Morning update

29 September 2026 07:50 BST Good morning Middle East Eye readers, Here are the latest developments: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office confirmed that he and his wife, Sara, travelled to the UAE on Sunday at the invitation of Mohammed bin Zayed. Israeli media reported that representatives from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Qatar and Morocco were also present at the meeting. According to Ynet, the meeting was arranged by Mossad chief Roman Goffman after Saudi Arabia requested Israeli assistance against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea region. Al Jazeera reported that at least one Palestinian was killed and several others left injured, including children, in an Israeli drone attack in al-Nasr neighbourhood, west of Gaza City. Elsewhere, another Palestinian was shot dead in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Yemen’s Defense Ministry said that its forces carried out 356 operations against Houthi targets over the past 24 hours, claiming it killed and wounded 476 members. In a statement by armed forces spokesperson Majid al-Nuzaili, he said that a number of command and control centres, weapons depots and field artillery across 10 fronts. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Wednesday in Washington, DC., according to a press release by the State Department. The statement indicated that the two continued discussions from the UN General Assembly about bilateral cooperation on regional security and stability, including in Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, and other regional issues. US President Donald Trump on Monday denied he offered Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in return for nuclear concessions from Tehran. "This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios’ story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome," he said on his Truth Social account. The ongoing fighting in Yemen has displaced nearly 16,000 people the past week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday. The UN agency indicated that 145,308 people (around 24,218 households) were displaced across eight governorates since insecurity escalated on the western coast in June. The total rose by 12 percent, or 15,870 people, between 21 to 28 September.