Israel: Eisenkot appointed to lead the government. Hormuz: three more oil tankers ablaze

“They searched us, questioned us, scanned us and stripped us, without ever giving us the chance to speak to a lawyer.” This is the account of Marco Cola, one of two activists from Brescia detained on Friday by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank, along with his partner Paula Jesus and four other Italians, whilst they were harvesting olives in a Palestinian field some twenty kilometres from Ramallah. The pair returned to Italia this morning on a flight from Israel, which landed at Venice airport, and have already reached Brescia. Cola describes a period of detention marked by sleep deprivation, threats and humiliation: “Every twenty minutes they’d come and wake you up, with the lights always on, noise, insults and mockery. The first night we were left without water and they didn’t give us anything to eat until seven o’clock the following morning. We also asked for toilet paper, but there wasn’t any. Now I’m covered in blisters all over my body,’ he says. He points out that the women in the Italian group were not beaten, whilst the Palestinian landowners were ‘beaten to a pulp’.

Israel’s mission in Iran “is not over”, the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday, reiterating allegations that Tehran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons – a claim which the Islamic Republic has long denied. “As far as Iran is concerned, the mission is not yet over. Iran is attempting to renew its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons,” Katz said during an official ceremony in Jerusalem, adding that Israel is “prepared for any scenario” and “will act for as long as necessary to protect” its citizens

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has dismissed the US military plan to extend the blockade of Iranian ports to the country’s land borders as mere ‘wordplay’. ‘The Americans cannot achieve their objective in this way, namely to exert strong economic pressure to bring down and destabilise the Iranian economy,’ said the Pasdaran spokesperson, Sardar Mohebi, in comments to the Fars news agency reported by Al Jazeera. In the past, Washington had “claimed that Iran would suffer an economic collapse within two weeks, but we have seen that this did not happen”, he added. The US Central Command has announced that its ‘Iron Gate’ task force will be responsible for ‘cutting off’ Iran’s land supply routes and preventing the transit of weapons. Iran shares borders with seven countries – Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan – and also borders the Caspian Sea.

The US armed forces aim to block Iran’s land routes, thereby extending the reach of the naval blockade. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command (Centcom), has announced the creation of the ‘Iron Gate’ task force, whose objective will be to limit Iran’s ability to transport weapons and prohibited materials. The task force comprises around 20 members, including both civilian and military personnel, and is based in Tampa, Florida. The new team – Centcom explained – will work in coordination with other US government agencies to counter the transit of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illicit financial flows across Iran’s land borders and through the Caspian Sea. “The establishment of the Iron Gate Task Force builds on the achievements of our rigorous naval blockade against Iran,” said Cooper. “By strengthening cooperation between Centcom and other US government agencies, we will further limit Iran’s ability to fund terrorism, rebuild weapons factories and resupply its military apparatus.”

‘Trump and his aides – reckless, intransigent and with a terrorist mindset – have sought to destroy Iran, but have themselves fallen victim to strategic erosion, profound internal crises and defeats inflicted upon them by Iran and the resistance front.’ This was stated by Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces. “Political and electoral developments in the United States, together with the continuous defeats suffered by the Trump administration, reflect a broader and undeniable reality: a defeat in the face of a powerful Iran,” said Shekarchi, adding: “This marks the collapse of the US doctrine based on aggression, assassinations and maximum pressure”, as well as “the ineffectiveness of its military strategies in the face of Iran’s deterrent capability”.

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves rose again in October, reaching 237.773 billion dollars. This was reported by the Central Bank, which stated that the value of foreign exchange reserves had increased by $775 million compared with the previous month. Israel’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at 34.3 per cent of GDP, the Central Bank added in a statement. The reserves had reached an all-time high of over 241 billion dollars last August. The increase recorded in October, following a decline in September, stems mainly from a revaluation of the reserves held, the Central Bank explains.

Fourteen foreign volunteers, described as ‘anti-Israeli’ activists, are to be deported after being arrested alongside three Palestinians in the central West Bank on charges of disturbing public order. This is according to The Times of Israel, citing the police. Yesterday, it emerged that the six Italians arrested near Ramallah had returned home. According to the Israeli newspaper, during the interrogation of the foreign nationals it emerged that they intended to carry out ‘anti-Israeli media campaigns’ and that some of them support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, the police stated, adding that investigations into the three Palestinians are still ongoing. According to the Palestinian activist group Faz3a, the newspaper notes, Israeli forces arrested 17 people last Friday whilst they were harvesting olives in the village of Kafr Ni’ma, in the Ramallah area. The group states that those arrested included 12 foreign volunteers, two foreign journalists, two Palestinian landowners and a Palestinian activist from Faz3a.

