
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel on an unannounced visit, during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, a few days before the Israeli elections.
AI-generated summary
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel on an unannounced visit during which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
(CNN) - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel on a previously unannounced visit, two informed sources and a US official told CNN.
According to an Israeli source familiar with the details and another source familiar with the matter, Hegseth met on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The Pentagon declined to comment when asked about Hegseth's visit to Israel.
This unannounced visit comes a few days before Israel holds its elections.
President Donald Trump recently expressed his support for Netanyahu, describing him as a “great warrior prime minister” in a social media post.
Note that Axios was the first to report the news of Hegseth's visit to Israel.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei announced that Tehran prevented the inclusion of two items related to Yemen in the final statement of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Baghdad, considering that this would provoke division.

73 people were killed after drones targeted a market in the disputed Abyei region amid accusations against the Sudanese army, while the Egyptian Parliament extended discussions on authorizing President Sisi to support Saudi Arabia until next week, coinciding with the opening of the Egypt 2026 Forum.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday, with Jared Kushner participating remotely, in an effort to support diplomacy amid tensions between Trump and Zelensky.

The Minister of Information in charge of the disputed Abyei region announced that 73 people were killed and others injured after drones targeted a market in the region, accusing the Sudanese army of carrying out the attack, while the South Sudan Foreign Ministry summoned the Sudanese ambassador to protest.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and French President Emmanuel Macron witnessed the exchange of the strategic defense partnership framework and executive arrangements for defense industries, during an official visit by Macron as part of a Gulf tour.

The Security Council issued a resolution to digitally protect children in armed conflicts, coinciding with a political escalation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky over aid, and deaths from bombing in Kharkiv and Lugansk.