Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said in an interview with a German broadcaster that Tehran has not closed the window of diplomacy and that messages are being passed to the US via intermediaries. He said the US appears to persist in unilateral demands and that Trump and US officials repeatedly use the phrase "complete surrender," which Baghaei said no Iranian accepts.
Asked if he planned to launch an attack on Iran, Trump initially suggested he would be foolish to telegraph that, then added: "No. There will not be a strike today." The head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, was meanwhile flying over the Strait of Hormuz and asserting that over 3,000 commercial vessels have transited the waterway with US military support over the last six months.
Netanyahu repeated his warning that Iran or its proxies could attack ahead of the elections to disrupt the vote, citing intelligence. "The IDF is ready both to defend and to strike," he said in a video from a visit to an anti-ballistic missile battery, adding: "You will suffer disproportionate blows far greater than you can imagine."
Elsewhere, the International Committee of the Red Cross received lists of Palestinian detainees from the West Bank and Gaza after Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government to resume sharing such lists. Israel had suspended both the sharing of lists and prison visits since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. ICRC spokesperson Gilad Grossman said Israel had not yet allowed prison visits to resume but "we hope that we will resume in the near future." Around 9,000 Palestinians are still imprisoned or detained.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continued attacks on Saudi Arabia. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh reopened terminals 1 and 2 for domestic and international flights after Houthi strikes in early October killed 17 people and wounded over 330 at an airport complex. Saudi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile and a drone fired toward Riyadh. Debris from interceptions in two governorates wounded two people and damaged buildings and vehicles.
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed seven people, according to Palestinian hospital officials. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire began a year ago, according to the territory's Health Ministry.
Pope Leo XIV urged an end to the fighting in Yemen, warning of worsening conditions for more than 1 million residents of Taiz besieged by Houthi rebels. "The population is suffering from a lack of food, water and medical care," the pope wrote on social media.
Libya's rival governments rejected comments by Trump in which he added the nation to a list of countries he described as "terror-infested." Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said he rejected "any affront" to his country or its people "who have made great sacrifices in the fight against terrorism." The self-styled Libyan National Army called for authorities to lodge a protest.