, with two hitting the coast guard headquarters and a third striking a building in the Tawahi district.

A police source added that a coalition position near the Aden airport was also targeted.

Saree quickly claimed the Aden attack, saying Saudi officers were overseeing mobilisation there. “Our armed forces targeted Saudi enemy concentrations at the so-called Al-Nasr camp and the naval base in Aden,” Saree said.

US updates advisory

On Saturday, the US Embassy in Riyadh and the US Mission to the United Arab Emirates stated that Washington’s travel advisories were updated to reflect an increase in potential armed attacks by the Houthis.

Meanwhile, Egypt has suggested sending troops to help defend Saudi Arabia, while Britain and France have offered forces to protect the kingdom.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2026