The Rest of the World Report | October 5, 2026 — Morning Edition
The View From Everywhere Else
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GOLANI LEAVES SOUTHERN LEBANON
Israel’s Golani Brigade is out of southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military announced the withdrawal on Wednesday, September 30. It posted footage of troops leaving. The brigade belongs to the 36th Division. It spent seven months in what Israel calls a security zone. The zone ran around Beaufort Ridge, the Shqif Heights and the Litani River. The military said the troops are leaving for a period of rest. It said more than 900 sites used by Hezbollah were destroyed during the deployment. That figure is the military’s own.
It is not clear what replaces the brigade.
Golani’s exit appeared in a report six days earlier. On September 24, the Israeli military’s force in southern Lebanon went from eight brigades to six. Four units left. They were the Commando Brigade, the Golani Brigade, the 55th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade and the 4th Armored Reserve Brigade. Two replacements arrived, the 188th Armored Brigade and the Ground Forces Training School Brigade. That is a net cut of two. A military source said the cut would ease the manpower burden and let reservists go home.
The deployment began in March. On March 11, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir moved a Golani combat team from Southern Command to Northern Command, which covers the Lebanese border. The order followed a situational assessment during Operation Roaring Lion, the Israeli operation then under way against Hezbollah.
In late May, Golani soldiers were among the forces that captured Beaufort Castle. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they raised the flag of Israel and the flag of the brigade over it. He called the capture a “dramatic shift” in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
Israeli air strikes continued through September. On October 1, the Israeli military gave its September total. Its air force hit more than 370 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, it said. It said it hit more than 500 targets across Lebanon and Gaza combined.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, visited the south. It was his fourth visit to Nabatieh and Tyre. He called on Israel to withdraw and stop its attacks. He said the ceasefire with Israel must be consolidated and captives released. He told southerners the state’s means do not match their needs. “You are not alone,” he said.
A new round of Lebanese-Israeli talks is scheduled for the second half of October in Tampa, Florida. The date is potentially October 20. Military delegations from both sides will attend. The agenda is military matters and security arrangements. Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the talks.
🌍 Translator’s Note: The Israeli military described the departure as a rest after seven months and 900 destroyed sites. The Jerusalem Post gave a different reason in its September 24 report. It cited manpower strain and getting reservists home. The same report carried a warning from Oren Zini, a reserve colonel and former commander. He said giving up those areas would let the enemy escape with its forces and munitions. Naharnet (Lebanon) carried Salam’s call for Israel to withdraw and for the ceasefire to be consolidated. The New Arab (UK-based) headlined the withdrawal together with the resumption of Lebanon-Israel talks.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Israel has pulled the Golani Brigade out of southern Lebanon after seven months. The military calls it a rest, and a military source cited manpower. Lebanon and Israel are due to hold talks in Tampa, Florida, in the second half of October. Lebanon’s ambassador thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of them.
Sources: APA (Azerbaijan news agency; September 30 announcement, Division 36, rest period, 900 sites claim); The New Arab (UK-based; seven-month deployment, locations, Tampa talks); Jerusalem Post (Israel, centre-right; September 24 brigade reduction, units, manpower reason, Zini); Israel Hayom (Israel, right-leaning; March 11 redeployment, Zamir); Ynet (Israel; Beaufort capture, Netanyahu statement); Naharnet (Lebanon; Salam’s visit and statements); Naharnet (Lebanon; Israeli military claim of 370 targets); Naharnet (Lebanon; Tampa talks, Moawad, Rubio)
ISRAEL SEALS WEST BANK AND GAZA
Israel closed every crossing into the West Bank and Gaza on Monday.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the closure on Sunday, following military recommendations. It covers October 5 and October 7, the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Aid does not enter Gaza on those days. Only the Kerem Shalom crossing lets aid in, the World Health Organization said Saturday. Rafah allows limited movement of patients. Four other crossings are closed under Israeli control. COGAT is the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. It said aid collection on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom continues as usual. It said the closure is not expected to have any impact on the humanitarian situation.
Israelis using West Bank checkpoints are exempt. Palestinian healthcare workers may cross. Other Palestinians may cross only in cases covered by commitments the state has made to Israel’s High Court of Justice. Every other case needs COGAT approval. The closure includes the crossings around Bethlehem.
The World Health Organization warned on Saturday that repeated delays risk devastating consequences. The warning covered medicines, prosthetics and other supplies coming into Gaza from Israel. Medicines move relatively well by contrast, it said. Almost 87 percent were approved and just over 1 percent rejected. One shipment of prosthetics and assistive devices has been rejected four times in six months. In Gaza, nearly 2 million people need shelter protection as winter approaches. Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, a WHO representative, called on Israeli authorities to ease the pressure on medical supplies. She said essential medicines should not be treated as dual use, meaning goods with both civilian and military uses. They are standard items any hospital or clinic needs, she said. She also said supplies that arrive too late do not save lives.
