Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has handed former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to assemble a new government, according to RaiNews. The move came as Israeli officials authorized the United States to deploy an initial multinational force of roughly 250 foreign soldiers in Gaza, and as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered an end to the standoff with Washington.
RaiNews also reported that airstrikes on Yemen killed 44 people. The outlet did not give further details on the strikes in its summary of the day's events.
Why it matters
The mandate given to Eisenkot marks a potential change of direction in Israeli politics after the tenure of Benjamin Netanyahu, and it comes at a moment when several tracks are moving at once: the formation of a new coalition, the arrival of foreign troops in Gaza, and a possible opening in the long confrontation between Iran and the United States. Each of these could shift the region's balance, and each is still unresolved.
The numbers behind the mandate
According to RaiNews, the bloc backing Eisenkot holds 48 seats, and with the 19 seats of the Arab parties it reaches 67 members of parliament. The bloc supporting the incumbent prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has 53 seats, with the Likud party — the largest single faction — holding 27.
Eisenkot's party, Yashar, has been pressing to bring ultra-Orthodox factions into an effort to hold an early vote on replacing the speaker of the Knesset, a post currently held by Amir Ohan of Likud. The ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism said it would not join that push. In a letter to Yashar's parliamentary leader, the party argued that the speaker should be replaced when a new government is formed rather than at the moment the Knesset is sworn in, to avoid a situation in which the speaker sits in opposition to the government, RaiNews reported. The anti-Netanyahu bloc needs 61 signatures to force an early vote, and the move could still be brought together with the Arab parties.
A foreign force for Gaza, and Turkey's bid to join
Citing Israeli security officials, the news site Walla reported that Israel's government has agreed to let the United States station an initial multinational contingent of about 250 foreign soldiers in Gaza, according to RaiNews. Over the past two weeks, foreign military officers accompanied by US troops have been seen near the border with the Strip as preparations for the deployment proceed.
RaiNews reported that one factor slowing the force's formation is pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Washington for Turkey to take part in operations in Gaza. Israeli authorities and the defense establishment firmly oppose Turkish involvement, citing Erdogan's statements against Israel and the fact that Turkey hosts Hamas's headquarters — which, according to investigations, directed the attack near Hebron two weeks ago in which two IDF soldiers were killed.
Meanwhile, the US military continues to move vehicles and equipment into a special base near the Gaza border, inside the area of responsibility of the IDF's southern brigade of the Gaza Division, RaiNews reported. The site was originally an Israeli army base before being handed to the United States; since then, guard towers have been erected, surveillance and lighting systems installed, and the perimeter fence rebuilt. Armed US troops now man the base around the clock.
Alongside this, preparations are under way for the planned "terror-free Emirati city" on the ruins of part of Rafah, a project the Israeli government has approved, according to RaiNews. Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Uganda and Albania have so far expressed willingness to take part in the force for Gaza.
Iran signals a shift, and the G7 meets
Pezeshkian, quoted by the Irna agency, said Khamenei had directed him to bring an end to the situation of "neither war nor peace" with the United States. "We can start a dialogue and reach a dignified conclusion to the matter. We aim for a negotiation based on justice and equal conditions," Pezeshkian said, adding that logic dictates avoiding involvement in a war if rights can be protected through dialogue, while insisting Iran would never submit to force or bullying.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said technical contacts between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency are continuing, and that agency experts had recently inspected the Bushehr nuclear plant — an indication, he said, that regulated cooperation persists. He added that the parties responsible for "aggression" should be held accountable for any interruption in that cooperation, since in the current abnormal circumstances it cannot continue as before.
Baghaei also warned that Washington should not indulge Israel's wish for regime change in Iran, saying the United States must grasp the scale of the repercussions and serious consequences that could follow a war. He described Iran's two-day plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz as a logical, direct proposal with a defined timetable, and expressed appreciation for the constructive efforts of mediators, particularly Pakistan and Qatar, while saying any deviation from Iran's legitimate rights would harm national interests and regional security.
Separately, G7 foreign ministers are meeting in Paris on Monday and Tuesday, as US allies seek to prevent a new escalation between Washington and Tehran and to use their influence in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Paris on Monday morning for two days of talks with his counterparts from Germany, Britain, Canada, France, Italy and Japan, RaiNews reported. The meeting is being held at the Quai d'Orsay, the seat of France's foreign ministry.
What to watch next is whether Eisenkot can convert his 67-seat bloc into a governing coalition, and whether the multinational force takes shape in Gaza as Washington weighs Ankara's request to join it.
