Houthis claim firing ‘new’ ballistic missile at Israel’s Eilat city

Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted a military site on Israel’s port city of Eilat with a new ballistic missile. (AFP/File)
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Updated 04 June 2024
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Houthis claim firing ‘new’ ballistic missile at Israel’s Eilat city

  • Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military triggered sirens in Eilat, sending inhabitants to shelters before intercepting a surface-to-surface missile from the Red Sea

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia claims to have launched a ballistic missile, which Israel intercepted on Monday as it approached its southern port city of Eilat, the latest in a string of missile and drone strikes on Israel and ships that the Houthis claim are in support of Palestine.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement on Monday night that their missile forces launched a “new” ballistic missile called Palestine at a military site in Eilat in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on civilians in Rafah, claiming that the missile hit its target.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military triggered sirens in Eilat, sending inhabitants to shelters before intercepting a surface-to-surface missile from the Red Sea.

Since November, the Houthis have launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones against Israel, as well as ships tied to Israel or en route to Israel, in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, and, most recently the Mediterranean.

They also seized a commercial ship named Galaxy Leader at the start of their campaign and sank another, threatening to expand their operations to other waters if Israel did not cease its war in Gaza.

This comes as local and international organizations have increased pressure on the Houthis as well as sent appeals to the international community to put pressure on the Yemeni militia to stop the executions of scores of Yemenis. 

On Saturday, a Houthi-run court in Sanaa condemned 44 individuals to death for “collaborating” with the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, sparking local and international condemnation of the group.

Adnan Ali Al-Harazi, a Yemeni businessman who runs a firm that assists aid groups in Yemen in authenticating the identities of aid recipients, was one of the Yemenis sentenced to death after being kidnapped by the Houthis in March of last year. 

According to Yemeni lawyer Abdul Majeed Sabra, the 44 people were cruelly abused by the Houthis and held in separate cells for nine months, with no access to their relatives or medical treatment.

Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry accused the Houthis of torturing those kidnapped, as well as jeopardizing peace talks to end the war in Yemen and a new prisoner exchange deal.

“The terrorist Houthi militia continues to issue execution warrants for abducted citizens, which demonstrates to the world that it does not desire peace and an end to the conflict,” the ministry said. 

The Mothers of Abductees Association, an umbrella organization for thousands of female relatives of civilian prisoners, also strongly condemned the death sentences imposed by the “illegitimate” Houthis in Sanaa, noting that those charged were abducted from their workplaces and homes and were tried with “false and fabricated” charges. 

“We urge local and international authorities to act quickly to prevent these unjust rulings against the abducted people and spare them from imminent death,” the Yemeni organization said. 

Similarly, the Geneva-based SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties accused the Houthis of using the courts in regions under their control to exact retribution on opponents, saying the Houthis abducted Al-Harazi and condemned him to death for exposing corruption cases involving Houthi officials.

“The Houthis must cease using the court system to settle scores and persecute their political opponents,” SAM said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, Al-Masdar Online, a Yemeni news site, reported on Monday that a former Yemeni diplomat was killed while fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, increasing the total number of Yemenis killed in the war in Ukraine to three.

The wife of Ahmed Al-Sahami, a former member of the Yemeni diplomatic mission in Russia until 2017, received a call alerting them of his death on the battlefield.

In May, the Yemeni Students Association in Moscow lamented the loss of Asaad Tareq Al-Kenani, a Yemeni student slain in Ukraine while fighting with the Russians.


Why attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have placed Israel’s own secret arsenal in the spotlight

Updated 17 June 2025
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Why attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have placed Israel’s own secret arsenal in the spotlight

  • Estimates suggest Israel possesses at least 90 nuclear warheads, deliverable by aircraft, land-based missiles,
  • Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses to place its facilities under international safeguards

LONDON: To this day, Israel maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity in regard to its nuclear capabilities, but it is a fact accepted by experts worldwide that Israel has had the bomb since just before the Six Day War in 1967.

And not just one bomb. Recent estimates by the independent Stockholm International Peace Institute, which has kept tabs on the world’s nuclear weapons and the states that possess them since 1966, suggest Israel has at least 90 nuclear warheads.

