Israel is set to hold a national election on October 27, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, its first since Hamas' 2023 attack and the wars that ensued in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The precise ballot date had been unclear since the Israeli parliament voted in May to disband, raising the possibility the election could be held early © Mena Today
Israel is set to hold a national election on October 27, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, its first since Hamas' 2023 attack and the wars that ensued in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The precise ballot date had been unclear since the Israeli parliament voted in May to disband, raising the possibility the election could be held early.
However, coalition head Ofir Katz told a parliamentary committee on Sunday that the original October 27 date set by law would be kept.
Successive surveys have suggested Netanyahu's coalition of nationalist and religious parties would lose the ballot, though his political rivals still have no clear path to power and the political landscape may still shift.
Less than a year after a 2022 political comeback at the head of Israel's most right-wing government to date, Netanyahu's security credentials were left in tatters by Hamas' surprise attack on October 7, 2023. Polls show many are unhappy with Netanyahu over the outcome of the Iran war.
It is rare for governments in Israel to complete a full four-year term. Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader and has proven himself an unmatched political survivor.
Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Steve Scheer
A Lebanese official denied on Thursday a Reuters report that Beirut had agreed with Israel to a shortlist of countries that could send troops to Lebanon to verify the disarmament of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and said it was following up on the issue with Washington.
Israel won't withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, the defence minister said on Thursday, qualifying remarks he made a day earlier that had suggested Israeli forces would occupy the territory indefinitely and drew U.S. criticism.
Israeli troops clashed with Jewish settlers on Wednesday while trying to disperse them from a West Bank outpost they set up directly in front of Palestinian homes, and later withdrew from the area after failing to clear the settlers, witnesses said.
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