NEWS

UNRWA’s West Bank director, Roland Friedrich, said the scenes in Hebron carry “alarming echoes” of the mass displacement in the northern occupied West Bank in early 2025, when Israeli military operations emptied the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps.

More than 34,000 Palestinian refugees from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps remain displaced, according to UNRWA, more than a year after Israel’s “Iron Wall” operation began in January 2025. The operation destroyed more than half of the camps’ residential buildings.

OCHA’s demolition records capture only a fraction of that destruction. Between 2009 and October 2026, the agency recorded 1,399 buildings demolished in the Jenin and Tulkarem governorates, displacing 4,139 people. Those records mainly track demolitions carried out for lack of permits or as punishment, not buildings destroyed during military raids.

An investigation by the research group Forensic Architecture found evidence of deliberate, systematic destruction. Researchers verified more than 200 incidents involving the destruction of buildings and streets across four refugee camps, using armoured bulldozers, controlled demolitions and air attacks. They found that roads were widened through homes and gardens to create routes for military vehicles. The group concluded that Israel was applying tactics in the occupied West Bank similar to those it had used in Gaza.

In February 2025, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tulkarem and Jenin would come to resemble Jabalia and Shujayea, two of Gaza’s most devastated areas.

The raids have not stopped. Last week, Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Tulkarem, and in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, troops converted several homes into military barracks, as they have in Hebron.

Near Jenin, the army has ordered the residents of an entire village to leave permanently. “I have sheep and cows. Our entire lives are tied to this land,” said farmer Jabri Yahya. “Last year they uprooted our olive trees, and this year they want to force us to leave. We don’t know where to go.”

General Atomics says it is working on a new hybrid-electric-powered flying-wing-type strike/reconnaissance drone called NextGen that could be able to stay aloft for more than 60 hours. Work on NextGen will also feed into one of the designs within the company’s Gambit family of drones, which are also based around a common modular core ‘chassis’ concept. Separate progress is being made on the newest member of that family, the air-to-surface optimized Gambit 6, with plans now for a live-fire air-to-ground ordnance demonstration early next year.

C. Mark Brinkley, a spokesperson for General Atomics, shared these and other details with TWZ as part of an update on the status of the entire Gambit effort.

“When we announced the Gambit Series in 2022, we knew that it was an ambitious, multi-stage concept that would require many years before its full power would be realized across all variants,” Brinkley said. “It’s not complicated to understand, but it is revolutionary, and revolutions take time.”

Gambit Series: The Future of Air Dominance

When the Gambit family was first rolled out four years ago, General Atomics presented four distinct design concepts. These were the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) focused Gambit 1, the air-to-air combat-optimized Gambit 2, an uncrewed ‘red air’ aggressor called Gambit 3, and the stealthy flying wing Gambit 4. Since then, the company has also added the Gambit 5, intended for carrier-based operations, and the aforementioned Gambit 6.

All of the Gambit concepts are designed to leverage a common ‘chassis’ that includes landing gear, baseline avionics, and other core hardware. General Atomics touts this as helping to reduce costs and accelerate the development of very different drone designs.

General Atomics’ Brinkley provided brief updates on all six existing Gambit design concepts, as well as the common core.

• “Gambit Core: First, I think you saw the recent update on our partnership with Spirit Defense. They have been partnered with us for a long time, and they’re bought in on the Gambit concept. As a teaming arrangement, it really buys down manufacturing risk and also allows General Atomics to pursue many other projects simultaneously, whether that’s MQ-9B or Wildfire or other things.”

• “Gambit 1 is out there flying today. The first example is the XQ-67 Off-Board Sensing Station [OBSS], built in collaboration with Air Force Research Laboratory [AFRL]. They’re a great partner and really have a vision for this as a new warfighting concept for the future.”

Developed under the secretive OBSS program, the XQ-67A was unveiled to the public in 2024, as TWZ was the first to report. Experimentation using this one-off drone fed into General Atomics’ development of what is now called the FQ-42A Vengeance, which we will come back to in a moment, as well as the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Last year, AFRL announced that the XQ-67A would receive modifications and upgrades to support further advanced autonomy and related developments under a new program called Demonstration of Autonomous Collaborative Platform Performance and Effectiveness (abbreviated as Demon Ape).

XQ-67A: First Flight

On Tuesday, AFRL announced in a press release that it “demonstrated integration of several advanced mission systems including state-of-the-art sensors, mission computers and power and thermal management hardware, all designed to work collaboratively in demanding combat environments,” on the XQ-67A during a recent test flight over the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) as part of Demon Ape.

“Additionally, the integration of Beyond Line-of-Sight datalinks and live, virtual and constructive simulations during the flight demonstrated management of uncrewed platforms across distributed theaters, bolstering deterrence through resilient, layered command and control,” AFRL’s release added.

Demon APE

• “Gambit 2 is also flying today. Our first example is the FQ-42A Vengeance with the U.S. Air Force. Upcoming milestones include our first missile live-fire later this year, and participation in [Exercise] Emerald Flag. We’ll be at [the] International Fighter Conference next week with the full-scale model.”

The FQ-42A is one of two designs the Air Force has now ordered into production under the first phase, or Increment 1, of its CCA program. The other is Anduril’s FQ-44A Fury. In September, the Air Force announced a goal of having at least 500 Increment 1 CCAs in inventory by 2032.

• “Gambit 3 is a red-air trainer concept. We all know this is coming. It’s a critical must-have for the future. But right now, we live in a world filled with critical needs, so where does this fit in? Because of the way we have designed the Gambit Series, everything feeds everything else. You can pursue a tactical variant first, then walk back to this later. Eventually, manned aircraft will need to fight against these autonomous jets and train like they fight, but you don’t need them actually loaded with weapons. You’ll be simulating all of that anyway. So with Gambit 3, you can alter the design without starting from scratch and probably remove some fighter components from the trainers to add overall value. Considering that we have Gambits 1 and 2 flying now, we probably don’t need a pure trainer prototype unless the buyer wanted different engines and other changes.”

Gambit 3 is by far the concept within this larger family that has been discussed the least to date, so it is particularly interesting to get an update on General Atomics’ current thinking here. There continues to be a degree of interest in this kind of capability within the U.S. military, especially to help provide greater volumes of platforms capable of representing more advanced aerial threats during large-scale exercises. However, despite several past efforts, there has been no significant acquisition of next-generation unmanned aggressors that we are aware of. As an aside, Anduril’s Fury was originally developed by a company called Blue Force Technologies for the ‘red air’ role.

• “Gambit 4 is a flying wing. This is where things get interesting. General Atomics is currently working on a much larger flying wing we call NextGen. It’s not a CCA. We’re talking novel hybrid-electric propulsion on a fully armed, fully outfitted, ISR/Strike wing. Our engine team has promised 60+ hours unrefueled. That work is happening in parallel with everything else we’re working on. I don’t think people realize how deep GA-ASI’s bandwidth is, or how much we dedicate to R&D. We have things I’m talking about here, and things I’m not talking about here, and five million square feet of manufacturing plus multiple flight test facilities. We’ve built and delivered more than 1,600 aircraft in 34 years. We’ve invented a lot of things, and we’re inventing other things. NextGen is coming, and the work we’re doing on that flying wing program will funnel into Gambit 4 so that when customers are ready for this, we’re not starting from scratch here either.”

From the beginning, Gambit 4 has been something of an outlier that is completely different from the other concepts in the family. This is only reinforced by the new details Brinkley has shared here about the NextGen design. The mention of “novel hybrid-electric propulsion” is particularly eye-catching. In general, this kind of propulsion arrangement offers improved fuel economy, and the potential for other benefits, like reduced infrared and acoustic signatures, through the combination of fuel-powered engines and electric motors.

General Atomics has talked in the past about hybrid electric propulsion technology helping to achieve a 60-hour-endurance target in the context of an earlier stealthy flying wing drone concept called MQ-Next. Last year, AFRL also awarded the company a contract for what it described as a “hybrid-electric propulsion ducted fan next-generation intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance/strike unmanned aerial system,” or GHOST.

“We’ve been promising something impressive related to hybrid-electric propulsion, and now I can’t talk about it anymore,” Brinkley told TWZ at the time when asked for more information about GHOST. It remains unclear how that program may be intertwined with the previous MQ-Next concept, as well as work now on NextGen and future plans for Gambit 4.

• “Gambit 5 is basically a Gambit 2 or Gambit 6, or a hybrid of those, optimized for shipboard use with global navies. So again we’re showing how the novelty of the Gambit design pairs with our other projects and programs to buy down risk to success. You need to address landing gear, catapults, arresting cables, salt air that eats everything, all kinds of things. But Gambit 5 is an easy reach. General Atomics has a lot of carrier expertise, and we have been experimenting with shipboard operations for more than a decade.”

The Gambit 5 concept made its public debut in 2024 at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom with a rendering depicting the drones embarked on a Queen Elizabeth class carrier refitted with an electromagnetic catapult. General Atomics has since shown additional renderings of Gambit 5s on the decks of the U.S. Navy’s supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford and a Japanese Izumo class ‘multifunctional destroyer.’ General Atomics also makes electromagnetic catapults for carriers, including the ones on the Ford class, and has put ideas for installing them on a variety of other naval vessels, as well as deploying them on land.

Last year, the Navy announced that it had awarded contracts to General Atomics, as well as Anduril, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, to develop conceptual designs for carrier-based drones under its CCA program. General Atomics used a rendering of Gambit 5 to illustrate a subsequent press release regarding this selection.

• “Gambit 6 takes the Gambit 2 fighter and optimizes it for ground attack. We started talking about Gambit 6 last year, and the conversations around the world have really taken off. People really understand the Gambit concept and are beginning to see how different it is from the mostly concept jets being discussed. The next step is to demonstrate the capability, so we are planning a company live-fire event for early 2027 using a ground-attack munition from a company-owned Gambit 6. I’ve said this a few times, but every Gambit variant feeds expertise into the other variants by default. So the work ongoing now for live-fire on FQ-42 Vengeance, coupled with years of internal air-to-ground launches from MQ-20 Avenger, allows us to rapidly reconfigure for Gambit 6. The air-to-ground mission is pivotal for many global militaries evaluating CCAs as a concept, and we’re already seeing others hanging bombs from their wings and talking about future concepts with internal bays. We’ll probably see other companies doing air-to-ground demos like ours. But the next question is survivability. Internal carry and release is such a different beast than firing from the wings, but what comes out for the Gambit Series is a 5^th-generation combat jet optimized for survivability, scalability and flexibility.”

