Israel opposition polls surge as government plans new settlements

A Channel 13 poll ahead of the Oct. 27 elections shows the opposition coalition could secure a slim parliamentary majority with 61 of 120 Knesset seats, potentially allowing it to form a government without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The projection lists the Yisrael Beiteinu party of former army chief Gadi Eisenkot at 21 seats, Netanyahu's Likud at 22, and other parties ranging from 15 to 6 seats, indicating a possible shift in power.

Meanwhile, Israel's defence and finance ministers announced plans to establish three new illegal outposts in the Gaza Strip and to allocate more than $400 million for settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The proposed “Nahal” outposts in northern Gaza echo a strategy from the 1950s, while the funding aims to build dozens of new settlements before the election, drawing criticism from both domestic activists and the United States.