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The IDF and Shin Bet announced Tuesday that they had eliminated Nael Abu Obeid, the commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade and a senior figure in the terror organization, in a targeted strike in the southern Gaza Strip. Abu Obeid also served as the head of Hamas’s operations array.

According to the Israeli security agencies, Abu Obeid took command of the Rafah Brigade following the elimination of his predecessor, Mohammed Shabana. Before assuming the position, Abu Obeid served in several senior roles, including deputy commander of the Rafah Brigade and commander of the Tel al-Sultan and Yabna battalions.

In his most recent position, Abu Obeid was responsible for overseeing Hamas terrorists in the Rafah area and directing plans for attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians. Israeli officials said he was also heavily involved in efforts to rebuild the Rafah Brigade after it suffered severe losses during the war.

Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that two people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and 14 others were wounded in three strikes targeting tents housing displaced Gazans in western Khan Yunis. According to those reports, two adjacent tents near the entrance to the Al-Sumoud camp were struck. The first explosion was reportedly caused by an explosive drone, followed by two missiles fired from an aircraft.

Abu Obeid was regarded as one of Hamas’s most powerful remaining figures in Gaza and had reportedly taken a leading role in the organization following the elimination of Mohammed Sinwar and later Shabana. Shabana was eliminated in a June 2025 strike in Khan Yunis together with Mohammed Sinwar, who at the time headed Hamas’s military wing.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu responded to Abu Obeid’s elimination with a brief statement: “No terrorist is immune, and Hamas will not be in Gaza.”

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz also addressed the operation, saying: “The policy being led by the prime minister and myself, and which the IDF is implementing in the most professional and proper manner, is clear: We eliminate terrorists and remove threats, and do not attack civilians and uninvolved individuals — contrary to the blood libel spread by the creators of the film ‘Naza’ against our heroic soldiers. No terrorist is immune, and Hamas will not be in Gaza.”

The strike came amid an increasing pace of targeted operations against senior Hamas commanders. In recent days, the Shin Bet located Mohammed Yazouri, also known as Abu al-Haytham, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade. He was eliminated while together with a company commander and another Hamas terrorist.

The IDF carried out five additional targeted eliminations on Monday, including the commander of Hamas’s Jabalia Battalion. In a joint announcement, the IDF and Shin Bet said: “During the night, the IDF and Shin Bet struck in the northern Gaza Strip and eliminated terrorist Ahmed Batash, commander of the Jabalia Battalion in the Northern Gaza Brigade of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

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The first stage of the Federal Aviation Administration’s sweeping effort to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic control system is expected to cost $16 billion, billions more than Congress has provided for the project, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told lawmakers Tuesday.

Congress approved $12.5 billion last year for improvements to the air traffic control system, with $9 billion designated for modernization efforts and another $3.5 billion allocated for construction and upgrades to facilities.

“It’s costing $16 billion to do phase one,” Bedford said during testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee.

Bedford said the FAA is covering the difference by drawing money from its existing facilities and equipment budget. Looking ahead, the agency is seeking at least another $10 billion from Congress to carry out the second phase of the modernization program, and Bedford urged lawmakers to provide those funds.

“The agency is working on scale-up to get ‌this done and get it done right,” Bedford said.

The warning came the same day the Government Accountability Office released a report finding that the FAA has not fully calculated the long-term cost of operating the new air traffic control system or established a sufficiently detailed schedule for completing the overhaul.

According to the GAO, the first phase encompasses more than 11,000 individual projects, which the FAA had previously estimated would cost $10.6 billion. Bedford noted that the agency had said last year that it would need between $15 billion and $16 billion for the initial phase, accounting for the funding gap.

Congress provided the modernization money amid longstanding concerns over the age of the nation’s air traffic control infrastructure, persistent airport congestion and flight delays, a shortage of controllers, and a series of technology failures that have highlighted weaknesses in the existing system.

One particularly costly component is the effort to replace antiquated telecommunications infrastructure. The projected price of those upgrades has risen by $4.75 billion, reaching $5.91 billion, according to the GAO. Bedford said the FAA intends to completely eliminate the outdated copper-wire telecommunications system by September 2027.

As part of the broader overhaul, the FAA selected Peraton, which is owned by Veritas Capital, in December to oversee the modernization initiative. The company was awarded a $1.5 billion contract for that role.

President Donald Trump sharply criticized the Biden-era FBI and former FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday following the release of new federal records concerning Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate Trump at his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump also alleged, without presenting evidence, that the shooting was part of a Democratic plot to remove him from the presidential race. Investigators have previously said they found no evidence that Crooks had co-conspirators or was acting at the direction of a political organization.

