Posts of The Cradle

❗️Gulf stock markets rally as investors assess US midterm fallout, war on Iran Gulf stock markets rose in early trading on Wednesday as investors assessed the implications of the US midterm elections and awaited Washington's next move in its war on Iran. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index climbed 1.7%, supported by a 6.7% surge in Saudi Arabian Mining Company and a 1.4% gain in Al-Rajhi Bank. Qatar's benchmark index jumped 2.3%, with nearly all its constituent stocks trading higher. Qatar Islamic Bank gained 3.3%. Dubai's main share index advanced 2.1%, led by a 3.6% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index rose 0.9%.

UPDATE | Oil prices declined on Wednesday, reversing earlier gains of around $1. By 10:34 GMT, Brent crude futures had dropped $1.75, or 0.7%, to $101.85 a barrel, after falling as much as $2 earlier in the session. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost $1.18, or 1.2%, to $94.91.

BREAKING | An Israeli drone laden with explosives is seen flying at low altitude near residential homes in Tebnine, southern Lebanon.

❗️Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei dismisses US midterm shifts, warns US hostility remains unchanged Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei stated that the outcome of the US midterm elections will not fundamentally alter Washington's hostile policy posture toward Tehran, dismissing expectations of a major diplomatic pivot following the Democratic victory in Congress. In remarks carried by IRNA, Khamenei warned against misjudging political changes in Washington, stressing that basic imperial policy goals remain consistent across partisan lines. He noted that internal "factional shifts" within US politics will not "dissuade it from its hostility towards the Iranian nation," asserting that the primary objective of American leadership remains the "unconditional surrender of the Iranian nation." At the same time, the Iranian leader highlighted that Washington's participation in the US-Israeli war on Iran has produced a "self-made scandal" that severely weakened its international standing. Khamenei declared that the US has "suffered an irreversible decline" as a direct result of its regional military entanglements, adding that "the process of its collapse has accelerated" despite ongoing attempts by both political parties to project imperial strength across the region.

⭕️ Gaza's Health Ministry reported on 4 November that 3 Palestinians were killed, including one who succumbed to previous injuries, and 21 others were injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours. According to the ministry, 1,602 Palestinians have been killed and 5,794 injured in Israeli attacks since the so-called 'ceasefire' took effect on 11 October 2025, while the bodies of 847 Palestinians have been recovered from beneath the rubble during the same period.

❗️Israeli media in panic over Democratic midterm sweep, warns against ignoring growing anti-war shift in Washington The Israeli press reacted with shock on Wednesday following the sweeping Democratic victory in the US midterm elections, sounding widespread alarms over the long-term strategic consequences for Tel Aviv as critics of Israeli policy gain significant power in Congress. In an analysis published this morning, Haaretz highlighted progressive candidate Abdul el-Sayed’s victory over pro-Israel candidate Mike Rogers, noting the outcome proved that "even strident opposition to Israel is no barrier to winning competitive federal races." The report emphasized that Sayed secured his Senate seat despite the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) sinking over $30 million into the Democratic primary and spending another $9 million on Rogers' behalf during the general election. Simultaneously, The Jerusalem Post warned that the collapse of Republican majorities threatens to permanently alter the strategic relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv. "The implications of the US midterm elections for Israel could extend far beyond the loss of Republican control of Congress," the paper observed, identifying the US-Israeli war on Iran launched on 28 February as the primary catalyst for Republican electoral losses. Concluding its assessment, The Jerusalem Post cautioned Israeli leadership that "the expansion of the camp critical of Israel, and its growing access to positions of influence, represents a shift that Israel cannot afford to ignore."

❗️AFP citing Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam: • “Faced with the risks of renewed war in the region, I renew my warning of the dangers of dragging Lebanon into a new senseless adventure in service of outside interests.” • “We do not accept the country again becoming a theater for the conflict of others ... [Lebanon] already paid a heavy price.”

