WASHINGTON: US and British forces carried out a new round of strikes on Monday in Yemen, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned group against Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said.
The Houthis have said their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza.
The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the Middle East.
In the latest response, US and British forces carried out strikes at eight different locations in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement signed by the six countries.
“Our initial evidence from last night’s strikes is...that all intended targets were destroyed,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told parliament on Tuesday.
A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said roughly 25 to 30 munitions were fired, some of them from warplanes launched from a US aircraft carrier.
Eight rounds of strikes over the past month have failed so far to stop Houthi attacks against shipping.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said on Tuesday that the US-British alliance had carried out 18 air strikes: 12 in the capital Sanaa, three in the port city of Hodeidah, two in Taiz and one in Al-Bayda province.
“These attacks will not go unanswered or unpunished,” he said.
US officials say the strikes have degraded the Houthis’ ability to carry out complex attacks. But they have declined to offer any specific numbers of missiles, radar, drones or other military capabilities destroyed so far.
“We are having the intended effect,” the US military official told Pentagon reporters.
Speaking after the latest strikes, British foreign minister David Cameron said the action had sent a clear message to the Houthis.
“We will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks whilst sending the clearest possible message that we back our words and our warnings with action,” he said.
President Joe Biden said last week that air strikes would continue while acknowledging they might not be halting the Houthi attacks.
Last week, the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a US-owned tanker ship that hit the water near the vessel but caused no injuries or damage.
Biden’s emerging strategy on Yemen aims to weaken the Houthi militants but stops well short of trying to defeat the group or directly address Iran, the Houthis’ main sponsor, experts say.
The strategy — a blend of limited military strikes and sanctions — appears aimed at punishing the Houthis while limiting the danger of a wider Middle East conflict.
Sunak said Britain and the US were working closely on new sanctions measures to be announced in the coming days.
Container vessels have been pausing or diverting from the Red Sea, which leads to the Suez Canal, the fastest freight route from Asia to Europe. Many have taken the longer route around Africa instead.
Latest strikes on Yemen’s Houthis destroyed intended targets, UK says
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Latest strikes on Yemen’s Houthis destroyed intended targets, UK says
- The Houthis have said their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza
- “Our initial evidence from last night’s strikes is...that all intended targets were destroyed,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said
Israel rejects critical EU report ahead of ministers' meeting
- European nations have been increasingly critical of the massive civilian toll of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities
BRUSSELS: Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document ... and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
European nations have been increasingly critical of the massive civilian toll of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities.
Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid killed in airstrike
- The airstrike targeted the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought
- It said another 22 people were wounded while waiting for aid trucks
TEL AVIV: At least four Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike and 22 were wounded while waiting for humanitarian aid, according to a local hospital.
The airstrike targeted the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
It said another 22 people were wounded while waiting for aid trucks.
Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks.
The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said suspiciously approached its forces.
Separately, World Central Kitchen, the charity run by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said it had resumed the distribution of hot meals in Gaza for the first time in six weeks after shutting down because of Israel’s blockade, which was loosened last month amid fears of famine.
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said that it had recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The military identified the remains as those of Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19.
All three were killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel that ignited the ongoing war.
Hamas is still holding 50 hostages, fewer than half of them believed to be alive.
The military did not provide any details about the recovery operation, and it was unclear if the airstrike was related to it.
“The campaign to return the hostages continues consistently and is happening alongside the campaign against Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son’s remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan’s 23rd birthday.
Militants killed some 1,200 people, and abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack.
More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued alive, and Israeli forces have recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has said that women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Hostages Families Forum, the main organization representing families of the hostages, has repeatedly called for a deal to release the remaining captives.
“Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving any sort of victory,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying Israel will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile.
Even then, he has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population, plans the Palestinians and others view as forcible expulsion.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to broker a new ceasefire and hostage release after Israel ended a truce in March with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Those talks appear to have made little progress as Israel has expanded its air and ground offensive.
Twenty killed in suicide bombing at Damascus church
- It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar Assad was toppled
- Syria’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Daesh group
At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria’s capital Damascus on Sunday, health authorities and security sources said.
It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar Assad was toppled in December. Syria’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Daesh (Islamic State). He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, a ministry statement added.
A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.
Daesh has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Assad’s fall, but this was the first to succeed, another security source told Reuters.
Syria’s state news agency cited the health ministry as saying that 52 people were also injured in the blast.
A livestream from the site by Syria’s civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from inside the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered pews and masonry.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led the offensive against Assad before taking over in January for a transitional phase, has repeatedly said he will protect minorities.
“We unequivocally condemn the abhorrent terrorist suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, Syria,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We demand that the Syrian transitional authorities take immediate action to hold those involved accountable and implement measures to guarantee the safety of Christian communities and all religious groups, allowing them to live without fear.”
Daesh had previously targeted religious minorities, including a major attack on Shiite pilgrims in Sayeda Zainab in 2016 — one of the most notorious bombings during Assad’s rule.
The latest assault underscores the group’s continued ability to exploit security gaps despite the collapse of its territorial control and years of counterterrorism efforts.
Pakistan, China and Russia to push for ceasefire as UN Security Council meets on Iran
- The three countries have circulated a draft resolution text and asked UNSC members to share comments by Monday
- A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China for it to pass
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, China and Russia will present a joint resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East, the Pakistani mission to the United Nations (UN) said on Sunday, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, which condemns the attacks against “peaceful nuclear sites and facilities under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards in the Islamic Republic of Iran” and says that such attacks represent a threat to international peace and security, and to the entire safeguards regime of the IAEA, according to a draft seen by Arab News.
It calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue to reach an agreement acceptable to all parties that “guarantees the exclusively peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for complete lifting of all multilateral and unilateral sanctions.”
“Pakistan, China and Russia jointly have drafted a resolution and it is hoped that other countries like Algeria may also become its approvers,” Pakistan’s UN mission said.
“So far, it has been shared with the members countries for comments, which is a procedure before tabling it in the UNSC.”
The member countries will comment on the draft resolution and then a final draft will be tabled in the Security Council.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
Iran requested the UN Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the US and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
UN Secretary-General Guterres branded the US strikes on Iran as a “dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security.”
“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace,” Guterres said in a statement.
Jordanian king chairs security meeting, affirms national unity amid regional tensions
- King Abdullah II said that Jordan will not permit any party to exploit regional tensions to undermine the country’s firm stance on key Arab issues
- The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on Sunday, as Tel Aviv and Tehran exchanged attacks for the 10th day
LONDON: King Abdullah II of Jordan chaired a meeting on Sunday with officials and security agencies to emphasize national unity in the face of regional developments.
King Abdullah urged government institutions to tackle the economic effects of escalating tensions in the Middle East during the meeting at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman.
He said that Jordan will not permit any party to exploit regional tensions to undermine the country’s firm stance on key Arab issues. He said that Amman is committed to achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Petra news agency reported.
He called for increased international efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region and to de-escalate tensions through diplomatic dialogue and negotiations, Petra added.
The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on three nuclear sites inside Iran on Sunday morning. Tel Aviv and Tehran have exchanged attacks over the past 10 days, risking a full-scale war in the Middle East.
The meeting was attended by several key figures, including Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmad Safadi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, General Intelligence Department Director Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni, and Public Security Directorate Director Maj. Gen. Obaidallah Maaytah.
