The Cradle ✔

❗️Turkiye nominates former foreign minister & ambassador to Israel for next UN secretary-general Turkiye has formally nominated former foreign minister and longtime UN ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu as its candidate for the next UN secretary-general, state-run media reported on Saturday. Sinirlioglu had signaled his intention to run on the sidelines of last month’s high-level UN General Assembly meeting in New York. He briefly served as Turkiye’s foreign minister in 2015 during an interim period between elections and represented the country as its UN ambassador from 2016 to 2023. Between 2002 and 2007, Sinirlioglu also served as Turkiye’s ambassador to Israel.

BREAKING | Israeli occupation forces fire artillery shells and smoke grenades near residential homes in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya.

❗️Young Palestinian in Gaza killed by Israeli drone strike after Israeli soldier threatens family According to local reports and field sources cited by WAFA, 33-year-old Mohammed Alyan al-Bayouk was killed on Wednesday in a targeted Israeli drone strike on the rooftop of his family home in central Khan Yunis. Testimonies from local residents and family members confirm that an Israeli occupation soldier contacted Bayouk directly via phone, issuing an ultimatum that he ascend to the building’s rooftop to be targeted alone or face the immediate aerial destruction of the entire residential containing his family. Confronted with the threat of mass casualties, Bayouk chose to go to the rooftop in an effort to spare his family from being buried under the rubble of their multi-story residential building. Minutes after reaching the open roof near a local shelter school, an Israeli loitering munition executed a direct strike on his position, assassinating him instantly while leaving three other civilians injured. The targeted execution of Bayouk highlights the Israeli military's persistent pattern of using psychological coercion, direct phone threats, and targeted drone strikes against Palestinian civilians across the besieged Gaza Strip.

VIDEO | Footage shows the moment an Israeli detonated above a residential home in the southern Lebanese town of Mayfadoun. Local sources report that recent Israeli drone strikes targeting the town have primarily focused on homes equipped with internet antennas.

❗️Riyadh warns of critical regional juncture, condemns retaliatory attacks by Yemen's Armed Forces According to a report carried by the Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed al-Khereiji warned that the region has reached a critical juncture during his address at the Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain. Khereiji stated that the widening regional hostilities directly threatens maritime navigation, international energy supplies, and global economic stability, asserting that securing strategic choke points like the Red Sea and the Straits of Bab al-Mandab and Hormuz remains a collective international responsibility. The Saudi diplomat emphasized that Riyadh is actively pursuing diplomatic engagement alongside regional allies to settle disputes through peaceful means, while simultaneously reinforcing its own national defense architecture. He detailed that the kingdom is pairing its diplomatic track with military readiness measures, including the protection of critical energy infrastructure, the enhancement of cybersecurity frameworks, and the expansion of multilateral defense partnerships across the Gulf Cooperation Council. Concurrently, the Vice Foreign Minister launched a sharp attack against Yemen's Armed Forces, accusing them of escalating operations against targets in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Khereiji claimed that the retaliatory Yemeni military strikes undermine international diplomatic initiatives aimed at reaching a political settlement in Yemen, asserting that Riyadh will take all necessary measures to defend its national security against ongoing regional threats.

❗️Pakistan ‘cautiously optimistic’ about mediation efforts between Iran & US Pakistan’s military is “cautiously optimistic” about its efforts to mediate between Iran and the US, its spokesman told Reuters on Friday, in his first interview since a senior delegation traveled to Tehran earlier this week. Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s lead mediator in efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, has visited Tehran twice this month. His latest trip took place on Monday, accompanied by Saudi and Turkish officials. “Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course,” spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said when asked whether the visits indicated positive progress. “The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” added Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations. However, he warned that there were still "powerful spoilers and detractors" who believed the war served their interests, without identifying them. Speaking in Rawalpindi, the garrison city that houses Pakistan’s armed forces headquarters, Chaudhry declined to disclose the details of the discussions or confirm whether Washington had endorsed the visit. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin accompanied Munir during Monday’s visit to Tehran.

‼️Moments ago, two Israeli drones detonated over the roofs of two residential homes in the southern Lebanese town of Mayfadoun.

⭕️ Gaza's Health Ministry reported on 31 October that 6 Palestinians were killed and 26 injured in Israeli attacks over the past 48 hours. According to the ministry, 1,580 Palestinians have been killed and 5,711 injured in Israeli attacks since the so-called 'ceasefire' took effect on 11 October 2025, while the bodies of 845 Palestinians have been recovered from beneath the rubble during the same period.

❗️Israeli settler attacks target olive harvesters in occupied West Bank, leaving at least one injured Israeli settlers launched multiple attacks on Saturday against Palestinian residents and olive pickers across the Nablus and Bethlehem governorates. The assaults resulted in head injuries to one resident and forced dozens of farmers off their land under threat of arms. In the village of Duma, south of Nablus, a Palestinian man sustained severe head injuries after being brutally beaten by settlers during a raid on the Al-Shajara area east of the village, according to Safa News Agency. Meanwhile, in Bethlehem governorate, settlers assaulted olive harvesters near the eastern entrance of Marah Rabah village before driving them away at gunpoint. Further east in Ramallah, settlers under the protection of occupation forces stormed the main road connecting the villages of Abu Falah and Al-Mughayyir. The incidents are part of a continuous wave of settler aggression targeting Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank, particularly aimed at disrupting farmers and blocking access to their groves during the critical annual olive harvest season.