Israeli strikes continued in Gaza over the weekend. On Saturday, a strike on an apartment in Gaza City’s Remal neighborhood killed five. On Sunday, one Palestinian was killed when a vehicle was hit in Deir al-Balah. Ten were injured. The Israeli military said a Hamas official was killed in an overnight apartment strike. It is not clear whether that was the Remal strike. The military has not commented on the Sunday strike. Since the Gaza ceasefire began in October 2025, more than 1,440 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,000 wounded.
In the West Bank on Saturday, Israeli settlers attacked about 50 olive pickers in villages near Nablus. They burned olive trees and smashed vehicles. Israeli forces detained dozens of people, including activists and journalists. Palestinian authorities say settlers have killed 30 Palestinians in 2026. They say it is the most since 2022.
The closure follows a week of restrictions for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. From September 27 through October 4, Palestinians were barred from Jewish areas of the West Bank. The Israeli military raised its West Bank deployment to 24 battalions, more than double the usual 11. The increase followed three recent terror incidents.
🌍 Translator’s Note: Al-Ahram (Egypt, state-affiliated) reported the order as a shutdown of all West Bank and Gaza crossings. It stressed that no exceptions would be granted except in cases with prior approval. The Times of Israel led with COGAT’s statement. The closure, it said, is not expected to have any impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Both reports describe the same order. Each puts a different part of it first.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Israel has sealed every crossing into the West Bank and Gaza for October 5 and October 7. No aid enters Gaza then. Gaza’s ceasefire, in place since October 2025, is US-led, per the Turkish state broadcaster.
Sources: Times of Israel (Israel, right-centre; October 4 order, dates, exceptions, COGAT aid statement); Al-Ahram (Egypt, state-affiliated; Katz order, Bethlehem crossings, approval requirement); Jerusalem Post (Israel, centre-right; Sukkot restrictions, 24 battalions); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; WHO warning, crossings, medicine and prosthetics figures, Van De Weerdt); The National (UAE; weekend Gaza strikes, Israeli military statement, ministry toll since ceasefire); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; olive-picker attack, detentions, settler killings figure); TRT World, citing Anadolu Agency (Türkiye, state broadcaster and state-affiliated agency; US-led ceasefire description)
SÁNCHEZ CALLS A SNAP ELECTION
Spain votes on Sunday, November 29.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the election on Monday. Elections were not due until 2027.
On Friday, Congress rejected two housing decrees. One protected vulnerable tenants from eviction and gave landlords tax incentives. The other renewed leases automatically and compensated tenants. The conservative People’s Party, the far-right Vox and the Catalan separatist party Junts voted against. Together they denied the government the majority it needed.
Junts had said it would oppose both decrees unless they were withdrawn. It said they did not protect small landlords enough. The government refused to withdraw them.
Earlier on Monday, before Sánchez spoke, People’s Party secretary general Miguel Tellado posted a video. He urged Sánchez to call elections as soon as possible.
On Saturday, more than 70,000 people demonstrated in Madrid over the housing crisis. The anger had deepened after an 87-year-old woman was evicted from the home she had lived in for 70 years. An investment fund had bought her building and raised the rent.
The government faced other pressure. In late July, tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. The People’s Party and Vox called the government’s response too slow. Sánchez defended the security forces. Corruption investigations have reached figures close to the Socialist Party. Sánchez himself faces no charges. The government has lost a string of votes in Congress.
Sánchez leads a minority government. He has been prime minister since 2018, when he removed his predecessor in a no-confidence vote. He said he wants to “renew people’s support” and win a much larger progressive majority for social reforms.
A 40dB poll taken August 31 to September 2 put the People’s Party at 32.4 percent. It put the Socialists at 27.6, Vox at 17.8 and Sumar at 5.7. The People’s Party and Vox together reach just over 50 percent.
People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called the vote a choice between corruption and decency. He said, “Finally we will be able to choose.” His party posted a video captioned with one word, “FINALLY.” Vox leader Santiago Abascal urged prudence about the polls. Yolanda Díaz, from the left coalition, blamed Feijóo, Abascal and others for the decrees’ defeat. She said the left is ready.
🌍 Translator’s Note: Euronews (Europe, multilingual, broadly centrist) framed the housing defeat as one of several blows. It listed the Ceuta crossings, the corruption cases and the lost votes alongside it. Al Jazeera framed the call as a response to the housing crisis. It led with the Madrid march and the eviction.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Spain votes on November 29, earlier than scheduled. Sánchez called it after Congress rejected his housing decrees. The People’s Party leads in the polls. It and Vox could win a majority together.