SIPRI believes that these warheads are capable of being delivered anywhere within a maximum radius of 4,500 km by its F-15, F-161, and F-35I “Adir” aircraft, its 50 land-based Jericho II and III missiles, and by about 20 Popeye Turbo cruise missiles, launched from submarines.

A woman looks at a wall decorated with national flags during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on June 3, 2024. (AFP)

While Iran is a signatory to the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israel is not, which begs the question: while Israel is wreaking havoc in Iran, with the declared aim of crippling a nuclear development program, which the International Atomic Energy Authority says is about energy, not weaponry, why is the international community not questioning Israel’s?

In March, during a meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Jassim Yacoub Al-Hammadi, Qatar’s ambassador to Austria, announced that Qatar was calling for “intensified international efforts” to bring all Israeli nuclear facilities “under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency and for Israel to join the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear state.”

Israel refuses to sign up to the NPT or cooperate with the IAEA. Furthermore, it is a little remembered fact that since 1981 Israel has been in breach of UN Resolution 487.

This was prompted by an attack on a nuclear research facility in Iraq by Israel on June 7, 1981, which was condemned by the UN Security Council as a “clear violation of the Charter of the UN and the norms of international conduct.”

Iraq, as the Security Council pointed out, had been a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty since it came into force in 1970.

Like all states, especially those developing, Iraq had the “inalienable sovereign right …  to establish programmes of technological and nuclear development to develop their economy and industry for peaceful purposes in accordance with their present and future needs and consistent with the internationally accepted objectives of preventing nuclear-weapons proliferation.”

Iran won’t permit the blood of its martyrs to go unavenged, nor ignore violation of its airspace, says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader

The resolution, which remains in force, called on Israel “urgently to place its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Israel has never complied with Resolution 487.

That ambiguity extends to Israel’s only officially stated position on nuclear weapons, which it has repeated since the 1960s, that it “won’t be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.”

A picture shows the unrecognised Bedouin village of Ras Jrabah, east of Dimona city (background) in southern Israel, on May 29, 2024. (AFP)

Israeli policymakers, SIPRI says, “have previously interpreted ‘introduce nuclear weapons’ as publicly declaring, testing or actually using the nuclear capability, which Israel says it has not yet done.”

In November 2023, about a month after the Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the ultra-nationalist Jewish Power party, said Israel should drop “some kind of atomic bomb” on Gaza, “to kill everyone.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly suspended Eliyahu from the cabinet. Eliyahu’s statements “were not based in reality,” Netanyahu said, while Eliyah himself took to X to say that it was “clear to all sensible people” that his statement was “metaphorical.”

Buildings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters reflect in doors with the agency's logo during the IAEA’s Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 13, 2025. (AFP)

Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer who on X describes himself as a “proud Zionist,” replied: “It is clear to all sensible people that you are a stupid idiot. Even if metaphorical, it was inexcusable. You need to know when to keep your mouth shut.”

Israel has no nuclear electricity generating plants, but it does have what experts agree is a vast nuclear facility.

The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center — built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, allegedly with French assistance, and renamed for the former Israeli prime minister following his death in 2016 — is a heavily guarded complex in the Negev Desert barely 70 km from the border with Egypt.

Iran has ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching the Negev Nuclear Research Center, approximately 1,500 km from Tehran. Why is Tehran hitting Israeli cities in retaliation to Israel’s attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear industry, when it could attack Israel’s nuclear facility?

The answer, most likely, comes down to the “Samson Option.”

The Samson Option is a protocol for mutual destruction, the existence of which Israel has never admitted, but has never denied.

As Arab News reported in March, Israel is believed to have twice come close to using its nuclear weaponry.

In 2017, a claim emerged that on the eve of the Arab-Israeli war in 1967 Israel had been on the cusp of unleashing a “demonstration” nuclear blast designed to intimidate its enemies.

The plan was revealed in interviews with retired general Itzhak Yaakov, conducted by Avner Cohen, an Israeli-American historian and leading scholar of Israel’s nuclear history, and published only after Yaakov’s death.

In 2003, Cohen revealed that during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when it again appeared that Israeli forces were about to be overrun, then Prime Minister Golda Meir had authorized the use of nuclear bombs and missiles as a last-stand defense.