❗️️️️️️️Israeli President Herzog receives official Israeli election results as Eisenkot leads recommendations to form next government Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the official results of the 26th Knesset elections on Wednesday, 4 November, paving the way for consultations to determine who will be tasked with forming the next government. According to Ynet and The Jerusalem Post, the Central Elections Committee approved the results after finding no evidence of irregularities or compromised election integrity, despite claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party that the election had been stolen. The results leave Israel facing a political deadlock, with Netanyahu’s bloc securing 53 seats, the opposition bloc winning 48, and Palestinian parties Ra’am and the Joint List securing a combined 19 seats, according to The Jerusalem Post. Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot is currently expected to receive 48 recommendations from Yashar!, Naftali Bennett’s Yachad, the Democrats, and Yisrael Beytenu, compared with 46 for Netanyahu from Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Shas, and Religious Zionism, according to Ynet. The Arab parties and United Torah Judaism have yet to announce their recommendations, leaving the outcome uncertain. The approval process unfolded amid controversy over allegations of foreign interference. Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency presented claims of extensive foreign financing and influence operations involving large sums of money, but provided no supporting evidence, according to Ynet. The allegations followed Shin Bet chief David Zini’s request to investigate Palestinian lawmakers Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi without presenting evidence, prompting Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to warn that elected officials cannot be investigated without sufficient justification. Herzog is scheduled to consult parliamentary factions on Wednesday and Thursday before deciding which candidate has the strongest prospects of forming a government. While Eisenkot could potentially secure broader backing if Palestinian parties recommend him, Netanyahu retains the larger parliamentary bloc. Possible outcomes include a coalition agreement, a unity government, a minority government, or another election if negotiations fail.

Democrats win sweeping landslide in midterms as Iran says US citizens ‘voted no to war’ First Muslim senator Abdul el-Sayed said US citizens do not want their money going to ‘genocide, apartheid, and war’

❗️Tehran says US midterm outcome is direct defeat imposed by Iranian resilience Iranian officials and senior lawmakers characterized the dramatic Republican defeat in the US midterm elections as a strategic victory achieved through Iranian national resilience, asserting that US voters rejected Washington's willingness to fight wars on behalf of Tel Aviv. Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the incoming US administration against disregarding domestic public opinion, emphasizing that Washington's unconditional alignment with Israeli war objectives directly triggered its political collapse at home. "If the United States government betrays their public will … it will learn our no comes with a nightmare," Ghalibaf stated, according to Al Jazeera, arguing that it is time for US policymakers to prioritize their own national interests over Israeli expansionism. Reinforcing the mood in Tehran, the deputy chairman of parliament's internal affairs commission declared that the Democratic congressional sweep represents a historic victory for the Iranian people rather than a standard partisan shift. Iranian leadership maintains that popular economic backlash over soaring energy prices and foreign military entanglements proved that Tehran’s steadfast resistance directly imposed a political defeat on Donald Trump and the Republican party.

⭕️ In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces announced that Saudi warplanes carried out 93 airstrikes over the past 24 hours, targeting civilian sites in the capital Sanaa and the governorates of Al-Jawf, Taiz, Saada, Marib, Amran, Lahij, and Hajjah, killing and wounding a large number of civilians, including women and children. According to the statement, the attacks involved F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets operating from Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases. The Yemeni Armed Forces added that the total number of Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks against Yemen since the escalation began has reached 4,032.

VIDEO | Israeli settlers storm Bethlehem poultry facility, destroying thousands of eggs A group of Israeli settlers stormed an agricultural poultry farm in the Dheisheh refugee camp south of occupied Bethlehem, carrying out widespread vandalism and destroying tens of thousands of eggs intended for local distribution, according to WAFA. Eyewitnesses reported that the armed settlers deliberately smashed thousands of crates containing essential food supplies before escaping under the protection of nearby Israeli occupation forces. The targeted facility supplied fresh eggs to hundreds of impoverished families and local merchants across the Bethlehem governorate, compounding severe food security shortages produced by ongoing military blockades and movement restrictions.

