Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed repeatedly refused to state whether Iran or Israel poses a greater threat to the United States, calling the question a ridiculous hypothetical and stating both are dangerous

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Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank surged during the October 2026 olive harvest, prompting U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio to call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to crack down on violence

Rabbis for Human Rights organized around 80 volunteers, including 33 U.S. citizens alongside British, Canadian, and Israeli participants, to provide protective solidarity for Palestinian farmers facing settler violence

Israeli military and police forces detained U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander and approximately 80 volunteers on October 21, 2026 while they harvested olives alongside Palestinian farmers near Nahalin, West Bank

Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller and ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, traveled to the West Bank as part of the Protect the Harvest coalition after vocal criticism of Israel's military operations in Gaza

Israeli forces informed the volunteer group of roughly 80 people detained near Nahalin that they had entered a closed military zone before taking them to a police station in an Israeli settlement on two separate buses

Brad Lander was released from Israeli military custody with a warning because of his public profile as a U.S. congressional candidate, while dozens of other volunteers remained held at a police station

The Wall Street Journal reported that increased military assistance and front-line guidance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helped Yemen's Houthi rebels take control of Yemen's Red Sea coast.

U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper cited reports that Iran-aligned regional proxy groups are withholding salaries from their own fighters to funnel funds back to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper stated that Iran-backed militias, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iraqi groups, are redirecting money back to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after nine months of war.

Acting Director Anton Goodman of Rabbis for Human Rights stated that the volunteer group detained near Nahalin could not have known the area was a closed military zone prior to arriving and had offered to leave peacefully

Israel Defense Forces officials stated on October 21, 2026 that the local landowner near Nehalim was provided contact information to coordinate the olive harvest near Nehalim at a later date

An American photojournalist for the Washington Post was beaten by Israeli settlers on October 16, 2026 while covering a West Bank olive harvest, and European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked the following day

The Israel Defense Forces stated that conducting an olive harvest near an Israeli community requires prior coordination for safety reasons, describing the presence of Brad Lander's group near Nehalim as an uncoordinated harvest posing security risks

Israeli authorities stated that security forces were actively facilitating authorized, safe olive harvests across the West Bank region while carrying out ongoing defensive and counterterrorism missions

T'ruah chief executive Rabbi Jill Jacobs stated that police made no formal accusations against the roughly 80 volunteers detained near Nahalin while holding them inside and outside a West Bank settlement police station

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Chief Adm. Ali Ozmai warned in October 2026 that any vessels turning off tracking systems while transiting the Strait of Hormuz would be considered hostile.

Israeli police announced on October 20, 2026 that they had arrested ten individuals in connection with violence against Palestinians and journalists during the West Bank olive harvest

Plaintiff Jeremy Linton was managing several dozen Iranian counterintelligence cases and was denied the opportunity to convey received intelligence to colleagues prior to his termination

The Defense Casualty Analysis System's official tally of U.S. military personnel deaths in the Middle East includes 15 deaths assigned to Operation Epic Fury and six assigned to the Overseas Operations category

Ongoing military conflict with Iran and tariffs against Canada have contributed to inflation and rising gas prices, prompting some Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from Donald Trump