This doomsday plan, codenamed Samson, was named for the Israelite strongman who, captured by the Philistines, pulled down the pillars of their temple, destroying himself along with his enemies.

Mordecha Vanunu, an Israeli nuclear technician and peace activist, revealed Israel’s nuclear secrets back in 1986.

Ensnared in the UK by a female Israeli agent, Mordechai was lured to Rome, where he was kidnapped by Mossad agents and taken back to Israel on an Israeli navy ship.

Vanunu, charged with treason, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, much of which he spent in solitary confinement. Released in April 2004, he remains under a series of strictly enforced restrictions, which prevent him from leaving Israel or even speaking to any foreigner.

“We all believe that Israel has a nuclear capability,” Ahron Bregman, a senior teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London’s Institute of Middle East Studies, told Arab News in March.

“The fact that Israel found it necessary to catch Vanunu and put him in jail, and continues to impose strict limitations on him, just proves that it has probably got it.”

The emergence of another Vanunu, especially in the current climate, is highly unlikely.

“Israelis are scared,” said Bregman, who served in the Israeli army for six years in the 1980s.

“Even if you believe it is a good idea to restrict Israel’s behavior and make sure it doesn’t do anything stupid, you are scared to act because you know they will abduct you and put you in jail.

“Israel is very tough on those who reveal its secrets.”

 


Gaza marchers retreat to western Libya after being blocked

Updated 16 June 2025
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Gaza marchers retreat to western Libya after being blocked

  • The ‘Soumoud’ convoy — meaning steadfastness in Arabic — decided to fall back near Misrata, about 200 km east of Tripoli, after being stopped by the eastern authorities

TUNIS: Pro-Palestinian activists on a march aiming to break Israel’s Gaza blockade have retreated to the Misrata region of western Libya after being blocked by the authorities in the country’s east, organizers said on Sunday.

The “Soumoud” convoy — meaning steadfastness in Arabic — decided to fall back near Misrata, about 200 km east of Tripoli, after being stopped by the eastern authorities.

Misrata is administered by the UN-recognized Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, while military commander Khalifa Haftar controls the east.

The convoy of more than 1,000 people from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia had been under a “military blockade” since Friday at the entrance to Sirte, a Haftar-controlled area.

Organizers said they were subjected to a “systematic siege,” with no access to food, water, or medicine, and communications severely disrupted.

They also denounced the arrest of several convoy members, including at least three bloggers who had been documenting its journey since its departure from Tunisia on June 9.

In a statement cited by Tunisia’s La Presse newspaper, the Joint Action Coordination Committee for Palestine — the group behind the convoy — demanded the immediate release of 13 participants still held by eastern Libyan authorities.

In an accompanying video, it reaffirmed its intention to continue the mission to Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, with the aim of “breaking the blockade and ending the genocide of the Palestinian people resisting in Gaza.”

In Egypt, a separate initiative — the Global March to Gaza, intended to bring together participants from 80 countries — was halted on Friday by authorities en route to the city of Ismailia, east of Cairo.

Dozens of activists were intercepted, reportedly beaten, had passports confiscated, and were forcibly loaded onto buses by police at multiple checkpoints, according to videos shared on social media and with AFP.


Bahraini crown prince affirms strategic ties with US in meeting with congressional delegation

Updated 16 June 2025
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Bahraini crown prince affirms strategic ties with US in meeting with congressional delegation

  • Crown Prince of Bahrain Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa reiterated the country’s commitment to resolving crises through dialogue and diplomatic efforts

LONDON: Crown Prince of Bahrain Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa affirmed the importance of Manama’s strategic partnership with the US during a meeting with a congressional delegation at Gudaibiya Palace on Monday.

During the meeting with the delegation, led by Representative Bradley Schneider, the Bahraini crown prince, who is also the prime minister, said that the ties between Manama and Washington are built on mutually beneficial cooperation and longstanding agreements.

He referred to the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, which was signed in September 2023, as an example of the importance of further strengthening the two countries’ partnership.

During the meeting, recent regional and international developments, including the conflict between Israel and Iran, and their implications for security and stability, were discussed.

