{"id":943179,"date":"2026-10-23T09:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T09:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943179\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T09:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T09:38:13","slug":"israel-says-it-thwarted-terror-attack-and-other-middle-east-developments-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943179\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel says it thwarted \u2018terror attack,\u2019 and other Middle East developments \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Israel says it killed two gunmen and thwarted a \u201cterror attack\u201d against Israeli civilians. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office said Friday it had instructed the army to close the West Bank, where the attack occurred.<\/p>\n<p>The deadly shooting comes as Israeli voters will decide on Tuesday whether to grant Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister \u2014 or usher in a new era of Israeli politics. Also ahead of elections, Arab political parties asked Israel\u2019s supreme court to ban election observers from carrying guns, and at least one person was killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Read our full coverage here.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ad1f5e9f5f2c4b475f01054jpeg.jpg\" data-pswp- data-pswp-width=\"6000\" data-pswp-height=\"4000\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ad1f5e9f5f2c4b475f01054jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Israeli soldiers stand beside a wounded Palestinian man lying on a road after soldiers shot him following a settler attack on Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Falah, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Leo Correa)\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIsraeli soldiers stand beside a wounded Palestinian man lying on a road after soldiers shot him following a settler attack on Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Falah, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Leo Correa)<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s army says it killed two gunmen, prevented \u201cterror attack\u201d against Israelis<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s military said its soldiers shot and killed two men who had launched an attack near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. At least five people were wounded, including some critically.<\/p>\n<p>The army said it prevented a \u201cterror attack against Israeli civilians\u201d and that the gunmen had an M16 rifle and a handgun.<\/p>\n<p>Following the attack, Israel\u2019s Prime Minister\u2019s office said it had ordered the army to prepare for a full closure of the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency responders said five people were hurt, some critically, and were being evacuated to hospitals in Israel. A statement from the responders said gunfire was ongoing as they arrived at the scene of the attack near the Yehuda Junction.<\/p>\n<p>Two men in their 20s had gunshot wounds to their lower limbs; one of them was unconscious and seriously injured, the responders said. \u201cWe arrived at a difficult scene while shooting was still taking place in the area,\u201d said Tzuriel Edri, a member of the response team.<\/p>\n<p>Arab political parties ask Israel\u2019s supreme court to ban election observers from carrying guns<\/p>\n<p>Arab political parties running in Israel\u2019s national elections have asked the country\u2019s highest court to ban partisan election observers from carrying guns at polling stations.<\/p>\n<p>The petition filed Thursday asked for an immediate hearing on the issue and said the ban was critical to protecting public safety and to guaranteeing a free and fair election next Tuesday. Adalah, an Israel-based legal group, joined the Arab parties in filing it at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>It came after Jewish parties headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said they planned to send about 2,000 election observers to Arab neighborhoods, alleging voter fraud in the communities.<\/p>\n<p>The observers would be activists with Netanyahu\u2019s Likud, the major right-wing party, and Smotrich\u2019s Religious Zionists, a far-right party popular with Israeli settlers.<\/p>\n<p>Palestinians make up about 20% of Israel\u2019s population and carry citizenship, including the right to vote. But many Jewish Israelis view them with suspicion because of close family ties and support for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>The handful of Arab-led parties could prove decisive in the upcoming election, the first since Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack, if Jewish parties are willing to partner with them to form a governing coalition.<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF calls on Israel\u2019s military to stop killing children in Gaza<\/p>\n<p>UNICEF called on Israel\u2019s military to take immediate steps to stop the killing of children in Gaza, more than a year into a ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday the group said that the total number of children killed has surpassed 350 since Israel and Hamas reached the agreement last October.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis level of violence against children is unacceptable,\u201d Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF\u2019s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. He called on Israeli authorities to take immediate and decisive action to protect children.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s military continues to launch near-daily attacks on the enclave, but says those strikes target Hamas militants and that it takes steps to mitigate civilian harm, including using precision munitions and aerial surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Yemen retracts statement saying gatherings in Houthi-controlled areas would be considered military targets<\/p>\n<p>Yemen\u2019s defense ministry retracted a statement warning that tribal mobilization gatherings in Houthi-controlled areas would be considered legitimate military targets, calling the statement \u201cwrong and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defense Minister Taher al-Aqili apologized to Yemen\u2019s tribes in a post on X on Thursday, saying the military would not target tribal gatherings, known locally as \u201cNakf,\u201d or other civilian assemblies. He said the military would abide by international humanitarian law in all its operations.<\/p>\n<p>The statement earlier released by the internationally recognized ministry had warned residents in Houthi-controlled areas against attending such gatherings, accusing the Iran-backed rebels of using rallies and so-called \u201ccultural courses\u201d to mobilize supporters and recruit children for combat. These activities are among the Houthis\u2019 main tools for rallying support and fighters.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli strikes in Gaza kill one person<\/p>\n<p>Strikes by Israel\u2019s army killed at least one person in southern Gaza Friday morning, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792748293_407_newslettericons-business.jpg\" alt=\"Sign up for Business Weekly\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas militant.<\/p>\n<p>More than a year after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal, Israel continues to bombard Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>More than 1,500 Palestinians there have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire began in October 2025, according to the territory\u2019s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is regarded as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Part of the Hamas-run government, the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up nearly half of those killed.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel says it killed two gunmen and thwarted a \u201cterror attack\u201d against Israeli civilians. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-943179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}