VIDEO | Israeli occupation bulldozers demolish the home of Palestinian Suleiman Abu Sbeih in Al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. (Quds News Network)

❗️️️️Israeli Shin Bet chief pushes investigation into Palestinian lawmakers without evidence Israeli Shin Bet chief David Zini is pushing for an investigation into Palestinian political leaders over alleged foreign interference in Israel's 27 October election while refusing to hand over supporting evidence to police and prosecutors, Haaretz reported on 3 November. Zini has demanded that United Arab List leader Mansour Abbas, Ta'al leader Ahmad Tibi, Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh, and another unnamed Palestinian lawmaker be questioned under caution, despite authorities having received no substantiated evidence against them. According to Haaretz, Zini claims that foreign funding was transferred to Palestinian parties in the Knesset and used to distribute fuel vouchers to voters. However, during a meeting with election officials, the intelligence he presented reportedly consisted of unverified hearsay and photographs circulating on social media. Zini also sought to classify the allegations as security offenses, potentially allowing the Shin Bet to deploy extraordinary investigative measures, including denying suspects access to lawyers. Justice Ministry officials, police investigators, and Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg rejected his approach, insisting that any investigation must follow established legal procedures. Despite an agreement to establish a joint Shin Bet-police investigation team under prosecutorial supervision, Zini has refused to transfer the relevant materials and has reportedly attempted to bypass Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Senior law enforcement officials sharply condemned his conduct, with one describing his theory as "completely baseless" and others likening his approach to a "North Korean dictatorship." Baharav-Miara confirmed that the Shin Bet had failed to provide the requested evidence, while Sohlberg insisted that the election results would be published as scheduled on 4 November. Palestinian political parties denounced the investigation push as an attempt to delegitimize their electoral gains and undermine the votes of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. The Joint List accused Zini, a Netanyahu appointee, of serving the prime minister's political interests, declaring that it would not allow Palestinian votes to be treated as a security threat. Opposition leaders also condemned the move, with Yair Lapid accusing Netanyahu loyalists of attempting to "crush democracy and steal the election." Netanyahu's Likud party, meanwhile, accused the attorney general of obstructing a legitimate security investigation, allegations she rejected. The investigation comes after Palestinian parties secured a historic 19 seats in Israel's 120-member Knesset in the 27 October election, emerging as a potentially decisive force in determining the next government and threatening Netanyahu's hold on power.

❗️Egyptian-American surgeon and Gaza medic Adam Hamawy wins New Jersey House seat Egyptian-American combat surgeon Adam Hamawy won a seat in the US House of Representatives representing New Jersey's 12th Congressional District on Tuesday, becoming the first Muslim and Arab-American elected to Congress from the state. The 56-year-old Democrat defeated Republican opponent Gregg Mele after running a campaign focused on lowering healthcare costs, expanding social services, and completely halting US military aid and weapon transfers to Israel. A former US Army combat surgeon who saved the life of US Senator Tammy Duckworth after her helicopter was downed in Iraq in 2004, Hamawy subsequently spent months volunteering on medical missions in Gaza during 2024 and 2025. His firsthand experience treating wounded civilians under continuous bombardment by Israeli occupation forces served as a primary catalyst for entering electoral politics, according to his campaign. Hamawy’s victory reflects growing domestic resistance to Washington's unconditional funding of Israeli war crimes, joining an expanding bloc of incoming congressional lawmakers advocating for an end to foreign military financing.

❗️Trump claims US has no immediate plans to strike Iran US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington has no immediate plans to launch strikes against Iran, telling the Financial Times that he was satisfied with the current state between the two countries. Speaking to the newspaper in a six-minute phone interview on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Washington was achieving its objectives, saying: “We seem to be getting everything we want.”

⭕️️ Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on an official visit accompanied by a high-level delegation, according to Syria's state news agency SANA. The delegation includes the ministers of foreign affairs and expatriates, defense, finance, and industry, as well as the head of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate.