Trump accused the FBI under President Joe Biden and Wray of improperly handling the investigation and claimed that crucial material was no longer available by the time he returned to the White House.

“By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago?”

Trump went further, alleging without offering evidence that the assassination attempt was “a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed.” Current FBI Director Kash Patel has said investigators found no evidence Crooks was working with anyone else.

During its initial investigation in 2024, the FBI similarly said it had uncovered no co-conspirators or individuals who had advance knowledge of Crooks’ plans.

Trump’s comments came as newly obtained federal records provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, offered additional details about Crooks and his activities leading up to the Butler attack. Grassley has been conducting an investigation into the assassination attempt.

According to the records, Crooks developed an increasingly intense interest in firearms and long-range shooting during the years before the attack.

His father, Matthew Crooks, told investigators that his son’s interest in guns began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crooks subsequently spent considerable time practicing and eventually became capable of accurately shooting at distances beyond 100 yards.

Matthew Crooks told investigators that on the morning of July 13, he gave his son the Panther Arms A-15 rifle that would later be used in the assassination attempt because he believed Crooks was headed to a shooting range.

The FBI had previously said Crooks’ father provided him with the rifle that afternoon under the impression that his son planned to go to the Sportsman’s Club.

Investigators determined that Crooks had practiced shooting at the club the day before the rally and had also conducted reconnaissance of the Butler rally grounds before carrying out the attack.

The newly reported records also indicate that Crooks used the name “Bob Dole” when making online purchases of firearms-related products and became increasingly focused on improving his shooting skills.

According to the records, Crooks’ father also described troubling behavior shortly before the attack, including seeing his son pacing and talking to himself while cleaning a firearm.

Crooks ultimately climbed onto a rooftop overlooking the rally and fired eight shots toward Trump. One bullet struck Trump in the ear, rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed, and two other people were wounded. A Secret Service sniper then shot and killed Crooks.

The FBI opened investigations into both an attempted assassination and possible domestic terrorism following the attack.

Trump on Tuesday directed particular criticism at Wray, saying the former FBI director “should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt.”

Wray had originally been nominated by Trump to serve as FBI director during Trump’s first administration. He resigned from the position before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

President Donald Trump’s administration has approved a massive $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel that includes 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, according to a U.S. official cited by The New York Times, marking one of the largest transfers of heavy American munitions to Israel in recent years.

The package includes 20,000 MK-84 bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 bombs, both weighing approximately 2,000 pounds. The Washington Post reported that the package also includes 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads, which are designed to penetrate hardened structures.

The $2.8 billion package is expected to be financed through U.S. military assistance provided to Israel rather than paid for directly with Israeli funds, according to the Washington Post. The proposed transfer has already been informally communicated to the congressional committees that review major foreign arms sales.

The enormous size of the package is notable even by the standards of the longstanding U.S.-Israel defense relationship. The Washington Post described it as the largest single sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in recent years.

The MK-84 is a general-purpose bomb that can be used against buildings, fortified positions and other large targets. The BLU-117 is another 2,000-pound general-purpose bomb, while the I-2000 is a penetrator warhead intended for use against hardened targets.

Israel has used 2,000-pound bombs during military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. Their use in densely populated areas has drawn criticism from some arms-control and human-rights experts because of the extensive blast damage such weapons can cause. Israel has repeatedly said that it targets terrorists and military infrastructure, does not deliberately target civilians, and takes measures intended to reduce civilian casualties.

“If Hezbollah or whoever is in a building, an MK-84 will bring down the whole building,” Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive-ordnance-disposal technician, told the Washington Post.

Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who is now a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, raised concerns about how the weapons could be employed.

“Given the way Israel conducted its air war in Gaza and, to some extent, in southern Lebanon, there are real concerns about how such weapons would be used in densely populated areas,” Finucane said.

“That’s assuming that you have valid military targets to start with because there are concerns about what Israel deems to be valid military targets,” he added.

The new package follows a separate $2.04 billion munitions sale approved by the Trump administration in February 2025. That earlier package included up to 35,529 MK-84 or BLU-117 bomb bodies, or a combination of the two, as well as 4,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads. At the time, the administration invoked emergency authority to bypass the normal congressional review period.

The Biden administration had temporarily halted a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in 2024 amid concerns about their possible use in densely populated areas of Gaza. Trump lifted that restriction shortly after returning to the White House in January 2025, allowing the previously withheld weapons to be delivered.

The newly approved package comes amid continuing U.S. military backing for Israel and heightened regional fighting involving Iran and Iranian-backed forces. The United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, 2026, prompting Iranian strikes against Israel and Gulf states hosting American military installations.

