Israeli President Isaac Herzog (left) meets Azerbaijan President
Ilham Aliyev in Baku on October 14, 2026. (Via Times of Israel)
Israeli president meets Azerbaijan’s
Aliyev ---- to deepen ‘strategic ties’
October 14th, 4:24pm
(PressTV)
Israel has become Azerbaijan’s most important military supplier,
providing drones, missiles, and advanced weapons systems.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev on Wednesday in Baku to discuss ways to deepen the
“strategic relationship” between Israel and Azerbaijan
...despite regional tensions.
During the meeting, Herzog.... congratulated Azerbaijan on its chair-
manship of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building
Measures in Asia (CICA). The Israeli president will address the
summit on Thursday.
“The two presidents discussed ways.. to deepen the strategic relationship
between Israel and Azerbaijan, which is rooted in mutual respect, shared
interests, and the deep historical ties between the two peoples,”
Herzog’s office said in a statement.
The two also exchanged views on regional
and international developments, it added.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have deepened significantly in recent
years, driven by military, energy, and geopolitical interests.
Israel has become Azerbaijan’s most important military supplier,
providing drones, missiles, and advanced weapons systems.
More than 70% of Azerbaijan's arms imports come from Israel.
Israeli-made systems were widely used in the 2020 and 2023
Nagorno-Karabakh wars against Armenia.
In October 2026, Azerbaijan inaugurated a joint venture with
Israeli weapons manufacturer Ari Arms.... to produce
AR-15/M4-style rifles domestically.
Just days ago, reports emerged that Azerbaijan’s special
forces had adopted Israeli Hero-120 loitering munitions.
Israel imports roughly 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan, shipped via
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. In 2024 alone,
Azerbaijan supplied Israel with over $700 million
in crude oil.
Iran views this emerging partnership with alarm, as Azerbaijan
has effectively offered Israel a strategic foothold on Iran’s
northern border.
The Israeli regime reportedly used the Sitalchay airbase
in Azerbaijan for surveillance operations against Iran
as early as 2012.
The 2009 WikiLeaks cables - revealed Aliyev describing the
relationship with Israel as an “iceberg”, most of it hidden
beneath the surface.
Iran has issued explicit warnings to Baku over
its deepening ''partnership'' with Israel.
“We declare to Azerbaijan, as a Muslim country, that in order to
prevent the spread of insecurity in the region ---- expel the
Zionists from that country and do not endanger the
security of your own people and Islamic Iran,”
a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya
Central Command said in March.
Palestinian prisoners ''heckled'' by the Israeli
police in prison. (File photo via social media)
Over 9,000 Palestinian prisoners face torture,
starvation, medical neglect in Israeli jails:
Rights group
October 14th, 1:56pm
(PressTV)
A Palestinian prisoners’ rights group says at least 9,300 Palestinian
inmates face torture, starvation and medical neglect in Israeli
prisons and detention centres.
A Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy group says abuse, torture and
other violations against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons
have escalated sharply over the past three years, since the
start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Centre for Defending Prisoners said on Tuesday that
Palestinian detainees endure torture, starvation, lack of medical
care, isolation, and enforced ''disappearance''.
The violations affect administrative detainees, women and children,
as well as those Palestinians held in military camps and detention
facilities closed to independent humanitarian and legal scrutiny.
The centre noted that approximately 9,300 Palestinian prisoners
and detainees are currently incarcerated in Israeli facilities.
This includes over 3,100 individuals held under
administrative detention, around 1,400
classified by ''Israel'' as “unlawful
combatants,” nearly 90 women,
and more than 350 minors.
The figures do not account for all Gaza detainees
held in military facilities, the centre highlighted.
It added that around 26,000 abductions have taken place in the
occupied West Bank and al-Quds over the last three years,
which includes hundreds of women and thousands
of children.
The report said prison conditions have deteriorated sharply since
October 2023, with the authorities reducing food rations,
lowering food quality, confiscating personal
belongings, restricting shower and yard
time, banning family visits --- and
intensifying searches and the
use of solitary confinement.
Former inmates have reported repeated physical assaults, prolonged
restraint, sleep deprivation, verbal abuse, threats and sexual
violence, as well as violations of their privacy and dignity.
They have also described the use of dogs and stun
grenades during raids on prison wings and cells.
According to the centre, around 1,500 Palestinian detainees are
suffering from health problems linked to a lack of medication,
delays in medical examinations and treatment, skin
diseases, malnutrition and unsanitary
prison conditions.
Women and children face humiliating treatment, shortages of personal
necessities, physical and psychological abuse, and restrictions on
communication with their families. Children are also denied
access to education and care appropriate to their age.
The report said more than 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, have
died in Israeli prisons and detention facilities over the past three years,
amid concerns that additional deaths, particularly among detainees
from Gaza held in military camps, may have gone unreported.
The centre also highlighted the role of so-called Israeli security minister
Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying he is pushing for harsher prison conditions,
including reduced food rations and supplies, tighter restrictions
and more severe punishments for Palestinian detainees.
It warned against exploiting the plight of Palestinian prisoners
for political and electoral gain in the occupied territories,
particularly by threatening to execute detainees.
The centre called for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts
and status of all detainees who have been subjected to enforced
disappearance or remain unaccounted for, and for prisons and
military detention facilities to be opened to independent
international inspections.
It also demanded legal representation for all detainees, the restoration
of family visitation rights, and the provision of adequate food,
medicine, clothing and other essential supplies.
It finally called on the United Nations, the International Committee of
the Red Cross, and international human rights organizations to take
decisive measures to protect Palestinian prisoners, examine
cases of torture, deaths in custody, sexual violence, and
medical neglect, abolish solitary confinement and
collective punishment, and revoke Israeli laws
permitting the death penalty.
__________________________________
Leaked emails expose German
ex-intelligence chief’s ties to
Mossad: Report
October 14th, 6:37am
(PressTV)
Leaked emails have revealed business and political ties
between former German intelligence chief and Mossad,
according to a report.
Leaked emails have revealed business and political ties between former
German intelligence chief August Hanning and ex-Mossad director
Danny Yatom, including discussions about German political
candidates and proposed intelligence assessments,
a report says.
Hanning, who headed Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND)
from 1998 to 2005, was arrested on October 6 on suspicion of
treasonous espionage and other intelligence-related
offenses, The Cradle reported on Monday.
According to the report, prosecutors believe Hanning obtained
approximately 2,000 intelligence documents from a former
BND employee identified only as “Manfred D.” over 12
years, using classified material in private consulting
work, including with Yatom.
Hanning and Manfred D. agreed in 2010 to exchange valuable
intelligence information for payment, with Manfred D.
continuing to provide documents until June 2022.
The material reportedly included internal briefings prepared for
senior German officials, information intended for restricted use
within the federal intelligence service and documents that
could expose sensitive government assessments.
In one instance, prosecutors suspect Hanning used classified
information to prepare an analysis for an employee of a
foreign intelligence service.
Both Hanning and Manfred D. were placed in pretrial detention
following their arrests on suspicion of “espionage, spying out
state secrets, and attempted treason.”
Yatom was reportedly among the beneficiaries of Hanning
and Manfred D.’s intelligence-related dealings.
In an email from 2018, Hanning told Yatom he could prepare an
“overview from senior German and the intelligence agencies
about the candidate,” offering to deliver it by July 13....
for €10,000.
In 2021, Yatom contacted Hanning about arranging meetings with
candidates in Germany’s federal election, seeking to present the
capabilities of his political-campaign company, CIY Global.
The two men also had business connections involving World Health
Energy Holdings, a cybersecurity company linked to Yatom where
Hanning reportedly served in an advisory capacity, the
report revealed.
The case has sent shock waves through European intelligence circles,
with agencies reviewing whether confidential information previously
shared with Germany may have been compromised.
One European intelligence official said services were assessing the risks
to information previously provided to Germany, while another official
from an allied agency said they expected partner services to
conduct similar reviews.
A Western official said documents taken from the BND included
intelligence originating from the US Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), raising concerns that the suspected
breach could extend beyond Germany’s own
security apparatus.
A German security official described the case as “a total disaster,”
warning that the possible consequences for the BND’s relations
with partner intelligence services are..... “very, very serious.”
The concerns surrounding Israeli-linked spy networks extend beyond
Germany - with investigations in Poland, Spain and Greece exposing
the use of Israeli-developed spyware against politicians, journalists
and other figures.
On October 12, Polish prosecutors revealed that data collected through
Pegasus spyware had been transmitted outside the country ..and that
Israel’s NSO Group retained technical access to parts of the system.
Under Poland’s previous government, Pegasus was used against
political opponents and other targets, while a parliamentary
inquiry raised concerns .....about foreign access to the
surveillance data collected by Polish authorities.
In Spain, the 2022 CatalanGate investigation documented at least
65 people connected to Catalan politics and civil society who
were targeted or infected with Pegasus or Candiru spyware,
including politicians, lawyers and civil society figures.
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab
found strong circumstantial evidence....... linking the
surveillance campaign to the Spanish authorities.
Greece’s surveillance scandal involved the targeting of journalist
Thanasis Koukakis and European Parliament member Nikos
Androulakis with Predator spyware, linked to Intellexa,
a company founded by a former Israeli intelligence
operative --- Tal Dilian.