Israel commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa in the first direct hit to the city, while Israel continues its bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs. We delve inside Iran’s proxy war with Israel in the West amid a rise in alleged Iran-linked murder and kidnapping plots. And we hear about the talks between Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
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Today, Israel marks the October 7th anniversary under the shadow of an escalating regional conflict, inside Iran's proxy war with Israel in the West, and Jared Kushner's discussions on U.S.-Saudi diplomacy with the Saudi Crown Prince. It's Monday, October 7th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool. At 6.29 local time, Israelis across the country shared a minute of silence to mark the beginning of the Hamas-led ambush one year ago. 1,200 people were killed in the attack on October 7th, 2023, and an urge that 250 taken hostage according to Israeli figures. A year on, more than 100 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In Tel Aviv, people blew the shofar, a ram's horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the most deadly attack in Israel's history. And at the site of the Nova Music Festival, where hundreds were killed in dozens taken hostage, thousands of mourners listened to the last track played before Hamas militants stormed the party. The Hamas attack triggered an Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed almost 42,000 people according to Palestinian health authorities. And displaced nearly 2 million sparked protests around the world, and spilled over into a wider regional conflict. Overnight, Israel has continued its airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. It's a heaviest bombardment of the Lebanese capital since ramping up its campaign against Hezbollah. Today, military says fighter jets hit Hezbollah's intelligence HQ, as well as weapons storage facilities. And Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa in Israel early on Monday morning, injuring at least 10 people. It's a first direct hit on the coastal city that evaded the military's usually reliable air defense systems. We've got more insight to come in today's episode into two of the major power brokers in the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia; and for more on the anniversary of October 7th, an insight into for shifting power plays in the Middle East, check out our weekend special episode. We'll drop a link in the pod description. Tensions between our enemies, Iran and Israel erupted into direct conflict last week. As the region braces for Israel's response to Iran's missile attack, behind the scenes, Iran has been upping the ante in its shadow war with Israel. The U.S. and its allies say there's been a rise in the number of alleged Iran-linked abduction and murder plots in the West in recent years. And one trend has been outsourcing these hit attempts to non-Iranian hired assassins. Casel Brian Lowe is with us to talk through this special report, including some never-before-reported details on a plot in Greece. The documents describe how a man in Iran recruited a Pakistani immigrant in Greece to carry out attacks and it includes WhatsApp messages between the two men where they discuss attack methods and even pay as much as about €15,000 per kill. This plot that Israel has said was orchestrated by Iran, which Tehran denies. But what's interesting is it fits with a broader pattern of alleged Iran-linked plots that we've seen across Europe and the U.S. in recent years. What's new in this long-standing proxy war? One is the volume. Worritas combed through court documents across various countries and what public officials have said publicly. We've found more than 30 instances since 2020, where there's been public allegations of Iran linked to an assassination or abduction plot. We think that's probably an undercount because in some cases, governments are reticent to publicly point that you'd finger at Iran. Another trend we've seen in recent years has been the use of hired hitmen and that includes the use of non-Iranians. Who are the targets for these plots? One Jewish and Israeli citizens living in the West. The group is Iranian distance or journalists, and another is U.S. officials, which is recently former President Trump's campaign said he had recently been briefed by U.S. intelligence about threats to assassinate him from Iran. What's the Iran's response to these allegations? For its part, Tehran denies involvement in a number of these alleged plots in the West, including specifically the Greek case that we focus on. It often calls these kinds of claims baseless and says there's sort of fabrications to direct attention from problems the Israeli regime is having elsewhere. Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has discussed diplomatic negotiations involving Israel with Saudi Arabia's crown prince. The talks, reported by Reuters, were new questions about whether Kushner's financial ties with Riyadh could influence U.S. policy if his father-in-law wins a presidential election next month. Aaron Rosten has the story in Washington. Aaron, what can you tell us about these conversations with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or MBS, as he's widely known? We don't know exactly when these discussions took place. We just know that Kushner did talk to MBS about this diplomatic effort to have Saudi Arabia recognize Israel. Tell us about Kushner's financial links to Saudi Arabia. So the Saudis invested $2 billion in Kushner's private equity fund, which you set up after leaving the Trump administration. So that's a significant issue for some critics, for some ethics experts, Democrats, even Republicans, they've said it raises questions for a foreign government to invest this much money in a fund run by the son-in-law of the former president who's running for president again. Kushner and his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, have denied that Saudi Arabia's investments are a conflict of interest. So if Trump is reelected, would Kushner be involved in Saudi talks? His spokesperson said he's not seeking any such role at all. What is true is he was the chief force behind the Abraham Accords during the Trump administration. And Saudi Arabia, that's the unfinished portion. What's unclear is what Kushner's potential role is moving forward and how complex these relationships are when you have Saudi Arabia as an investor, and you also have it as a key participant in these potentially very important diplomatic talks. A spokesperson for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not answer questions about Kushner's discussions with MBS. Florida is preparing for its largest evacuation since 2017, as Hurricane Milton intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico and its path towards the U.S. state's western coast, coming on the heels of the devastating Hurricane Halene. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Milton, which has strengthened from a tropical storm to Hurricane, is projected to make landfall on Wednesday, likely hitting the heavily populated Tampa Bay area. Haitian Prime Minister Gary Kaniyin is saying he's heading to the United Arab Emirates and Kenya to seek security assistance in the aftermath of a deadly gang attack in the Caribbean nation. Haiti is reeling after members of the Grand Grief Gang stormed through the town of Ponce Fonday early on Thursday, killing at least 70 people, including infants, and forcing over 6,000 residents to flee. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan says two Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion near the international airport of Karachi on Sunday night, in what it described as a terrorist attack. The separatist militant group Belash Liberation Army has claimed the explosion, saying they carried out the attack using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting Chinese nationals. Markets now and BP has abandoned a target to cut oil and gas output by 2030. The CEO, Murray Alkinglass, scales back the firm's energy transition strategy to regain investor confidence. That's according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. The London-listed company is now targeting several new investments in the Middle East and the Gulf of Mexico to boost its oil and gas output, sources say. And if you're interested in the idea of peak oil and want to hear some of the economic theories behind it, there's an episode of econworld podcast just for you. We'll link to it in the pod description. A recommended read today is all about how American classrooms have been reshaped by record migrant arrivals. A Reuters survey has found that the arrival of more than half a million school-aged children since 2022 has strained school budgets and left teachers grappling with language barriers. You can read more by following the link in our pod description. And for more on any of the stories from today, check out rotors.com or the Reuters app. To never miss an episode, subscribe on your favourite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. (upbeat music) [MUSIC]