❗️Turkiye to host new round of Ukraine diplomatic discussions in November Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that he would hold "important" talks in Turkiye as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia. In his nightly video address, Zelensky suggested the discussions were connected to plans to resume negotiations next month aimed at finding a resolution to the war. "Important ⁠negotiations will take place in Turkey. We are ​also working to ensure that all available diplomatic opportunities ​are pursued," Zelensky said. "We expect that in November we will be able to move towards the formats that have ​been under discussion for such a long time."

‼️ Iran's Supreme Leader orders army to update target database and implement response 'without geographical limits' According to a report by state news agency IRNA, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei instructed senior military commanders to update the armed forces' strategic "Targets Bank" to encompass all US and Israeli physical and non-physical assets across the region. Speaking during a high-level briefing with general staff officers, Khamenei mandated an immediate upgrade of Iran’s military information architecture and called for deeper indigenous defense capabilities through advanced technologies to achieve "maximum deterrence" against external threats. Emphasizing a shift in strategic operational posture, Khamenei ordered the military establishment to prepare an "immediate, effective response without geographical limitations" in the event of renewed military aggression or clandestine operations by Washington or Tel Aviv. The directive explicitly expands the potential scope of Iranian military action, asserting that any future hostility will be met with borderless retaliatory strikes across multiple domains. "If the enemies once again launch military or terrorist attacks, it is the armed forces of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation that will determine the time and conditions for their end," Khamenei declared.

❗️Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Friday night that Yemeni forces had not carried out any operations targeting Saudi territory, dismissing Riyadh's claim that it had intercepted a drone over Medina as "blatant and egregious lies." Saree accused Saudi Arabia of fabricating claims against Yemen and its armed forces, describing them as evidence of the kingdom's "moral and ethical bankruptcy."

❗️A US drone struck two fishing boats 14 nautical miles south of Qeshm Island earlier today, Fars News Agency reports.

❗️US War Department seeks emergency clearance for sublingual ketamine wafers to treat battlefield casualties According to a report by Politico, the US War Department is fast-tracking the procurement of sublingual ketamine wafers for battlefield trauma management, pushing for emergency regulatory clearance to bypass standard Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval cycles. The move follows a $41 million sole-source development contract awarded earlier this year to Singapore-based iX Biopharma to produce "Wafermine"—a fast-dissolving sublingual wafer designed to deliver high-potency ketamine directly into the bloodstream through the oral mucous membrane. The rapid push toward emergency authorization stems from a September declaration by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who formally cited a heightened risk of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear) attacks and high-intensity combat scenarios capable of causing mass casualty events. Under the federal declaration, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. determined that emergency conditions exist to justify the deployment of unapproved, specialized analgesics to prevent severe shock and hemodynamic instability among wounded combat personnel. The Pentagon's shift toward sublingual ketamine underscores an evolving tactical medicine strategy that prioritizes rapid, non-opioid pain management in extreme combat environments where intravenous administration is impractical. However, the program faces immediate logistical and regulatory hurdles following reports that iX Biopharma’s primary domestic manufacturing partner currently lacks the required state licensing in Nevada to operate, drawing increased scrutiny from federal lawmakers over the expedited sole-source procurement process.

BREAKING | The official social media account of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei confirms that he met with top commanders of the country's armed forces to issue strategic directives. According to the brief statement, the nature of these instructions will be published shortly.

❗️Jordanian border guards thwarted an attempted infiltration by 14 armed individuals seeking to enter northern Jordan from Syria, the armed forces said in a statement on Saturday. The group attempted to cross the border on Friday amid heavy gunfire and direct clashes, resulting in multiple casualties among its members. The remaining individuals fled back into Syria, according to the statement.

❗️Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Saturday that he was "extremely worried" about a renewed escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran, warning that another round of fighting would be more destructive and have far-reaching consequences. Speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain, Abdelatty said: "The second round will be more dangerous, more ​destructive, and it will lead to nowhere. We have to draw lessons from the past."

❗️The Ministry of Education in Gaza mourns the death of teacher Diaa Abu al-Rous, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, on Saturday morning.

❗️Israeli military siege in occupied West Bank forcibly displaces nearly 3,500 Palestinians Local authorities in Hebron (Al-Khalil) report that a week-long Israeli military siege has forced 3,361 Palestinians from their homes, including 1,425 children. The ongoing blockade has completely halted daily life and severely disrupted education, leaving roughly 262,000 students impacted and nearly 2,200 trapped inside besieged zones. Economic damage is escalating rapidly, as hundreds of industrial and commercial facilities face heavy disruption, while several sites in Farsh al-Hawa have suffered severe structural damage, bulldozing, or complete demolition. In response to the growing crisis, municipal officials say they are actively coordinating emergency relief efforts and arranging temporary shelter for displaced families.

UPDATE | The aftermath of a massive Israeli attack on Baraachit, in southern Lebanon.