The crown prince reiterated Bahrain’s commitment to resolving crises through dialogue and diplomatic efforts, including the continuation of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.

He stressed the urgent need to resolve regional conflicts and highlighted the crucial role of the US, along with allied nations, in maintaining global peace and security, the Bahrain News Agency reported.


War-weary Gazans share images of destruction in Israel

Updated 16 June 2025
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War-weary Gazans share images of destruction in Israel

  • Finally, many Israelis felt what we have felt for 20 months: fear, loss of faith, and displacement

GAZA: Residents of the Gaza Strip have circulated images of wrecked buildings and charred vehicles hit by Iranian missiles in Israeli cities, and some were hopeful the wider conflict could eventually bring peace to their ruined homeland.
Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and the Israeli port city of Haifa before dawn on Monday, killing at least eight people, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s strikes targeting its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“The Iranian response was a surprise to me, to many Palestinians, and the Israelis too. Everyone thought it would be mild and theatrical,” said Mohammed Jamal, 27, a resident of Gaza City.
“Watching rockets fall without the stupid Iron Dome being able to stop them is a joy, and seeing buildings collapsing and fires everywhere reminds me of the destruction the occupation brought on Gaza, yet I can’t even begin to compare,” he said via a chat app.
The Iron Dome is a part of Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system that tackles the kind of short-range rockets and mortars fired by militants from Gaza.
Tahrir, a 34-year-old mother of four, said their house was destroyed in the Shejaia suburb, east of Gaza City, in the early weeks of the war in 2023, and her family has since been displaced several times.
“Finally, many Israelis felt what we have felt for 20 months, fear, loss of faith, and displacement,” she said.
“I hope that this time, they will press their government to end the war in Gaza because all of what is happening with Iran is part of the wider Gaza war.”
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.
“I was never a fan of Iran, but seeing them retaliate for real, not a play like in previous times, made me happy, despite all the sadness around me,” said Amr Salah, 29.
“It is nothing compared to what Israel did to Gaza, but at least a taste of it. It is maybe time to end all of this, in Gaza too,” he added.
The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago. Israel’s military campaign has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than 2 million people.
Most of the population is displaced, and malnutrition is widespread.
Palestinian groups praised the retaliatory strikes by Iran.
“Scenes of Iranian missiles striking the strongholds and hideouts of the Zionists carry with them a sense of pride, dignity, and honor that shatters Zionist arrogance and dominance,” said a statement issued in the name of the “Factions of Resistance.”

 


Lebanese leaders indirectly urge Hezbollah to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict

Updated 16 June 2025
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Lebanese leaders indirectly urge Hezbollah to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict

  • Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged all sides in Lebanon to maintain calm and preserve the country’s stability
  • The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction worth $11 billions. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president and prime minister said Monday that their country must stay out of the conflict between Israel and Iran because any engagement would be detrimental to the small nation engulfed in an economic crisis and struggling to recover from the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
Their remarks amounted to a message to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group — an ally of both Iran and the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza — to stay out of the fray.
Hezbollah, which launched its own strikes on Israel a day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, has been hard-hit and suffered significant losses on the battlefield until a US-brokered ceasefire last November ended the 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Earlier this year, Hamas fighters inside Lebanon fired rockets from Lebanese soil, drawing Israeli airstrikes and leading to arrests of Hamas members by Lebanese authorities.
The Hezbollah-Israel war left over 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction worth $11 billions; Hezbollah was pushed away from areas bordering Israel in south Lebanon. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam spoke during a Cabinet meeting Monday that also discussed the Iran-Israel conflict and the spike in regional tensions over the past four days.
Information Minister Paul Morkos later told reporters that Aoun urged all sides in Lebanon to maintain calm and preserve the country’s stability. For his part, Salam said Lebanon should not be involved in “any form in the war,” Morkos added.
Hezbollah, funded and armed by Iran, has long been considered Tehran’s most powerful ally in the region but its latest war with Israel also saw much of Hezbollah’s political and military leadership killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Since Israel on Friday launched strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program and top military leaders, drawing Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missiles at Israel, the back-and-forth has raised concerns that the region, already on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, would be plunged into even greater upheaval.