Sources: Euronews (Europe, multilingual, broadly centrist; election date, Friday vote, parties, Ceuta, corruption cases, minority government); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Monday announcement, Madrid protest figure, eviction); NewsDrum (India; decrees, 2027 schedule, Sánchez statement, 2018 background); Ara (Catalonia; decree contents, Junts position, government refusal to withdraw); Infobae (Argentina-based; Tellado video); Politpro (Europe; 40dB poll figures and fieldwork dates); El Constitucional (Spain; Feijóo, Abascal and Díaz reactions)
HOUTHIS CUT THE TAIZ ROAD
Houthi forces have cut the main road between Taiz and Aden.
The Houthis are an Iran-backed movement that captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. They took the town of Turbah on Sunday. It sits on the road between Taiz and Aden, the government’s interim capital. Government forces had used it as a defensive position. The loss isolates Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, and disrupts resupply for the troops defending Taiz governorate. The Houthis already hold villages on the city’s outskirts.
Taiz governorate has 4.5 million people. Heavy fighting centers on Jabal Han, the mountain that overlooks Taiz city. Government forces say they have captured several areas, including Samaa Fort. Neither side has a decisive gain.
On Friday, Yemen’s army said it killed or wounded 1,540 Houthi fighters in 24 hours. Army spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili announced the figure. He said government forces carried out nearly 500 operations. He called the numbers initial estimates. The claim has not been independently verified. No Houthi response was reported.
The fighting has displaced people across Yemen. The International Organization for Migration counts more than 149,000 displaced, many of them more than once. The World Food Programme said displaced families are arriving outside Aden and around Taiz with no food or water. In accessible government-held areas, 74 percent of households cannot meet basic food needs. That is a record for this year. Across the country, 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished.
On Sunday, Rashad al-Alimi announced an offensive. He is chairman of the Yemeni government’s Presidential Leadership Council. In a televised address, he called it “the battle for the state.” He ordered the armed forces to retake the remaining Houthi-held territory. The operations include the Taiz front.
A researcher at Chatham House, a UK think tank (non-partisan), called the offensive “meaningless” given current military realities.
The Saudi-led coalition, which backs the government, said it carried out 97 targeting operations on Sunday. Saudi Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki pledged “full operational support” to the government.
A Houthi spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed the group fired ballistic missiles and drones at two Saudi Aramco facilities. Aramco is the Saudi state oil company. One is in Riyadh. The other is near Khurais. He said the strikes caused large fires. The claim is the Houthis’ own.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Iran-backed Houthi forces cut the road between Taiz and Aden by taking Turbah. Yemen’s government has announced an offensive to retake all Houthi-held territory. The Saudi-led coalition says it is backing the effort with air operations.
Sources: Business Standard (India; Turbah capture, road to Aden, Taiz outskirts, al-Malki); Dawn (Pakistan, editorially independent; supply corridor, Chatham House researcher, Saree claim); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; al-Alimi address, fronts, 97 coalition operations, Aramco sites); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Taiz governorate population, Jabal Han, Samaa Fort); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; army casualty claim); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; IOM, WFP and food-insecurity figures); Ynet (Israel; al-Alimi statement)
BRIEFS
Mekelle changes hands. Ethiopian federal forces and the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces took Mekelle, the Tigray regional capital, on Sunday, October 4. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it had “temporarily moved out of Mekelle.” No casualty figures have been reported. Ethiopian officials plan a temporary regional administration and regional elections within months. Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki, Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan issued a joint declaration. It called for political and peaceful solutions to regional conflicts and backed Sudan’s military-led government. Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; Mekelle seizure, TPLF statement); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; joint declaration, temporary administration)
500 French schools shut. France’s Education Minister Édouard Geffray ordered 400 to 500 high schools fully or partly closed on Monday as a security precaution. The closures follow weeks of student protests. He said 24 schools have been burned or ransacked. Organizers have called large demonstrations for Tuesday. Source: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent; closures, Geffray statement, Tuesday protests)
NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,684 killed
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,386 killed, 12,413 wounded
🇮🇱 Israel: 1,200+ killed, ~5,400 wounded
🇺🇸 US military: 23 killed, 861 wounded
🇵🇸 Gaza: 74,332+ killed, 5,060+ wounded (since ceasefire)
🇵🇸 West Bank: 322 killed (incl. 74 children), 5,927 wounded (incl. 946 children) since January 2025
🛢️ Brent crude: $102/barrel
⛽ US gas: $4.37/gallon
Sources: HRANA (Iran); Lebanon MOPH; INSS (Israel); DCAS (US); OCHA (West Bank); gazacasualties.org (Gaza total); The National (Gaza since ceasefire); OilPrice.com (Brent); AAA (US gas).
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789