As mentioned, Gambit 6 is the newest entry to the family and was rolled out around last year’s International Fighter Conference. At that time, General Atomics said it was already courting international customers for this particular design, especially in Europe, underscoring a surge in interest globally in CCA-type drones in recent years. The company also subsequently announced plans to develop a derivative of the FQ-42A for the European market through an affiliate in Germany.

Brinkley’s remarks here regarding internal bays versus external carriage of stores notably follow Anduril’s release of pictures showing fit checks of air-to-ground ordnance on the wings of a Fury drone last month. The FQ-42A, as well as General Atomics’ earlier Avenger drone design, both have internal weapons bays. An internal bay is expected to be a key feature on the Gambit 6 design, too.

“General Atomics knew that low-observable with internal weapons was the only way to go for the future. It’s not specifically the fastest way, or the easiest way, but it does yield the very best jet on the back end,” Brinkley also told TWZ today. “You can get a small jet in the air, connect it to the satellite controls we pioneered here, hang weapons from the wings like we pioneered here, use the AI concepts we pioneered here, and call that a CCA. But if it isn’t low-observable, with a functioning internal carry, built for affordable high-rate production from the beginning, then it’s just a little jet.”

“When we rolled out our first four Gambit concepts, we knew that we were onto something novel, but I don’t think any of us recognized how fast it would all move. Now we’re up to six concepts, with two flying and two on track to become flying prototypes,” he added. “That leaves Gambit 3 and Gambit 4, and it would be easy to think those are the least important or least impressive, but I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

It does remain to be seen how many members of the Gambit family beyond the FQ-42A will ultimately be produced in significant numbers. For now, a Gambit 4 design, in particular, is still an ambitious future concept that will rely heavily on success with NextGen and related work.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves has argued the UK’s future should be inside the EU, and that Brexit has made the country “poorer, weaker and less secure”.

In her first major intervention since leaving the Treasury, Reeves said she welcomed debate around the UK’s relationship with Europe.

At the last election, Labour’s manifesto said a Labour government would stay outside the EU and make Brexit work.

But Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there needs to be an honest discussion about what the future relationship looks like.

The Conservatives have said there is no desire to rerun the Brexit debate and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has said there is no mandate to pursue closer EU ties.

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto ruled out a return of free movement, single market membership or a customs union.

Burnham has said that any changes would require a mandate at a general election, which is next due by 2029.

In the Sunday Times, external, Reeves wrote: “No-one in the Treasury ever doubted where my instincts were. I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union.”

She said supporters of rejoining the EU had to “make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and to get the next steps right”.

Reeves added that at the forthcoming UK-EU summit, she hoped for confirmation of the youth mobility scheme she has been pushing for since she was in office.

She also said she was hoping for “progress towards entry” into the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) scheme.

Announced last March, SAFE is part of an EU-wide effort to rearm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A defence pact agreed with the EU last May paved the way for UK-based defence companies to be part of projects funded by SAFE.

In her piece for the Sunday Times, Reeves also sought to defend her record in office.

She wrote about the need for governments to be “braver” in building big infrastructure projects and “clear eyed” about the risks and benefits AI would drive in advanced economies.

In a sign of the times, for the first time in many years, U.S. Air Force fighters have returned to an air defense alert posture at Eareckson Air Station in Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands. This represents a notable development in efforts to strengthen NORAD’s ability to defend North America’s northern and Pacific approaches from a key strategic stronghold on Russia’s back doorstep. The deployment culminated in a multinational air defense mission involving U.S. and Canadian fighters operating across thousands of miles, reflecting a growing focus on the increasingly strategic Arctic and North Pacific regions.

Fighter operations at Eareckson date back to the Cold War, when F-4s and F-15s deployed to the island to support air defense missions against Soviet aircraft. The base’s routine fighter mission ended in the early 1990s, making the October 2026 deployment a notable return to an alert posture at one of America’s westernmost military outposts. In the interim, we have seen fighters, including F-16s, return to Eareckson, but not in the context of air defense alert missions.

Packing live air-to-air missiles, the F-16s were deployed to Eareckson, on Shemya Island, from October 18 through 26, maintaining an alert posture before launching on October 25 as part of a homeland defense mission.

The latest mission began under Operation Noble Defender before transitioning into Operation Noble Eagle in support of northern sovereignty operations. It brought together F-16s operating from Eareckson, F-35As and additional F-16s from Eielson Air Force Base, and Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornets deployed from Cold Lake, Alberta.

The F-16s operating from Eielson were assigned to the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS), a particularly unusual unit with roots as the 18th Aggressor Squadron. The unit was redesignated in 2024, shifting its primary combat focus from adversary training toward aerospace control and homeland defense in Alaska. Its Block 30 F-16s bring a combination of air defense capabilities and experience in replicating adversary tactics, making them a very specialized outfit, as you can read about here.

From their distributed locations, the Eareckson-based F-16s provided coverage in the southern portion of the theater, while fighters from Eielson operated in the northwest. Canadian CF-18s covered the northern approaches.

An E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson provided airborne command and control, supported by multiple U.S. KC-135 tankers and a Canadian CC-150 Polaris. An HC-130 Combat King II also participated, providing contingency search and rescue and personnel recovery coverage.

The distances involved illustrate the scale of the operation. Eareckson is approximately 1,600 miles from Eielson and 2,600 miles from Cold Lake, requiring substantial coordination and aerial refueling support to bring the different elements together.

Strategic Significance

Located at the western end of the Aleutian chain, Shemya occupies a strategically important position in the North Pacific, facing the approaches from Russia’s Far East and the wider Pacific region and acting as a gateway to the Arctic. While fighters operating from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, with additional support from Eielson when needed, normally provide coverage across this vast area, Eareckson puts combat aircraft dramatically farther west. Its reactivation as a fighter operating location gives NORAD another forward option, extending the reach of its air defense network well beyond Alaska’s principal airbases.

The island’s military significance was especially pronounced during the Cold War, when it supported detachments of RC-135 surveillance aircraft, including hosting Cobra Ball missile-tracking aircraft, as you can read about here.

Shemya’s potential role in a future conflict has attracted increasing attention from U.S. military planners in recent years. The island hosts the AN/FPS-108 Cobra Dane radar, a massive phased-array installation that provides critical ballistic missile warning and tracking capabilities. Its position in the western Aleutians, roughly 500 miles from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and approximately 1,000 miles from mainland Alaska, gives it considerable strategic importance but also leaves it isolated and potentially vulnerable.

The growing threat posed by one-way attack drones and cruise missiles also makes protecting Cobra Dane a significant force-protection challenge. Forward-deployed fighters provide a highly adaptable, wide-area defensive layer, intercepting aerial threats before they reach the island, much like the fighter deployments to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The vulnerability of Shemya and Cobra Dane has been the focus of several military exercises. In 2021, Green Berets assigned to Special Operations Command North participated in a NORAD exercise that involved deploying to Shemya and preparing to defend the Cobra Dane installation against potential attack. The troops arrived by sea and brought Stinger man-portable air defense systems, highlighting concerns about protecting the island against both conventional and unconventional threats.

In August 2023, elements of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, better known as the Night Stalkers, returned to the island as part of Operation Polar Dagger, as TWZ reported at the time. At least two MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and associated personnel and equipment deployed to Eareckson, with a C-17 transporting personnel and materiel. The exercise explored the ability to rapidly project special operations capabilities into the remote region, protect critical infrastructure, and improve operational awareness in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.

Taken together, these developments point to growing interest in Shemya as a potential forward operating location in a wider North Pacific defense network. Its radar, long runway, and remote position offer considerable advantages, but its isolation also presents significant logistical and force-protection challenges.

The return of F-16s to an air defense alert posture at Eareckson adds another dimension to the installation. With its ability to host forward-deployed fighters, the base can maintain an alert posture and generate homeland defense sorties. Its location would be particularly useful for responding to activity approaching Alaska from the western Pacific and the Bering Sea. At the same time, having fighters at Eareckson provides an organic means of defending Shemya’s critical surveillance assets.

There are other potential benefits in dispersing fighter operations away from Alaska’s principal airbases. In a major conflict, those installations could be subject to missile strikes and other attacks, making alternative operating locations valuable. Eareckson’s long runway, ramp space, and arresting equipment provide a foundation for such operations, although sustaining fighters there over an extended period would require significant fuel, munitions, maintenance, and force-protection support.

Outside of Eareckson, Alaska has a network of remote airfields that can support dispersed fighter operations during contingencies. These include King Salmon Airport on the Alaska Peninsula, which hosted four 18th FIS F-16s during an Agile Combat Employment deployment in September last year.

All this comes as concerns grow about the level of protection afforded to Air Force airbases. There are growing calls for the U.S. military to invest in new hardened shelters, and the lack of physical hardening of bases has been hammered home by the experiences from the war with Iran, which have underscored the huge risks posed to aircraft sat out in the open on flightlines.

The October deployment does not mean Eareckson is being transformed into a permanently staffed fighter base. It does, however, demonstrate that NORAD can use this isolated installation as another node in its air defense network, extending the geographic reach and flexibility of its operations across the North Pacific.

For NORAD, having additional locations from which it can generate air defense sorties is a major plus. The combination of forward-based fighters, airborne command and control, aerial refueling, and Canadian participation demonstrates another way of distributing combat power across a broad geographic area rather than depending exclusively on a handful of major bases.