❗️Trump political capital plummets to historic low as Democrats sweep US Congress US President Donald Trump’s political standing has hit a new low midway through his term following a sweeping midterm election defeat that handed Democrats control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, according to polling data released by the Associated Press today. The AP poll reveals that six in 10 voters disapprove of Trump’s performance, while roughly 70 percent favor increased congressional checks on executive power. Voters under 30, who split evenly between Trump and Kamala Harris in 2024, shifted dramatically, with seven in 10 supporting Democratic House candidates. Electoral results saw Democratic Senate candidates flip long-held conservative strongholds in Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina, while Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Representative Ilhan Omar also secured re-election to the House despite explicit calls from Trump demanding her resignation. Addressing the historic electoral losses, Trump acknowledged that the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran heavily influenced voter sentiment, stating that US citizens were unwilling to absorb the economic fallout of soaring domestic fuel prices. While confirming he would accept the election results, Trump admitted that public backlash over inflation and energy disruptions directly eroded Republican support at the polls.

⭕️ Oil prices climbed on Wednesday amid volatile trading as investors awaited Washington's next steps in the US-Israeli war on Iran. Brent crude futures gained 0.7%, or 76 cents, to $104.36 a barrel by 07:30 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 0.7%, or 63 cents, to $96.72, reversing earlier losses. The gains followed Brent's settlement at its lowest level in nearly four weeks during the previous session.

❗️Two drones carrying explosives targeted Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah and eastern Erbil on Wednesday, according to Reuters citing security sources.

UPDATE | Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that four oil tankers attempting to cross a prohibited corridor south of the Strait of Hormuz were destroyed after striking naval mines and remain on fire, while two other vessels were intercepted. It also said that its Aerospace Force shot down a 56th MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz at 4:30 AM on Wednesday, using an advanced air defense system.

⭕️️️️️️ In a new attempt to manufacture another pretext for renewed attacks on Iran, Israel has reportedly provided the US with intelligence claiming that Tehran is considering the use of chemical weapons, according to The New York Times. The report claims US officials are divided over the credibility of the Israeli intelligence, with some senior officials recalling the false US intelligence claims in 2002 that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

⭕️ Tasnim News Agency reports that shots were fired at vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without authorization, citing local accounts of fire heard in Bandar Abbas and Sirik. • The reported incident has not yet been confirmed by official sources.

Turkiye’s little brother no more: Azerbaijan charts its own course Baku’s growing independence and deepening ties with Israel are testing its alliance with Ankara, exposing wider tensions over regional influence and security. By Ehsan Movahedian

Trump claims funding to Israel ending in 2026 as merger of Israeli–US armies looms The president’s remarks precede the approval of the US 2027 annual defense budget, which could take place next month but may be delayed

UPDATE | Oil prices dropped around 2% to a three-week low on Tuesday amid volatile trading. Brent crude futures fell $1.63, or 2%, to $103.14 per barrel by 15:44 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined 67 cents, or 1%, to $95.79. Brent was heading towards its lowest closing level since 7 October, while WTI was on track for its weakest close since 14 October.

Oman inks currency swap deal with China as Xi warns against turning West Asia into 'arena for great power rivalry' The two countries signed 16 agreements spanning technology, energy, trade, and finance

❗️Riyadh and Washington coordinate military strategy as retaliatory strikes target Saudi infrastructure Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman held a telephone conference with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to discuss bilateral defense cooperation and ongoing regional de-escalation efforts following retaliatory operations launched by Yemen's Armed Forces against Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The high-level military dialogue comes as the expanding US-Israeli war on Iran spills across regional battlefronts, triggering renewed Yemeni missile and drone strikes against strategic Saudi targets, including major international airports and key oil infrastructure. Yemeni Armed Forces have simultaneously maintained a naval blockade and expanded offensive operations along the Red Sea coastline. Despite public calls for de-escalation, reporting from US media indicates that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously requested direct US military intervention to counter Yemeni strikes. While Washington declined to execute direct airstrikes on behalf of Riyadh, the Pentagon agreed to expand actionable intelligence sharing and target identification support to bolster Saudi operations.

Israel kills 19 Palestinians in Gaza during three-day bombing spree Israel continues to block the entry of food, fuel, and cooking gas from Egypt

⭕️ The Islamic Resistance in Iraq publishes its monitoring report of US military aircraft violating Iraqi airspace on Monday, 2 November 2026, recording 13 aircraft operating from bases in Jordan and Turkiye, including 11 MQ-9 drones, one MQ-1 drone, and one KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft.