Evening update

Live Blog Update| Israeli Elections

29 October 2026 00:06 GMT

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest developments: 

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said on Wednesday the election was "stolen" by Arab parties, after his party fell short of a majority to form the next government. The co-leader of the Arab Joint List party Hadash-Ta’al, Ahmad Tibi, rejected the claims, telling Al Jazeera that “the accusations made by the Likud are merely the rhetoric of the defeated”.

• The leader of key Arab-led party said on Wednesday that he was willing to cooperate with an opposition-led government to unseat Netanyahu, but was not open to joining such a coalition outright, after the Israeli Prime Minister called any coalition with Arab parties "forbidden". Leader of the Democrats party, Yair Golan, said on Wednesday that Arab-led party Ra’am could be part of the governing coalition in Israel.

• The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that US has warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the US midterm elections on 3 November

• The Israeli army struck the Deir Mimas municipality in southern Lebanon, after issuing an earlier warning to residents of a massive explosion in the town's vicinity.

• Air traffic was halted after Yemen's Aden airport was targeted with two missiles following an evacuation warning from the Houthis which caused injuries to civilians and material damage.

• Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem released a statement on Wednesday rejecting calls for the disarmament of the Lebanese group under a June US-brokered framework agreement with Israel and calling it a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.

• The US military said on Wednesday that claims from Iranian media that commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz were hitting sea mines were "false". 

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Iran will keep in close contact with intermediaries to give diplomacy a chance, even as its armed forces stand ready to defend the country.