More broadly, the Aleutians are assuming renewed strategic importance as the westernmost part of U.S. territory, positioned at the intersection of the North Pacific and Arctic theaters. As military competition with both Russia and China intensifies, the island chain offers a valuable forward position for surveillance, air defense, and power projection, as well as a means of gaining time and distance against potential threats approaching North America or operating across the Pacific. The return of F-16 alert operations to Eareckson adds another piece to that defensive architecture, underscoring the continued military relevance of this remote island chain.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

A small boat in the Strait of Hormuz approached a tanker and placed two explosive devices on the hull above the waterline, causing a blast that started a fire in the engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported. The attack on the Dubai-owned tanker Louise 1 was carried out by Iranians using limpet mines, Financial Times reported. The incident took place Thursday and was the first of its kind since June 2019, when a Japanese and a Norwegian ship were hit with limpets, the publication noted.

This is the first indication of the successful use of these mines during the current Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) wave of strikes against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz following Operation Epic Fury. The attack also highlights the challenges of keeping ships safe in a busy and complex littoral.

“The apparent ability of a small craft to approach a transiting tanker, deploy explosive devices and withdraw presents a significant security concern, particularly in the Strait’s congested shipping lanes,” Greece-based maritime ​risk management group Marisks said ​on ⁠Friday, Reuters reported.

TWZ covered the 2019 attacks extensively, including sharing the following video showing an Iranian Navy or IRGC fast boat going back to remove a dud limpet mine from the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous’s damaged hull.

Limpet Mine Attack in the Gulf of Oman: JUNE 13, 2019

Earlier Friday morning, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Adm. Brad Cooper said the waterway was cleared of sea mines. He was not addressing the limpet mine claim.

He stated on X that after “we sank Iran’s navy earlier this year, we also successfully cleared the strait’s internationally recognized primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines, and today U.S. forces remain highly vigilant and present to ensure that all primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear.”

“This week we reached a significant milestone, having now assisted Gulf partners in exporting more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil since summer,” Cooper added.

Recalling a recent flight over the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper noted that he “saw our U.S. assets in the air and on the water, including a squadron of advanced sea drones that were on patrol supporting a defensive layer. Here’s what I didn’t see: I didn’t see the IRGC out there at all.”

Also known as uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), the sea drones are part of an increasingly uncrewed armada of air, land and sea assets that are supporting the safe corridor through the Strait.

The USV type shown in the following video, a Saronic Corsair, made history twice in the battle against Iran. In July, the USVs were used as a strike weapon in combat for the first time by the U.S. A month earlier, a Saronic Corsair USV rescued the crew of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache that crashed in the Gulf of Oman after it was downed by Iran.

Despite the heavy presence of CENTCOM forces, this month is turning out to be particularly dangerous for shipping in the region.

“October has seen the highest number of ship attacks on record,” Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said last week, according to the BOE Report, an oil industry publication. “Raydan, who maintains the institute’s interactive shipping incident map, has recorded 28 confirmed and reported attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waterways in October and 113 since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.”

These strikes, combined with ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, have already placed tremendous pressure on a global economy relying heavily on fossil fuel from the region. As of Friday morning, Brent crude topped $117 per barrel, the highest level in more than four years, according to OilPrice.com.

The American oil industry, meanwhile, is making a fortune on this situation.

“The war with Iran has been very lucrative for American oil companies, which have earned more than $130 billion in profit as people pay much higher prices for gasoline, diesel and other fuel,” The New York Times reported on Friday. “That is a conservative estimate based on the performance of more than 50 large U.S. oil and gas companies, most of them producers or refiners, in the six months from April through September. It does not reflect profits earned in March, the first month of the war, or in October.”

“The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said at an Oct. 24 campaign rally, describing how the war is affecting the industry.

TRUMP on HIGH GAS PRICES: We’re making money like we’ve never made before. They’ll say: President Trump is bragging about all the money they’re making while people are suffering at the pump. I don’t give a damn. We’re making a freaking fortune. pic.twitter.com/KZ2pYsTPyR

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 25, 2026

The Latest

Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday in another bid to try to pull the Middle East region back from the brink of war. The visit takes place as the U.S. and Israel are gearing up for a possible new round of strikes against Iran that could come as soon as next week after America’s midterm elections.

U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently stated that he could order new strikes, likely with Israeli assistance, after control of the next Congress is settled. While Trump could be gearing up to hit Iran again, leaks about war planning could also be messaging to compel Tehran back to the bargaining table.

“It’s going to get wrapped up soon,” Trump said Friday morning in an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO. “We need a guarantee there’ll never be a nuclear weapon.”

Whether this latest Qatari effort can stop the clock winding down toward a resumption of hostilities remains questionable. Washington and Tehran seem far apart in their goals for achieving an agreement to stave off war.

The U.S. wants nuclear issues ​included from the start of negotiations while Tehran ​demands that the U.S. first end its port blockade ‌and ⁠lift oil export sanctions, Reuters reported on Friday.

A senior Iranian official has already dismissed a plan presented by Qatar as “unacceptable,” the outlet added. “The proposal presented by Qatar sets ​a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran’s and Washington’s concerns, laying out daily confidence-building steps that each side must take,” the news outlet reported on Oct. 28, citing an official briefed on the negotiations.

The Qatari mediation is the latest diplomatic effort to prevent new fighting. On Monday, major regional powers met in Tehran to find a peaceful way forward.

Regardless, American forces are locked and loaded for a possible new round of strikes against Iran. Israel also continues ramping up attack plans in coordination with the U.S. in the wake of a so-far inconclusive national election that could result in the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s career.

“Cooper rarely briefs Trump in person, so the meeting could signal that the U.S. is moving closer to significant military operations,” the publication stated. “He met with the president in July, when the two huddled with Hegseth and Caine on Air Force One in Delaware.”

CENTCOM declined comment when we asked to confirm the meeting as described. The Pentagon referred us to the White House, and the White House did not respond to our request for comment.

While the Journal offered no specific details about the plans discussed at the White House meeting, previous reporting has suggested Trump is seeking a short, intense bombing campaign.

“According to several people familiar with the war plans, any new US-Israeli assault would be intense, lasting some three days and targeting nuclear facilities, regime assets and civilian infrastructure including power plants,” Financial Times reported on Thursday.

A top Democratic senator said he was briefed on plans and was shocked by what he heard.

“I will just say this: their plan is insane,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said. “It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”

“There’s been open reporting as to what we may be planning and the civilian infrastructure that we may be targeting,” Murphy added. “The plan that they have developed will lead, in my view, to a prolongment and an escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests.”

Trump is reportedly planning to restart war with Iran after the election.

Some of us have been briefed on the war plan. And while I cannot disclose any details, I can say this: the plan is insane. It will not achieve objectives and will set off a new cycle of escalation. pic.twitter.com/adWJfHVIok

— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 29, 2026

As the White House continues to put the finishing touches on new attack plans, the U.S. is bolstering its forces in the Middle East as we noted at the top of this story.

“The U.S. military is sending an additional Patriot system to Israel from Texas to beef up its missile defenses in the country, according to flight-tracking data and two officials with knowledge of the movement,” the Journal reported on Wednesday. “The U.S. has also moved troops off bases in the Middle East where they were vulnerable in preparation for an escalation.”

“U.S. forces in the region have been restocking their munitions, and bomber aircraft and jet fighters are preparing for strikes, some of the officials said.”

As we previously noted, there have been other signs that a major new round of U.S. and/or Israeli strikes on Iran might be looming on the horizon. Fox News reported that the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the rest of its carrier strike group, as well as the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group carrying the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), are heading to the Middle East, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

“The ships will arrive in the Middle East by the end of November,” the officials said, according to a post on X from Fox’s Jennifer Griffin on Tuesday. “These new deployments will add about 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Middle East.”

You can find out more about the locations of the U.S. Navy’s fleet of flattops in our “Where Are The Aircraft Carriers?” feature.

There have been indications of increased U.S. military air activity in the Middle East recently, as well. Observers have called attention to the particularly significant influx of aerial refueling tankers to bases in the region, as well as in Europe, which would be critical to any new major air campaign.

US Tanker Fleet Update 21/OCT/2026 #IranWar‌

Overall numbers across CENTCOM and Europe have now stabilised back to the levels they were at back at the start of September, around 190-195. There are a few tankers dotted around at other sites temporarily (Glasgow Prestwick and… pic.twitter.com/taKi8op7Tv

— DefenceGeek 🇬🇧 (@DefenceGeek) October 21, 2026

America and Israel struck hard at Iranian logistics during Operation Epic Fury, and the U.S. Navy maintains a blockade on Iranian ports. Still, the IRGC has managed to bring in materiel critical to its drone and missile programs.

A new Reuters investigation examines how.

“Iran has created a secret network of military agencies with global reach to import at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks since January 2025, evading both the US naval blockade and Western sanctions,” the investigation found. “Hidden behind names starting with the letters MOD, for the Ministry of Defense, are more than 5,000 agencies that form a formidable financial and military machine. Their financial footprints are on bills of lading and other shipping data dating back to 2016. Some are tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to business conglomerates known as bonyads that are controlled by Iran’s elite.”

“The findings offer a window into one of the war’s great mysteries,” the outlet explained. “How is the IRGC replenishing its missile and drone arsenals while firing them in their thousands?”

Amid events in the Persian Gulf region, fighting between the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen and Saudi Arabia rages on.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone near Islam’s holiest city, a claim the Houthis denied.

On Thursday, the Houthis claimed attacks on a half dozen targets across the kingdom, including oil facilities and airports. Saudi officials, for their part, said they intercepted ballistic missiles.

Adding to regional jitters, there were fresh reports of explosions near Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday night. However, these incidents often turn out to be air defense activity, warning shots fired at ships or nothing at all.

CENTCOM on Friday pushed back against claims that the command acknowledged attacks on Iranian targets.

“The reported notion that CENTCOM claimed any recent attacks is false,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the command’s spokesman, told TWZ.

For now, the world is waiting nervously to see whether the Middle East again erupts into war. We should have a clearer picture in the coming days.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

The Chief Minister of Jersey, Senator Lyndon Farnham, said operating a drone close to an airport was “not a prank or a harmless hobby”.

“To those responsible, the message is clear: if you are identified, you should expect to face the full consequences of the law,” he added.

Pacific Basirwe was waiting for his wife and young son to fly in from London Heathrow when he heard the news.

He said: “It’s annoying, this should be regulated, and the people doing those things should be prosecuted.

“It’s been two days in a row now… If there is no further action, they will keep doing it, which is not good.”

