Israel blames Turkey and Ukrainian saboteur captured in Europe - daily digest

**Tensions between Turkey and Israel, Ukrainian saboteur and other news – daily digest**

**Israel warns Turkey**

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "pushing Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria." Katz said that "Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security."

The statements came after Israel carried out airstrikes on the Syrian Abu Duhur air base earlier this week. At the time, Israel claimed that Turkish troops were trying to deploy there.

The Turkish Defense Ministry later said that it had no military presence at the Syrian air base. The ministry also criticized Israel's actions, saying that the attacks were "unacceptable" and threatened regional peace.

The Turkish official said that he would "resolutely continue to protect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and help it establish a stable and secure environment."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said in recent days that he had warned Syria about Turkey's involvement. "Our message was very clear. We said, 'Don't do that.' I don't think they understood the message very well," Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Asad Shaibani said that he had made it clear that there was no plan to deploy Turkish forces before the attack. Therefore, "there is no legal basis for this Israeli bombing."

He added that the largely empty base had not yet been put into operation and was being restored for use by Syrian forces.

He acknowledged that Turkish military officers had visited the facility a few days before the Israeli attack. But he stressed that it was for "military cooperation in the areas of training and exchange of experience."

Israel's strikes on Syria this week come at a time of heightened tensions between Turkey and Israel. Turkey and Israel are also at odds over the war in Gaza.

**Ukrainian saboteur arrested**

A Croatian court on Thursday authorized the arrest of a second man linked to the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, a Ukrainian diver. He is being held in custody while Croatian authorities consider his extradition to Germany. The court said he was a "flight risk."

Local media reported that the Ukrainian man was arrested on the set of a film being made by an American director. The film is said to be based on real-life events surrounding the Nord Stream explosions. The Ukrainian was reportedly working as a consultant on the film crew.

The first suspect is also a Ukrainian named Sergey, who was extradited from Italy to Germany in August 2025. According to the investigation, he led a group of saboteurs.

Three of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which are laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and transport Russian gas to Germany, were blown up in September 2022. At that time, none of them were transporting gas.

In July 2026, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office concluded that the blowing up of the pipelines was organized by order of the Ukrainian state authorities.

The case is politically inconvenient for Germany and Ukraine, as Berlin has been supporting Kiev's fight against Russia. German government officials have repeatedly denied the independence of the judiciary when asked about the matter.

President Zelensky has said that his government knew nothing about the plan to blow up the pipelines.

**Mexicans deported from the US**

The United States has deported about 2,300 Mexicans to Guatemala this year.

Mexicans deported from the US have until now mostly been sent back directly to their country. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said that "deported Mexicans are being transferred to their country within 24 hours, with the cost of transportation covered by Mexico or the United States," Bernardo said.

Mexico is opposing the Trump administration's changing policy.

"Our government has expressed its opposition to this practice to US authorities. It was emphasized that every Mexican citizen has the right to enter their country," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In fact, according to international agreements, migrants can be sent to third countries if their home countries refuse to accept them or if it is not safe to return them. Otherwise, they must be deported directly to their country of citizenship.

Analysts say the US is trying to make it harder for them to re-enter its territory by keeping them away from its borders. Some Mexicans the US has deported are also reportedly being sent to Honduras.

**Naval drone destroyed in Romania**

Drones and mines linked to Russia's war in Ukraine are becoming an increasingly serious problem for Romania, a NATO member that borders Ukraine.

In particular, on Thursday, a naval drone was spotted a few hundred meters from the Neptune Deep gas project off the coast of Romania. F-16 fighters were scrambled after it.

The Romanian defense minister said the drone was "packed with explosives."

"The decision to destroy it was made to protect the lives of several hundred people working on the platform and to ensure the security of the infrastructure," the minister said. He said Ukraine had confirmed that the drone did not belong to its forces.

Separately, Romania said early Thursday that an aerial drone had also crashed in its territory, in an uninhabited area.

Earlier this month, Romanian military divers destroyed two naval drones that were sailing in the same economic zone.

Romania's president blamed Moscow for Thursday's drone incident. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the bloc was facing a "hybrid war" campaign.

**European countries protest Israel**

Israel plans to launch tenders for the construction of about 1,200 settler homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank. The plan has sparked a fresh wave of condemnation from major Western powers.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada called the decision "unacceptable" and urged Israel to "immediately reverse the plans."

"This decision is all the more concerning at a time of serious instability in the West Bank, unprecedented levels of settler violence against civilians and severe restrictions on the Palestinian economy," the Westerners said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the UN Secretary-General also said the plan posed an "existential threat" to a Palestinian state.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal. Under international pressure, Israel has been halting construction plans in the E1 area east of Jerusalem for decades.

Many of Israel's allies and Palestinians say such construction would seriously undermine the "two states for two peoples" principle. It would effectively divide the West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem.

When the plans were first announced, ultra-nationalist and radical Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the idea of a Palestinian state was being "destroyed."

Earlier, Turkey and Arab states also issued statements condemning the Israeli plan.