The arms sale could still face scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Major foreign military sales are ordinarily submitted to Congress, where lawmakers have procedures available under the Arms Export Control Act to seek to block a transaction. Reuters reported that the $2.8 billion package had already been informally presented to the relevant congressional committees.

Asked about the pending transaction before reports emerged that Trump had approved it, a senior White House official told the Washington Post that “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”

Vice President JD Vance said the U.S.-Iran conflict is likely to move into a “much different phase in a couple of months,” backing President Donald Trump’s assessment that the war could wind down following the November midterm elections as Washington continues applying military and economic pressure on Tehran.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the New York Post aboard Air Force Two, Vance said Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has continued to weaken and noted that commercial shipping through the critical waterway has now “returned to well over 50% of normal traffic.”

“We can’t predict the future, but I think the president is right to say that this thing will enter a much different phase in a couple of months,” Vance said. “He’s also the commander in chief, so he’s the person who determines … when conflicts start and when they stop.”

Vance acknowledged frustration among Americans over the length of the conflict but maintained that U.S. forces are no longer carrying out aggressive military operations against Iran.

“I certainly understand there’s some impatience from the American people, but fundamentally what’s happening right now is that the United States is not engaged in aggressive operations. We’re just not,” he added.

“But what is happening is that the Iranians are occasionally shooting at commercial shipping, usually not successfully,” Vance said.

Over the past four months, U.S. Navy SEALs have removed mines from substantial portions of the Strait of Hormuz, although shipping activity has yet to return to prewar levels. U.S. operations have also significantly degraded Iran’s missile and drone capabilities, while Tehran has continued intermittent attacks against commercial vessels and American military positions in the Middle East.

At the same time, Washington has continued its economic campaign against Tehran, targeting Iranian oil tankers and imposing Treasury Department sanctions on banks and other entities accused of helping finance Iran’s war effort.

“There are really two phases to this thing, and the first phase is done,” Vance continued. “The first phase was destroy the nuclear program, destroy their conventional military, destroy their ability to project power in a way that they were able to even a couple of years ago.”

“And then the second phase of this is ensure that they’re not able to rebuild and try to maintain as much global stability in the wake of that,” he also said.

Vance played a central role in the diplomatic effort that produced a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran in June. The agreement established a ceasefire framework, called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and set the stage for negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program and a broader end to the conflict.

Whether the coming months will bring intensified American military operations or further diplomatic progress remains uncertain. Trump has publicly said he expects the conflict to end after the November elections, while administration officials have continued pursuing pressure on Tehran.

Vance’s comments came days after Trump predicted that the war would end immediately following the midterm elections, saying Iran “can’t hold out any longer.” Trump also alleged that Tehran was attempting to prolong the conflict in hopes of affecting the U.S. elections.

“They’re desperate to try and affect the election so that we could get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon.”

Trump said Monday that Iran was seeking an agreement with Washington and indicated that the United States remained willing to consider negotiations, while emphasizing that the decision on whether to proceed would ultimately be his.

“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – the concept of which we are open to.”

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Israel has begun sharing intelligence on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis with Saudi Arabia through the United States, establishing an indirect security channel between Yerushalayim and Riyadh as regional powers seek to counter the growing Houthi threat.

The arrangement was reportedly initiated at Saudi Arabia’s request. A regional diplomat told Kan News on Tuesday evening that Riyadh approached Washington seeking assistance, after which American officials brought the request to Israel. Israeli officials agreed to provide intelligence, viewing the Houthis as a threat that extends beyond any single country and poses a broader challenge to the region.

The intelligence-sharing effort comes amid wider discussions about increased regional coordination against the Houthis. Security talks took place on the sidelines of a meeting in Cairo between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with representatives of U.S. Central Command also taking part. During those discussions, American officials proposed creating a regional command structure and coordinating mechanism to organize efforts to confront and respond to the Yemeni rebels.

A foreign official familiar with the contacts said American representatives who recently visited Israel told participants in the Egypt discussions that Israel possesses a significant quantity of high-quality intelligence concerning Houthi forces, positions and infrastructure that could be provided to Saudi Arabia.

Israel’s intelligence capabilities regarding the Houthis have expanded considerably as a result of the Israeli defense establishment’s operational experience confronting the group. The Houthis opened an active front against Israel following the October 7 attacks, launching missiles and drones toward Israel and becoming a direct target of Israeli military operations.

The intelligence-sharing arrangement is primarily intended to help preserve freedom of navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the strategically vital waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a critical route for international shipping.