In Venezuela, reality feels more and more like a puzzle. We have to look at what officials choose to say and not say, what is leaked, what remains behind the curtain, and try to weave a plausible narrative out of that.

The government’s opacity has become the norm. There are key decisions about the country’s future with little to no public explanation, contradictory statements, figures that are hard to believe or put into context. Affairs that should be debated and familiar to everyone are shrouded in uncertainty.

For years, the justification was that the US blockade forced everything to be kept secret, so that the enemy would not use that information to its advantage. Then, when corruption scandals broke out, we were told it was the price to pay for doing business under sanctions.

Fast forward to the present, and the blockade has given way to US neocolonial tutelage. But opacity has only gotten worse. Sometimes Trump officials are the ones explaining what happens in our country. The greatest example is the recent oil deal, but there is another sector plagued by these dark interests: the cement industry, which is especially important now amid the post-earthquake reconstruction needs.

A few days after the June 24 double earthquake, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez ordered an audit of Vencement, a company belonging to the Miller Holding conglomerate, whose CEO is Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon. In March 2025, the young entrepreneur reportedly received a concession to operate 10 cement plants owned by the Venezuelan state. The factories belong to the Socialist Cement Corporation, created by Chávez in 2009 after nationalizing the industry.

The concession to Mildon was greenlit by former Minister of Industry Alex Saab, who was surrendered to US agencies in May to face money laundering charges. In that case, we likewise did not have the privilege of an official explanation^[a] for why a naturalized Venezuelan-Colombian dual citizen could be “deported” to the US, contrary to the constitution.

With the announced review of cement contracts, and in line with Washington’s directive of cutting out the insiders who had privileged treatment during the Maduro government, Rodríguez unilaterally canceled the concession, alleging non-fulfilment of investment targets.

This sector has been mired in controversy due to the shortages of cement and speculation with its prices. Though production costs for a 42-kilo cement bag are around $8, scarcity or hoarding often led to prices above $35. With the official investigation, there was an order to surveil the plants, block any removal of material, and restrict Vencement personnel from doing inventory or fulfilling existing orders.

But Vencement was not Mildon’s only venture in Venezuela. In November 2025, Saab intervened in the Lamar Group, a company from Zulia State that produced and exported shrimp, which was awarded to the Turkish businessman. The official explanation was that Lamar’s former owner, José Enrique Rincón, was involved in financing an alleged coup attempt against Maduro. In parallel, the government handed Café Madrid and Fama de América, two coffee producers nationalized around 15 years ago, to Mildon as well.

According to Forbes Turkey, Miller Holding and its affiliates, particularly in Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Mildon also became extremely influential overnight, had $2.6 billion in profit in 2025. Nevertheless, because the companies are not publicly traded, it is hard to assess their true value. The business sector in Turkey is hardly a paragon of transparency either.

Mildon stated in the same interview that he felt “very sad” when US forces kidnapped Maduro in January, but added that he was not concerned about his businesses. “In my grandfather’s time, professional experience was key. Nowadays, it’s who you know,” the businessman said.

This prompts  multiple questions. How did Mildon get a concession for a sector as strategic as cement, not to mention his other endeavors? His representatives claimed that there were four other competitors, but government sources told the New York Times that the private businesses that receive state assets to operate under “strategic alliances” are handpicked.

Furthermore, Mildon claims Vencement is currently producing 4.5 million tons of cement per year, whereas the NYT reported that, according to data shared by government insiders, output is actually around a third of that. Maybe authorities would like to clarify?

Another obvious question is, why Mildon? Some mention his family’s ties to the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with Mildon’s conglomerate receiving over a dozen important contracts in recent years. Amid US sanctions against Venezuela, risk-taking Turkish businessmen secured juicy opportunities in Venezuela. Others add that a separate advantage was Mildon getting access to inner circles thanks to his relationship with María Eugenia Ceballos, daughter of Chief Admiral and former Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos. Surely love cannot trump a fair bidding process, or can it?

It looks like it, because Mildon’s Turkish soap opera was not canceled with Maduro’s kidnapping and Saab’s handover. Mildon reportedly managed to preserve his assets in Venezuela after getting engaged and married to Alina Habba, a lawyer with close ties to Trump who worked in the Justice Department.

Habba, who also possesses quite the dubious CV for all the influence she wields, got the US president to pardon Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini, who had been charged with bribery and fraud before being convicted of a campaign finance violation misdemeanor. Habba received a $50 million contract, while still working in the Justice Department, from Concord Partners, a company created by the Herrera Velutini family in Florida. This honestly looks like Olympic-level competition for lack of transparency and shady deals.

But returning to Mildon and Habba, their lavish wedding at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York featured senior Trump officials such as US Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and White House attorney Will Scharf.

Apparently, Mildon’s new romance led Rodríguez to change course, declaring that the cancelation of the cement contracts had been a clerical error. On October 13, the Miller conglomerate issued a press statement clarifying that none of its agreements had been canceled.

Beyond the Turkish soap opera that has taken hold in Venezuela, we go back to the fundamental question: what conditions do private businesses need to clear before getting hold of strategic Venezuelan state companies? Who is following up on the investment, production, and fiscal commitments? What mechanisms ensure that these concessions will lead to any economic benefits apart from corporate profits? It seems like all these questions get trumped by contractors’ White House connections .

One of the characteristics of the Venezuelan political shift in recent months has been the sanctification  of private investment. Amid legislative reforms and commissions charged with determining which “non-strategic” assets should be privatized, key sectors such as electricity or the basic industries might soon be in the hands of multinational corporations.

I’m not a big believer in trickle-down economics, in this case that Venezuelans’ well-being will come once corporate profits are assured. But if on top of that, business is the outcome of the most vulgar influence trafficking, we are truly doomed. This soap opera needs a plot twist.

Jessica Dos Santos is a Venezuelan university professor, journalist and writer whose work has appeared in outlets such as RT, Épale CCS magazine and Investig’Action. She is the author of the book “Caracas en Alpargatas” (2018). She’s won the Aníbal Nazoa Journalism Prize in 2014 and received honorable mentions in the Simón Bolívar National Journalism prize in 2016 and 2018.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

You would have to be touching 60 to have any recollection of the last time United were relegated.

Legend has it that old boy Denis Law sent them down with an impudent back heel he didn’t celebrate when he was at Manchester City. The reality is United were already doomed under then-boss Tommy Docherty.

United have not been in the relegation zone after nine games or more since November 1986, when they collected a single point in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first two games in charge following Ron Atkinson’s dismissal.

Their lowest position after at least nine games of a season since then was 17th in 1989-90. They are back there again right now, mainly thanks to the failings of others in results elsewhere on Saturday.

It is now nine games in all competitions since Carrick’s side won, their worst run since 1988-89. Their single Premier League win of the season was when they came from behind to beat Ipswich at home in August.

Of course, United’s supporters have very recent experience of seeing their team in the lower reaches of the table. They were 16th under Ruben Amorim after 37 games of the 2024-25 season. The caveat is they were 14 points clear of third-bottom Leicester and at no point in that tortuous campaign were they in danger of relegation.

One club that has been at real risk in recent years is Tottenham, who were third bottom and two points behind West Ham with four games of last season remaining.

So, it could happen, even if it remains unlikely a club that should post revenues in excess of £700m for the current campaign will finish in the bottom three.

“You can look at it like that, or you can look at how far you can move up the league quite quickly if you win football matches,” was Carrick’s response when asked if his players are equipped for the “mentality shift” required to deal with the present situation. “That’s the way it’s got to be approached.”

Refugee and migrant boats are rarely found in Dutch waters, and authorities are still trying to establish where this one came from.

Authorities in the Netherlands have rescued 38 people found adrift in a rubber boat off the Dutch coast, in one of the first such interceptions for the country.

Two of the people on board the dinghy when it was rescued are thought to be smugglers, while the rest are migrants, military police spokesperson Doron Wallin told The Associated Press news agency on Saturday.

“We don’t know where they came from – France, the Netherlands or Belgium – and we don’t know where the boat was heading,” Wallin said.

The boat was discovered drifting with no motor off the coast of the Netherlands’ Zeeland province, far southwest of Amsterdam. No one was wearing a life vest.

All 38 on the boat were men, 36 of whom were from Afghanistan, and two – the suspected smugglers – were from Sudan, according to the AFP news agency. The two Sudanese men have been arrested on suspicion of people smuggling.

It is not known where the boat was headed, but refugee and migrant crossings in small boats from France to the United Kingdom have become commonplace in recent years. It is unusual for boats to be discovered in Dutch waters, however.

“These are things you usually see in France and Belgium. We rarely see it here in the Netherlands before today,” Wallin said.

Dutch authorities will open an investigation into the case on Sunday.

A new court filing has cast further doubt on the accuracy of a list of “likely non-citizen” voters that the administration of United States President Donald Trump sent to the state of California ahead of the midterm elections.

On Saturday, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an advocacy group, submitted an analysis to the court conducted by two data scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

It found that more than four in every 10 names on the list were not on California’s voter rolls.

It also found that thousands of potentially eligible US citizens were incorrectly identified as ineligible to vote.

The Trump administration’s list, delivered to California in early October, had suggested that as many as 20,930 “likely non-citizens” were registered on the state’s voter rolls.

That list has formed the basis of a lawsuit, filed on October 15, that calls on California to sequester any ballots sent to those “likely non-citizens”, preventing them from being tallied as part of voting results.

The lawsuit is unfolding in the final days before Tuesday’s pivotal midterm elections, which will decide which party controls the US Congress, as well as key state and local offices.

Trump has expressed fear that, if his Republican Party loses its majorities in the two chambers of Congress, he could be impeached.

The Republican leader also has a track record of spreading false information about elections, including that his defeat in the 2020 presidential race was the result of a “rigged” vote.

He has often targeted California in his criticism. The state – the most populous in the country – is considered a longtime left-wing stronghold. It will elect 52 seats to the 435-member House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections.

Already, Trump has accused California of “cheating” in its June 2 primary elections, after several Republican candidates underperformed, including Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt.

Under the US Constitution’s Elections Clause, election administration falls solely to the states, though Congress may pass regulations governing voting.

Critics, including California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, have cited that fact in their rebuttal to Trump’s lawsuit.

All 50 states already prohibit non-citizen voting in federal elections and undertake measures to prevent voter fraud, which is considered exceedingly rare.

Other states that have received similar lists of “likely non-citizen” voters have also found significant errors in the Trump administration’s accounting. Nevada, for example, found that none of the names included on that list were non-citizen voters.

Such errors have raised concerns that eligible citizens would see their votes denied if the Trump administration wins its California lawsuit.

Still, the Trump administration has threatened state officials with prosecution over the potential for non-citizen voting.

It has also vigorously pursued its lawsuit through federal court. On Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected the complaint a second time, determining it unconstitutional.

“We decline the United States’s invitation to contravene the Elections Clause by undermining the Constitution’s plain text,” the court majority wrote in its ruling.

In Saturday’s court filing, the data scientists from UCLA’s Voting Rights Project found that 8,880 names on the list were not listed anywhere in California’s current voter files, a proportion of 42 percent.

Many other names on the list were either confirmed as US citizens or may correspond to US citizens.

“This review proves, at least as a preponderance of the evidence, that demands of election officials under criminal and civil threats, endangers the voting rights of plaintiff CHIRLA’s members and clients,” the filing said.

It was co-signed by the Democratic candidate to succeed Newsom as governor, Xavier Becerra.

The District of Columbia (DC) and the state of Virginia have filed a joint lawsuit to halt the construction of a large triumphal arch sought by United States President Donald Trump.

Filed on Saturday, the lawsuit denounces the project as “flagrantly unlawful” and “legally indefensible”.

It calls on the federal court system to bar construction before it starts.

Otherwise, the lawsuit warns, Trump could claim that pausing construction already under way would pose a national security risk, as he has done with other controversial projects in the past.

“This is not the first time that Defendants have rushed to dramatically remake the District too quickly for courts to intervene,” the lawsuit reads. “This Court should not allow this effort to escape judicial scrutiny.”

Saturday’s complaint brings the total number of lawsuits against the arch to three.

Trump has championed the prospect of building a triumphal arch, similar to the Arc de Triomphe built in Paris during Napoleonic times.

Trump’s arch, however, is designed to stand 30 metres (100 feet) taller than the Statue of Liberty. It would tower from the Memorial Circle in Washington, DC, at 76 metres (250ft).

That colossal scale has prompted outrage, particularly from veterans’ groups who fear the arch would block views of Arlington National Cemetery, a hallowed military grave site.

White House officials maintain that ground could be broken as early as next week, on or around November 5.

On Friday, the administration unveiled a 106-page proposal for the arch to be a 12-storey megastructure, featuring a winged bronze statue of Lady Liberty lifting an eternal flame.

The arch would include two mezzanines and an observation deck with panoramic east-west views, as well as programme spaces, offices and a “fire command centre”.

Trump has previously said the arch would double as a military hub with snipers and drone capabilities.

Construction on the arch would also result in significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic to nearby roads.

In Saturday’s lawsuit, Attorneys General Brian Schwalb of Washington, DC, and Jay Jones of Virginia pointed to the project’s disruptive footprint as a major concern.

“As soon as defendants break ground on this project, they will inflict irreparable harm on both the District and Virginia,” the lawsuit said.

It warns that the anticipated three-year construction project will stymie commuter traffic, slow down emergency vehicles and generate significant pollution, including “stormwater runoff into the Potomac”.

The lawsuit calls on the court to force the Trump administration to get congressional authorisation before any construction can begin.

The new legal challenge comes on the heels of an October 8 filing by Arlington County, which was the first governmental body to mount a legal action against Trump’s planned monument.

In that lawsuit, the county’s governing board argued that the project would cause “significant harm” to its residents and likely require changes to nearby flight paths.

The first complaint came in February, when a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian launched an effort to stop the arch.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing that case, and she is weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily freeze any construction plans while the court hears arguments.

At a hearing on Friday, Chutkan deferred an immediate ruling but signalled that she would be issuing a decision expeditiously.

She previously ordered the administration to give the court 48 hours’ notice before undertaking any activities related to the construction of the arch.

The monument has already received early approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump.

It is being called the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history – and the shocks are still reverberating through the industry.

The target of this recent hack was Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.

Attackers stole about $6.3bn in client assets.

Analysts suspect hackers backed by the North Korean government carried out the theft.

Critics are calling for more regulations to restore the trust of investors.

So, is cryptocurrency still safe? And can these kinds of attacks even be prevented?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Lee Reiners – Lecturing fellow at Duke University and a former US Federal Reserve Bank examiner

Geoff White – Investigative journalist and author of The Lazarus Heist

Anupam Chander – Professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, who specialises in the global regulation of new technologies

Israel carried out several attacks in Gaza, including shelling the Nuseirat refugee camp.

At least four Palestinians in Gaza have been killed as Israel continues to attack the enclave, despite a so-called “ceasefire” that has been in place for over a year.

Israel carried out several attacks in Gaza on Saturday, including shelling the Nuseirat refugee camp, in which Palestinian teacher Diaa Abu al-Rous was killed, al-Awda Hospital confirmed.

Separately, another man, Arafat al-Arair, died after sustaining serious injuries days earlier when Israel struck a vehicle in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, southwest of Gaza City. A medical source at al-Shifa Hospital confirmed his death.

Meanwhile, two girls also died on Saturday from injuries sustained the previous evening when their tent caught fire at a camp for displaced people in al-Mawasi, in Khan Younis. Nasser Medical Complex confirmed their deaths. It is not clear what caused the fire.

At least six Palestinians were killed in Gaza over the past 48 hours, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health, bringing the number of people killed since the October 2025 ceasefire to 1,580.

In its daily statistical report on Saturday, the ministry said another 26 people were injured over the same period.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned on Friday that Israeli forces in Gaza were continuing to displace Palestinians and that their actions continued to raise concerns of ethnic cleansing.

The OHCHR said in a statement that Palestinians were increasingly being forced into a shrinking area of the territory, which has been decimated following three years of Israeli siege.

The office said Israeli forces were destroying what remained of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. The Israeli military is working to expand its control over Gaza’s territory to 70 percent, following an order from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said Israel was targeting civilians as it sought to displace Palestinians from the city.

“We have testimonies from people who have evacuated their homes in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah city, confirming that the Israeli military has adjusted the yellow demarcation line by opening fire on civilians to push them from these areas,” Abu Azzoum said.

Since a nominal “ceasefire” came into effect a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,580 Palestinians and injured 5,711 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Talks aimed at permanently ending Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza under United States President Donald Trump’s peace plan have stalled. Reconstruction efforts have yet to begin amid disputes between Hamas and Israel over the implementation of Trump’s plan.

Hamas says it will not fully disarm until Israel withdraws entirely from Gaza. However, Israel maintains it will not leave the territory until Hamas forfeits its weapons.

Berlin, Germany – Thousands of people are gathering in Berlin and more than 30 other German cities as the nation becomes the latest European country to be hit by a wave of student protests sweeping the continent.

Gathering at the Platz des 18 Maerz, on the west side of the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon, there was support for the young people within a mixed demographic crowd.

Anti-fascist activists smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and wearing keffiyehs waited patiently alongside students dressed in Halloween outfits, smartly dressed grandmothers donning “omas gegen rechts” (grandmothers against the right) badges, and camera crews, ahead of the 2pm (13:00 GMT) rally start.

The protests were organised by a loose alliance called Gen Z Regelt (Gen Z sorts it), and by Saturday morning, nearly 180,000 people across 34 cities had signed up to participate – with the main host cities including Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and the capital Berlin.

Nearly 12,000 people had signed up to join in the German capital, and people were continuing to stream into the square well into the demonstration to listen to speakers in what was so far a calm afternoon in the capital.

However, at a rally in the western city of Cologne, scuffles broke out between protesters and police, who moved in to contain a march there.

The protest organisers had outlined six key issues that took them to the streets on Saturday, including the rising cost of living, education cuts and military conscription.

‘Political failure’ of government

Students told Al Jazeera that they are both angry and frustrated by ongoing funding cuts, even as the government invests heavily in the military.

Yet they also said they feel a sense of hope after seeing student protests in different parts of Europe in recent weeks.

Veronika Dinter travelled to Berlin on Friday night from Hannover to participate in the protest.

The 23-year-old political science student said that due to high living costs, she had to take on a part-time job to fund her studies.

“I wanted to start studying to develop critical thinking and learn something new, but I didn’t realise how much it would cost to do so. I think this is something a lot of people in my generation are experiencing right now,” she said.

“Funding for education and social services are being cut, while the cost of living keeps rising. Universities are struggling, institutes are closing, teachers are losing their jobs and education facilities are literally falling apart.

“This crisis is the political failure of our government. And instead of solving it, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his rich friends are funding the military with billions of euros.”

This is a sentiment that Emma Heymann, a 24-year-old student living in Berlin, resonated with.

“Our generation feels very angry at the government because they are making these huge cuts that are affecting our quality of life here. And at the same time, they are spending billions on the military and spending money to fund the genocide in Gaza,” she said.

Protesters should be ‘listened to’

Phil Tziartzianis travelled eight hours from his hometown of Kassel to join his friend Jan Chrominski and other young people at the demonstration.

“It feels important for me to be here among other young people who feel the same way,” he said.

The protesters join a wave of demonstrations that have swept across Europe in recent weeks, including in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Serbia.

Kilian Hampel is a senior research fellow at the Future of Work Lab at the University of Konstanz. He says other demonstrations are having an impact on young Germans.

“The frustration itself has been building for years, but this is definitely part of a wave we are seeing across Europe, and young people here are feeling that they can actually take their worries and problems to the streets,” he said. “Many of their concerns, in particular around poor educational infrastructure, are legitimate, and it’s important that they are listened to.”

The Berlin demonstration is expected to last two hours, with another one planned at 5:30pm (16:30 GMT) in a different part of the German capital.

In the past week, political figures have raised concerns about the protests turning violent.

Yet demonstrators say they see the narrative of violence distracting from the issues they want to raise.

“We urge the police to not confront our demonstrations with any kind of violence,” Dinter, the student from Hannover, said.

“We stand in solidarity with all the people around the world who are fighting for an affordable life, for more investment in the education system, and against wars and military buildup.”

Simon Harmer picked a career-best 6-16 as South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs to clinch Test series 2-1.

Australia ‌captain Pat Cummins said it was fair to ask questions about his side after they ⁠slipped to two heavy ⁠defeats in a row against hosts South Africa to lose the three-match series 2-1 at Newlands on Saturday.

Set 288 for victory, Australia were rocked early on and could ⁠manage only 111 to lose the third Test by 176 runs, following their defeat by an innings and 31 runs in the second match in the series.

Australia next host New Zealand, and Cummins ⁠said the series loss meant questions were inevitable as South Africa took over from them as the number one side in the Test world rankings.

“We lost two games in a row. I think it’s fair to be asking questions and we’ll be asking them internally as well,” Cummins told reporters. “We are a very good ‌side, but I think we need to get a little bit better if we want to get back to number one [in the world].

“Maybe that’s a change of style, maybe it’s a change of personnel in some instances. We’ll work it out.”

Cummins made the surprise decision to bowl first after winning the toss on the first morning, something that had been done only 11 times before in Tests at Newlands since 1889.

As it proved, batting last was difficult on a wearing ⁠surface, and Australia fell to the spin of Simon Harmer, who took ⁠career-best figures of 10-120 in the match.

“We knew it was going to be a high-scoring game,” Cummins said. “We probably thought it was going to do a little bit more on day one than it did.

“You don’t win the toss and think you’re ⁠going to bowl the opposition out for 100 or 200, but we thought we could get 10 wickets on day one and that would ⁠put us right ahead of the game.”

Cummins said poor decisions cost ⁠his batters and that their chase was as good as over in the first half-hour of the day.

“Chasing 280-odd was never going to be easy, but we all turned up today and saw a pretty clear path forward. I thought it was ‌achievable, but we never really gave ourselves a chance,” he said.

“There were a few really poor decisions. I know it’s a day-five wicket, but I don’t think it was drastic. There were runs to ‌be ‌scored out there; there were lots of balls to face.

“I think there are a few decisions the boys would like back. We have to get better. It’s happened a few times now.”

“As of now, Ukrainian citizens from Oleshky have crossed the Ukrainian border in the Chernihiv region,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

“All of them will receive the assistance they need. It is important that government agencies and all the regional and local authorities involved work effectively and help our people adapt.”

The evacuees were taken via Russia and Belarus before being driven across Ukraine’s northern border on Saturday.

The oldest evacuee was 94 years old, while the youngest was one, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman.

One evacuee, Liubov, told the Reuters news agency: “Until we got on the buses, we were afraid of everything, we were so worried and nervous. Before that, we spent nights without sleeping, wondering how it would go, what would happen. But everything went well.”

Another said they had lost 20 kg in the last year, adding: “My strength left me.”

A humanitarian ceasefire took effect across the frontline region of Kherson on Tuesday, providing the first few days of peace in the area in four years, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Conditions had become so desperate in Oleshky that not only was getting supplies into the city extremely difficult, but escape was highly dangerous because the routes out had been mined and subject to drone attack.

Bridges across the nearby River Dnipro have been destroyed and sources say the riverbank has been mined and is dangerous.

One resident who fled the city three weeks earlier told the BBC he had walked through 24km (15 miles) of minefields to get to safety.

Israel’s parliament remains in deadlock.

After one of the highest voter turnouts in decades, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the self-styled Zionist opposition alliance secured the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority in the October 27 polls.

Netanyahu’s camp came first, with 53 seats, five more than the main opposition bloc. The Arab parties surged to a record 19 seats but have been relegated to merely observing coalition negotiations.

Viewed from a distance, the results could appear startling.

The judicial reforms ushered in at the start of Netanyahu’s government term in 2022 provoked the largest street protests in Israel’s history, while the prime minister himself is still embroiled in a corruption trial dating back to 2019. Alleged failures ahead of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, that triggered Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have still to be reckoned with, despite overwhelming public pressure to do so. Moreover, the genocide has led to growing international isolation, while also providing the pretext for multiple attacks on countries across the region – the latest of which, undertaken with the United States on Iran in February, continues to roil energy markets around the world.

Nevertheless, roughly 2.38 million Israelis on Tuesday made the journey to the polls to back Netanyahu’s coalition, led by his Likud party, while some 2.21 million cast their ballots for the opposition alliance.

Between the two, little space was given to examine the multiple war crimes Israel stands accused of having carried out in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 74,500 people and left much of it in ruins, or government complicity in the surging violence and pogroms in the occupied West Bank, where a United Nations commission of inquiry said on Monday that Israel had been committing crimes against humanity, including extermination, torture and rape.

Gaza did not make the ballot

Analysts said the fact that neither Gaza nor the West Bank were a deciding factor in how Israelis voted on Tuesday was largely because they already represented an area of broad agreement across both alliances.

Instead, the election was fought on largely internal issues: the power of Israel’s courts, whether members of the ultra-Orthodox minority should be exempted from military service, and whether the government’s alleged culpability in missing the warnings of the October 2023 attack should be examined.

Leading Israeli sociologist Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani said the issues were pitched to the Israeli public along broadly similar lines to those used by the politicians enacting the policies.

“I don’t think the problem is simply that people are uninformed or disengaged,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Many Israelis know that Gaza has been devastated, even though they are exposed to a very selective representation of that devastation. But knowing something and recognising its moral and political implications are different things,” Shenhav-Shahrabani added, providing one explanation for the absence of empathy displayed by many Israelis in the face of the widely reported suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

“Ordinary people, who love their families, care for their friends, and consider themselves decent human beings, can participate in or acquiesce to a political order that produces immense suffering for others,” he said.

For Shenhav-Shahrabani, there has been “a powerful mechanism of denial” at work. “Not necessarily denial of the facts, but denial of their meaning,” he said.

Security on the agenda

For Netanyahu’s supporters, however, this denial could be traced to something more personal.

“The Likud is a tribe, or perhaps a cult and, as far as they are concerned, Dear Leader is always right,” Israeli analyst Ahron Bregman said of the prime minister’s base, which has sustained his rule for a cumulative 19 years – roughly a quarter of Israel’s entire existence.

“For them, the enemy, straight after the Arabs, is the left, and they would vote for Netanyahu regardless of his faults,” added Bregman, a senior teaching fellow at King’s College London.

For much of this electorate, the vote was less a judgement on the government’s conduct than a choice between competing claims to political legitimacy – or as Israeli academic Roi Zur put it, a contest over “the heart and soul of democracy” and the future of Jewish and Israeli identity.

“The most important thing, I think, for turnout among Netanyahu’s supporters is the understanding, or the belief, that the alternative coalition would be weaker on security,” said Zur, an expert on voter behaviour who teaches at Essex University.

What Netanyahu had been particularly successful in doing, he continued, was creating “this campaign of fear and the belief that he is the only one who can deal with this situation, that he is the only strong enough prime minister”.

“The idea that Netanyahu is the only and the strongest leader that can lead Israel through these recent times and the post-October 7 war.”

War and occupation, according to Shenhav-Shahrabani, were not choices to be made on the ballot paper.

Instead, they had become the prism through which, over decades, Israelis had come to view “security, citizenship, and the very meaning of democracy”.

“That is why replacing Netanyahu, important as it may be, would not by itself resolve the deeper problem.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a major exhibition of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Thursday. A mockup of an apparent new large stealth drone was displayed prominently alongside an increasingly diverse collection of reconnaissance drones, armed UAVs, loitering munitions, and small attack drones. While there is no evidence that North Korea is capable of getting a stealthy flying-wing drone flying, let alone operating as a operationally relevant low-observable platform, there are no doubts that the country has an increasingly impressive uncrewed aircraft arsenal, with the smaller, lower-end types being of greatest importance.

As for the “stealth drone,” photographs released by North Korean state media show a mockup of a tailless flying-wing design. In terms of appearance, there are clear parallels with advanced uncrewed combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) developed by the United States, China, and Russia.

However, huge questions remain as to what degree the mockup is part of a realistic program. We have no details of the program’s development status and planned capabilities. It is highly questionable if Pyongyang is able to produce a functional prototype. Even if it can get it into the air, there is no evidence that it possesses the capabilities to master meaningful stealth technologies, let alone the command-and-control functions and other elements needed for it to operate in a tactically relevant manner.

The exhibition, titled Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development-2026, was held on Thursday, with images published by the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun today. Kim called for the country to achieve “absolute superiority” in drone technology and announced unspecified measures to accelerate the development of uncrewed aviation systems and military artificial intelligence.

An Ambitious New Flying-Wing Design

The mockup of the new aircraft was positioned prominently in the exhibition hall, suggesting that Pyongyang considers it at least indicative of its broader ambitions.

Based on the available photographs, Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, interviewed by NK News, estimated the wingspan at roughly 56 to 66 feet and its height at around 10 to 11.5 feet. Standout features include a dorsal air intake, a relatively large center fuselage section integrated into the flying wing, and retractable tricycle landing gear.

In terms of general arrangement, there are similarities to Northrop Grumman’s X-47B, the U.S. Navy’s experimental carrier-based UCAV. There are also visual similarities with China’s GJ-11 Sharp Sword and Russia’s S-70 Okhotnik, two other large flying-wing UCAV designs.

At this point, North Korea has not provided any technical information about the aircraft’s propulsion system, payload, intended mission, or flight performance.

Critically, while the external shape is consistent with a stealthy UCAV, a flying-wing configuration on its own is only one part of a far more complex puzzle in achieving a genuinely low radar signature. Other factors include the engine inlet and exhaust arrangements, radar-absorbing materials, surface treatments, manufacturing tolerances, and the alignment of individual edges and surfaces, low probability of intercept communications and much more.

The Iranian RQ-170 Precedent

Overall, there are many good reasons to be extremely cautious about North Korea’s apparent ambitions in this area.

Iran is another country that has displayed a drone that resembles an advanced Western stealth platform, without actually reproducing its capabilities. It has, however, gotten a UCAV-lookalike into the air.

After recovering a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone that came down inside Iranian territory in 2011, Tehran announced that it had successfully reverse-engineered the aircraft. In 2014, Iranian authorities displayed what they presented as a domestically produced copy of the American drone, claiming that it would soon undertake a test flight.

Outside observers questioned whether the displayed aircraft was anything more than a non-functional replica, noting apparent shortcomings in its construction and the use of components inconsistent with a sophisticated operational aircraft.

Iran subsequently presented a family of aircraft derived from the RQ-170 concept, including the Shahed-171 Simorgh and the smaller Shahed-191. Iran has demonstrated flying examples of these designs, but they fall far short of replicating the RQ-170’s actual low-observable qualities, let alone its sensors and avionics.

In the case of Pyongyang, however, the possibility of Russian assistance is at least worth considering.

North Korea’s burgeoning military relationship with Moscow, including the deployment of North Korean troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, could provide a chance for the exchange of technical knowledge and operational experience from Moscow. Russia has developed and flown the S-70 Okhotnik UCAV, exposing it to some operational trials in Ukraine, and could have passed related information on to Pyongyang.

In particular, North Korea would welcome Russian assistance in developing and manufacturing propulsion, flight control, sensor, and materials technologies.

However, there is so far no proof of technology transfer from Russia. Even if it were to be provided, it is far from clear that this would suffice to get a true UCAV into the air anytime soon, although an Iran-style knockoff with far reduced capabilities cannot be ruled out entirely. It’s also worth noting that Russia’s own UCAV program has been anything but a smooth and rapid advancement to an operational state.

Overall, the new flying-wing concept does not represent a realistic technological undertaking — at least for now. Very few countries have managed to develop and fly drones in this class, and fewer still have been able to field them operationally.

North Korea’s Drone Development Effort

The flying-wing aircraft was only one part of a much larger display. More than 30 types of UAVs reportedly appeared at the exhibition, reflecting North Korea’s efforts to diversify its uncrewed aviation capabilities.

Some of these designs had been seen before, including the Saetbyol-4 and Saetbyol-9. These were first displayed in 2023 and are, in terms of appearance, clones of the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper, respectively.

Imagery released of the Saetbyol-9 showed it carrying — and firing — several types of air-to-ground weapons. These include a Hellfire-like laser-guided missile, along with smaller rockets and other possible guided munitions.

Other exhibits included loitering munitions resembling Israel’s Harop and Russia’s Lancet, as well as smaller drones with configurations similar to the U.S.-made Switchblade family.

Hundreds of small quadcopter drones were also displayed on storage racks. Some appeared to carry cylindrical containers associated with fiber-optic control systems, a technology that has become increasingly prominent in the Russia-Ukraine war. Unlike conventional radio-controlled drones, fiber-optic systems are largely immune to conventional radio-frequency jamming of their control links. These drones would be a major feature in a cross-DMZ conflict.

North Korean interest in artificial intelligence was another recurring theme. Kim called for the development of increasingly intelligent uncrewed weapons, although there is no indication of how advanced the country’s existing autonomous navigation, target recognition, or engagement systems actually are.

The exhibition was accompanied by live-fire demonstrations involving UAVs, cruise missiles, and multiple rocket launchers. North Korean state media claimed that missiles launched from drones and other systems struck an island target “with 100 percent accuracy.”

From Ambition To Operational Capabilities

North Korea’s rapidly expanding interest in drones should also be seen against the shortcomings of its aging crewed combat aviation fleet. Relatively inexpensive UAVs offer opportunities for reconnaissance and attacks against military infrastructure without exposing pilots to enemy air defenses. At the same time, Pyongyang has failed to introduce new crewed combat aircraft to modernize its air force, the capabilities of which are thoroughly outmatched by those of South Korea.

The war in Ukraine (as well as lessons from conflicts in the Middle East) also provides Pyongyang with an opportunity to study the use of drones on a large scale. North Korean troops deployed to Russia will have gained first-hand experience of drone warfare, including the integration of reconnaissance UAVs, FPV attack drones, and electronic warfare systems.

That experience could help accelerate the development of North Korea’s own uncrewed platforms, particularly relatively simple systems that can be produced in large quantities.

An attack drone in the Shahed/Geran class, for example, could be produced relatively easily in very large numbers (and that is likely already happening to some degree) and could saturate South Korean air defenses, which are generally tailored to address more conventional threats. North Korea doesn’t need the long range that the Shahed/Geran typically provides, since many of its primary targets are much closer. The shorter distances involved could permit a greater proportion of a drone’s weight to be allocated to its warhead, depending on the design. Alternatively, a drone with the roughly 1,000-mile reach of the Shahed/Geran could fly a very complex route to reach targets in the South, including approaching via the coast. At the very least, expanding North Korean efforts in this area could tilt the balance of power on the peninsula, providing Seoul with a major interdiction problem and forcing the development of new countermeasures, such as directed-energy weapons and cheap interceptors.

The possibility of Russian assistance via its own Geran development effort is likely bringing enhanced technologies within reach of North Korea. Indeed, that kind of expertise is already being gained by tens of thousands of North Korean workers who have been sent to Russia as additional labor for its drone-production efforts.

And once again, it’s these one-way attack munitions and smaller drones that can be mass-produced and rapidly iterated upon that pose a real threat to South Korea. It is likely that North Korea will continue to ramp-up its investment in these systems, building them in very large tranches in order to create an asymmetric advantage — one that has proven challenging to counter in real conflicts around the globe. At the same time, they will also continue to build high-tech-looking clones of far more advanced systems which will have little tactical or strategic impact but work well for propaganda purposes.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarone.com

A GJ-21 stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) has successfully launched from and recovered aboard the Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan, according to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Visual confirmation of this milestone has yet to emerge, but there have been steady signs of preparations for flight trials from the Sichuan, which features an electromagnetic catapult. GJ-21s have already been spotted flying from airfields on land.

The GJ-21 and the land-based GJ-11 Mysterious Dragon it is based on are prime examples of China’s major investments in UCAVs and other flying-wing-type drones. These developments stand in particular contrast to the U.S. military’s eschewing of such designs, at least publicly. This is despite significant past U.S. achievements in this arena, including in the development of carrier-based UCAVs. The PLA Navy (PLAN) now looks to be on track to be the first country to field an operational capability of this kind.

“China’s first ship-borne stealth reconnaissance and attack drone ‘GJ-21’ recently made its first successful take-off and landing on [the Type] 076 amphibious assault ship, the ‘Sichuan’ (Hull 51),” according to a post today from the China Military Bugle account on X, an official PLA mouthpiece. “This is another significant breakthrough in the development of China’s amphibious assault ship, indicating that the Chinese Navy now has the capability to operate fixed-wing stealth drones from large maritime combat platforms.”

At the time of writing, neither the PLA nor Chinese state media have shared where or when these trials occurred or provided any other additional details, including how many total launches and recoveries were conducted. No official pictures or videos from the testing have been released so far.

Unconfirmed claims that a GJ-21 had been launched from Sichuan had already begun circulating on social media earlier this month. As an aside, the GJ-21 is readily discernible from the land-based GJ-11 by the catapult bar on its nose landing gear strut.

A review of satellite imagery from Planet Labs does show Sichuan was at its usual berth at Hudong-Zhonghua in Shanghai as of October 13, but absent four days later. When exactly it left port is unclear. The one-of-a-kind Type 076 does not appear to have returned until October 26. TWZ has also obtained a satellite image of Hudong-Zhonghua taken just today from Vantor, with the ship still seen sitting at the pier, as seen at the top of this story and below. GJ-21 drones, or more likely mockups thereof, have also been present on the pier for some time.

Even while Sichuan was still under construction, there were growing signs that a navalized version of the GJ-11, as well as other uncrewed platforms, would be major components of its future air wing. With its electromagnetic catapult and notably large overall size, the Type 076 is unlike any other big-deck amphibious warship in service today globally, as TWZ has previously explored in depth.

As mentioned, there have been further signs that the PLA has been preparing Sichuan for real launches and recoveries, especially of GJ-21s, since last year. Pictures emerged online in October 2025 showing a red-colored test ‘truck’ on the ship’s flight deck, indicating the start of catapult testing. Video from those tests has since been released. Weighted trucks like this have long been used to test catapults on aircraft carriers during construction or following maintenance. The Type 076 left port for the first time in November 2025.

Weighted carts catapult test on Type 076 LHD

three lines marked directly under and outside the wheels of the Red cart to ensure it is centered

the parallel alignment markings flanking the catapult slot serve as visual tips for precise positioning https://t.co/KJkC2ZrLgS pic.twitter.com/pZa0Vx56jG

— David Wang (@DavidWangPLA) August 1, 2026

“Two GJ-21 aircraft were displayed at the victory parade in September 2025, reportedly having entered PLAN service in mid-2025,” according to Andreas Rupprecht, an expert on Chinese aviation and contributor to TWZ. “By late 2025, several GJ-21 aircraft were reportedly undergoing simulated EMALS launches and arrested landings at the PLAN’s land-based facility at Huangdicun.”

In February of this year, GJ-21 mockups were spotted on Sichuan’s flight deck and riding on the ship’s port-side elevator to the hangar deck as part of what appeared to be deck-handling trials.

After the first Type 076 LHD/LAH “Sichuan” was seen yesterday with a GJ-21 UCAV mock-up on deck, the GJ-21 was seen for the first time with its wings folded and later lowered to the hangar deck on one of the elevators.

(Images @鼎盛大彪 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/eMyz2QLHQX

— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) February 1, 2026

More recent satellite imagery had shown that the Type 076’s flight deck had received additional markings in line with progress toward real flight operations. Fittings for three arresting cables also became plainly visible. Those cables are also notably depicted in the graphic that the China Military Bugle shared online today.

The GJ-21 will of course not be the only aircraft in the Type 076’s future air wing. The ship is also expected to carry a variety of other uncrewed aircraft, as well as crewed helicopters. China has shown a range of other combat drone designs in recent years. Navalized versions could well be developed for deployment on Sichuan, as well as PLAN’s growing fleet of traditional carriers and other suitable configured vessels.

Loading the Type 076 with operational UCAVs would only underscore the significance of this particular ship. As we have previously written:

“The potential value to the PLAN of having a fleet of very large deck amphibious assault ships that are highly capable of large-scale drone operations as well as traditional amphibious assaults is clear. These ships could be used to launch and recover UCAVs like the GJ-11 and other types of drones to perform a host of missions from maritime strike to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). They could be used to provide additional ‘mass’ in support of the operations of larger carrier strike groups and help to free the air wings of flattops like Fujian up for tasks they might be better suited for. In addition, they could provide a lower tier of naval aviation support that could be employed independently.”

…

“Simply having more naval aviation capacity overall would give the PLAN added flexibility for various operations closer to the mainland, including a potential military intervention against Taiwan or defending its expansive and largely unrecognized territorial claims in places like the South China Sea. Type 076s could also help project naval and air power further from China’s shores, something that has also been a driving factor behind the country’s broader carrier ambitions.”

…

“The Type 076 could help provide support during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Big deck amphibious warfare ships, in general, provide their operators with immensely valuable platforms for projecting both hard and soft power.”

Chinese PLA Navy’s First Type 076 Amphibious Assault Ship “Sichuan” Conducts First Sea Trial

Last year, the PLA separately confirmed that the GJ-11 had entered at least limited operational service. That followed a steady ramp-up in testing of that drone based on what could be seen in satellite imagery and video clips that had emerged online. This included evidence of near-daily flights at Malan Air Base, a major hub for testing uncrewed platforms. GJ-11s had also been spotted at an operational air base in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

New video out from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China shows the new GJ-11 stealth drone (UCAV), and also the J-20 stealth fighter firing a live PL-15 air-to-air missile: pic.twitter.com/wraDqyMOht

— The STRATCOM Bureau (@OSPSF) November 11, 2025

As mentioned earlier, the continued development of the GJ-11 and GJ-21 are reflective of the PLA’s broader pursuit of stealthy flying-wing drones, which is not limited to UCAVs. Several larger designs that look most immediately suited to high-altitude, long-endurance ISR missions have also broken cover in the country in the past few years.

There is something of a trend in this regard globally, with Russia, India, Turkey, and France also pursuing flying-wing drone designs. The U.S. military continues to be markedly absent from this space, at least that we know, despite major investments and real demonstrations of relevant capability, before various programs were abandoned for reasons that still remain largely unclear. In the late 2010s, the U.S. Navy notably looked to be right on the edge of fielding a carrier-based UCAV, before changing course entirely to an uncrewed tanker instead. There are some signs now that the service may be taking another look at the capabilities it passed over.

It is still to be seen how quickly the PLA’s official statement today will be followed by real confirmation of the launching and recovery of a GJ-21 from the Sichuan.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Gaza City— Mohammed Hamad, 14, was on his way home from school in Deir el-Balah on October 17 when an Israeli strike targeted the road he was travelling along.

He had finished classes at the makeshift school and was walking home through the al-Baraka neighbourhood with his 10-year-old brother, Abdullah. Mohammed was killed in the strike along with another man. Abdullah survived.

Mohammed was Riyad Hamad’s third child, an eighth-grade student among the top pupils in his class. His loss is difficult for the 44-year-old father to comprehend.

“He was not just my son, he was my friend,” Hamad told Al Jazeera from his family tent in Deir el-Balah. “He was doing so well. May God have mercy on him.”

The family has struggled to come to terms with the death of a boy whose schoolwork and achievements had been a source of pride.

“Mohammed used to ask me: ‘How am I with you?’ I swear, I never asked him for anything more,” he said.

The loss has also left a deep mark on Abdullah, who now fears losing his father, too.

“He has become very afraid of going to school. They used to go together every day and come back together. Now he cannot come to terms with having to go on his own,” Hamad said.

“We are living in fear. When I go out into the streets, I swear I am afraid. Even when I am walking or sitting in a car, my heart is filled with fear … Why should our children have to live with this constant fear and anxiety, even until the last moment?

“Enough is enough. The child is supposed to bury his father, not the father bury his child. They have turned the order of things upside down.”

The gradual return of children to school – even in makeshift classrooms and tents – had offered families in Gaza some hope of restoring a sense of normality after years of disruptions.

But Israeli air raids and sniper fire have continued, despite a ceasefire being established last October for Gaza. Since then, Israel has killed at least 1,574 Palestinians and injured 5,687 in Gaza, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

The academic year resumed in Gaza on September 19, after nearly three years of disruptions caused by Israel’s war – and with it came more Israeli strikes.

Ten children aged from six to 16 and a teacher were killed between October 18 and 24. In a statement last Sunday, the Ministry of Education said that two girls were wounded during morning assembly at Muradiya School in Jabalia on October 21. Five students were also injured, some critically, in an attack on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on Sunday.

The ministry called for urgent international action to protect students, schools and universities in Gaza.

The risks are particularly high for schools located near the so-called “Yellow Line”, a point that divided Gaza’s territory between Israeli and Palestinian control as part of the October 2025 “ceasefire” agreement. The line has moved westward to give Israel control of more than 65 percent of Gaza, according to the United Nations, up from the 53 percent agreed upon a year ago

At least 66 Palestinian children have been killed close to the Yellow Line, and pupils and teachers travelling near this zone remain in mortal danger from Israeli snipers and bombs.

On October 21, Suad Abd Rabbo, a fourth-grade student, went to school carrying her bag and books. Not long afterwards, her older sister rushed home shouting that Suad had been shot.

“I ran out barefoot,” Suad’s mother, Aliaa Abd Rabbo, recalled. “When I saw her, I was confused. I didn’t know what to do. She was bleeding, crying and screaming.”

The bullet struck Suad above the knee and lodged in a sensitive area close to her nerves and tendons. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors warned that trying to remove it could cause paralysis. They operated on Suad but were still unable to extract the bullet, which remains in her leg.

Abd Rabbo remembers when Suad came round from the anaesthesia after surgery and started reciting a passage she had been preparing for a school dictation exercise.

“‘O symbol of generosity and resilience … When I feel tired, I sit under an olive tree in the yard of our home, and feel rested after the exhaustion,” her mother recalled her saying.

Suad has since been discharged from hospital and has returned to her tent, where she remains unable to walk or move around. She needs surgery abroad to fully recover, but with Israel tightly controlling exit and entry from Gaza, her prospects of proper treatment are remote.

“Suad is now deeply frustrated. She cries and asks: ‘Why did this happen to me? Why was I targeted? What did I do?’” Abd Rabbo said.

Israeli tanks, military vehicles and cranes regularly open fire close to their tent in northern Gaza, particularly after sunset. Families often have to lie flat on the ground for hours to avoid the stray bullets that ricochet through the camp.

“My heart hurts when I send the girls to school. I told my husband I regret coming back from the south,” Abd Rabbo said about their return home to Jabalia after fleeing to Deir el-Balah during the war.

Another girl was also injured on the same day as Suad as students at Muradiya School were preparing for assembly at about 10:30am, Naim Aloush, the school’s principal, said.

“The girls had formed two lines … one suddenly screamed and fell to the ground … another girl standing nearby was struck by a bullet in her side,” she told Al Jazeera.

Teachers rushed to the girls and found that Suad had been shot while the second pupil, Amina Khader, a fifth-grade student, sustained a minor injury to her abdomen.

Aloush said the shooting sent fear through the school, with parents rushing to collect their children.

Pupils who had witnessed the incident were left terrified, and the school saw a marked increase in absenteeism in the days that followed.

The principal sees this incident as part of wider dangers facing the school in the al-Ghubari area, west of Jabalia al-Balad, consisting of 20 educational tents and serving about 1,000 pupils in the surrounding community, close to the Yellow Line.

Aloush said stray bullets or projectiles – from Israeli artillery, quadcopter drones and snipers – still regularly hit the school.

“Education is under fire, and our whole lives are under fire. At any moment, there can be gunfire. It is not light … it comes down like rain,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Every day, I come to school with my hand over my heart, afraid that one of my pupils or a member of the teaching staff might be hit.”

Amina, the other child injured along with Suad, has been left deeply traumatised by the incident, her father, Khaled Khader, said.

Khader said he rushed to the school after hearing that Amina had been injured and carried his daughter to a nearby clinic.

“There was terror, absolute terror. My daughter was in shock. She broke down, started screaming and collapsed,” Khader told Al Jazeera.

“Thank God she is safe … but the psychological impact of what happened will take years to overcome.”

Amina has since been afraid to return to school. Her family tried taking her back once, but she left early, unable to bear the sound of the gunfire.

“She is now afraid of the school itself. She keeps dreaming about her classmate lying there with blood running from her,” Khader said.

He said the incident had also left him afraid for the rest of his children and his wife, with Israeli air raids, random gunfire and shelling continuing to affect streets near the school.

“We are confused about what to do. Do we keep our children away from school and deprive them of their education, or do we send them out, knowing that they could be targeted at any moment?” Khader said. “A student needs stability to be able to learn. But we have no stability, and there are no alternatives.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is “open” to the possibility of the UK issuing a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, but has ruled out considering financial reparations.

Burham said he wanted a “dialogue with those affected by the slave trade” and was open to “calls for an apology”.

He dismissed the idea of paying financial reparations, saying they were “not the right answer”.

The comments come ahead of a Commonwealth leaders summit in the Caribbean next week, which Burnham will attend. Caribbean nations have renewed calls for the UK to apologise for its role in the slave trade, and for reparations, as King Charles III tours the region.

Burham described the transatlantic slave trade, when Africans were trafficked to the Americas, as a “brutal and barbaric violation” and said Britain must “face up to the past”.

The British government has never formally apologised for slavery or offered to pay reparations. Burnham has stuck with the policy of his predecessors, and has stopped short of offering any consideration of reparation payments.

“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” Burnham wrote in his piece for the Guardian, external.

He said Commonwealth countries had for years been asking for an “honest conversation”. Burnham said he wanted to offer a “structured dialogue” adding: “Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process. I am open to them.”

A government source told the BBC this was “morally the right thing to do”.

Downing Street believes it is in the UK’s interest to strengthen the Commonwealth, in a world where China and Russia are seeking to exert influence.

Only this week, President Vladimir Putin hosted a Russia-Africa summit in Moscow.