The financial district of Riyadh was the target of an attack by the Houthis, and the Aramco building in particular is reported to have been damaged. This has been reported by various media outlets, citing witnesses. Yesterday, the Iranian-backed Yemeni group announced that it had launched multiple missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabian troops and infrastructure, both within the Gulf kingdom and in Yemen.

Three men were executed this morning in Iran, accused of carrying out armed operations and attacks against public buildings in Karaj during the January protests, on behalf of the United States, Israel and hostile groups. According to the IRNA news agency, the three men who were hanged – Hassan Dioband, Hamid Kazemi and Reza Zanganeh – were accused of using firearms, grenades and Molotov cocktails, of setting fire to public buildings and of damaging an electricity pylon, causing power cuts in the city. In recent months, the government has stepped up the execution of protesters involved in the January uprising, accusing most of them of having links with Israel and the United States.

Two oil tankers caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking mines. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced this on Sunday, according to the state news agency IRNA. Since the outbreak of war in Iran at the end of February, Tehran has severely restricted transit through this strategic waterway, requiring vessels to use routes authorised by the Islamic Republic. In response, the United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and has provided assistance to oil tankers passing through the Strait, a passage through which around a fifth of the world’s oil consumption normally transits.

Henry Kissinger argued that the world order rests on two pillars: a reasonably stable balance of power and a set of rules agreed by all on what states may or may not do. Today, those pillars have crumbled. The most serious aspect is that the most unexpected responsibility lies not so much with Vladimir Putin’s Russia or Xi Jinping’s China, but with the power that guaranteed that order: Donald Trump’s America.

From one Tuesday to the next, from a vote in Jerusalem to one in Washington: Kissinger’s prescriptions for avoiding chaos are a distant memory. In this lawless phase, the US and Israel are sources of uncertainty. ‘Now raise your right hand. I swear allegiance to the greatest president in the history of the United States, who loves us so much he can hardly breathe,’ Trump had said at the Republican rally in Dallas in September. What will happen if a president with such a penchant for omnipotence loses control of the Capitol and becomes a lame duck, a leader without power?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump discussed bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions between Washington and Tehran in a telephone conversation. This was reported on X by the official account of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. “Expressing his conviction that cooperation between Turkey and the United States will continue to strengthen, President Erdogan,” the post on X reads, “stated that they will continue their efforts to give new impetus to relations in the near future.” The Turkish President then reiterated that “tensions between Iran and the United States must cease” and that issues must be resolved through diplomacy. Erdogan reaffirmed that Turkey will continue to work towards peace. Hoping that the growing diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war between Ukraine and Russia will yield positive results, Erdogan concluded by stating that ‘he will continue to contribute to these efforts and that it is important to intensify dialogue with both Ukraine and Russia’.

The United Arab Emirates National Guard has stated that it rescued 22 people after a fire broke out on board their merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman. In a statement published on X, the National Guard said it had responded following a report from the ship’s crew regarding a fire on board, and that specialist teams had located the oil tanker and rescued the 22 people of Arab nationality who were on board. “They provided the necessary first aid before handing them over to the relevant authorities, and all are in a stable condition,” the statement read. The incident occurred after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had stated that two oil tankers had struck mines near the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire.

The decision by the Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the name of the Prime Minister who will be tasked with forming the new government was announced at the end of Shabbat. The spokesperson announced that the leader of Yashar Gadi Eisenkot had been informed and that the mandate would be conferred upon him on Sunday afternoon at 5.00 pm (one hour earlier in Italia) at the presidential residence; the ceremony will be broadcast live. During the two days of consultations, the political parties representing a total of 67 members of the Knesset recommended President Eisenkot, of the Change Bloc. The coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu received 46 nominations from members of Parliament. Meanwhile, the United Judaism party (an alliance of two Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties) decided not to nominate any candidate. Herzog’s spokesperson stated in an official statement that the President had held in-depth talks with various figures in the political system over the past few days, including meetings with Netanyahu and Eisenkot, to whom he had communicated his intention. There will therefore be 28 days, in accordance with the Basic Law, to form a new government.