Houthi leader vows to attack Israel cities in retaliation for Hodeidah airstrikes

Update Houthi leader vows to attack Israel cities in retaliation for Hodeidah airstrikes
On Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the militia“response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge.” (AFP)
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Updated 21 July 2024
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Houthi leader vows to attack Israel cities in retaliation for Hodeidah airstrikes

Houthi leader vows to attack Israel cities in retaliation for Hodeidah airstrikes
  • In a televised speech, Al-Houthi announced the commencement of the fifth phase of the militia’s attacks on Israel
  • Houthis say drone strike on Tel Aviv and attacks on Red Sea shipping part of ongoing effort to force Israel into Gaza ceasefire

AL-MUKALLA: The leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, on Sunday pledged to carry out further attacks on Israel in response to the latest wave of Israeli airstrikes on the western city of Hodeidah.

In a televised speech, Al-Houthi announced the commencement of the fifth phase of the militia’s attacks on Israel, which would include directly hitting it with more “advanced” weaponry capable of evading Israeli air defenses.

“The (Israeli) enemy’s strike on Yemen will not benefit them in any way, nor will it serve as a deterrent. Neither will it prevent us from moving forward with the fifth stage of escalation in support of Gaza,” he said.

On Saturday, Israeli warplanes targeted a variety of areas in Houthi-held Hodeidah for the first time, including the city’s dock, a power plant, and gasoline storage facilities.

The Israelis say that the airstrikes are in reaction to a Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv on Friday, which killed one person and injured at least 10 others.

The Houthis say that their drone strike on Tel Aviv and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are part of an ongoing effort to push Israel to cease its war in Gaza.

In his statement, the Houthi leader said that the drone that struck Tel Aviv, as well as other weapons, were manufactured by his forces in Yemen, denying Israeli claims that Iran provided them.

“The drone is Yemeni-made and launched by Yemeni forces, rather than being constructed or launched from other nations, as some claim,” Al-Houthi said.

As firemen struggled to manage a massive fire at Hodeidah port on Sunday, the Houthis said that six people were killed, three remain missing, and more than 80 were injured in Israeli airstrikes that also damaged tanks and a crane at the port.

Houthi media posted a video of black smoke pouring from damaged oil tanks at Hodeidah port, while the Yemeni militia was said to have extinguished another fire at a power station fuel storage facility.

Residents in Houthi-held Sanaa and other Yemeni cities reported huge lines of vehicles and motorcycles outside oil stations after the bombings, despite the Houthi Ministry of Oil’s strong oil supply stockpiles.

This comes after Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Sunday that their forces launched a number of ballistic missiles against “important targets” in the Israeli port city of Eilat, in reaction to what he dubbed “American-British-Israeli aggression.”

He also claimed to have attacked the “American” Pumba ship in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones. According to the Joint Maritime Information Center, the Pumba, a cargo ship flying the Liberian flag, sustained minor damage after being assaulted by a drone, manned boats, a drone boat, and missiles roughly 64 nautical miles north-west of Yemen on Saturday.

At the same time, Yemen’s internationally recognized government and other Yemeni parties criticized the Israeli attacks on Hodeidah and also accused the Houthis of acting in the interests of the Iranian regime by attacking ships.

The Yemeni government warned that Israeli attacks on Hodeidah will aggravate Yemen’s already dire humanitarian situation, accusing Israel of breaking international law and conventions.

In a statement carried by the official news agency, the Yemeni government voiced its support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state while warning Israel and Iran not to use Yemen as a battleground. 

“Yemen holds the Zionist regime fully responsible for any repercussions resulting from its air strikes, including the deepening of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which has been exacerbated by Houthi terrorist attacks on international shipping,” the Yemeni government said. 


Iran urges Trump to change ‘maximum pressure’ policy

Iran urges Trump to change ‘maximum pressure’ policy
Updated 14 sec ago
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Iran urges Trump to change ‘maximum pressure’ policy

Iran urges Trump to change ‘maximum pressure’ policy
TEHRAN: Iran on Saturday urged US President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider the “maximum pressure” policy he pursued against Tehran during his first term.
“Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past,” Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on Saturday.
Zarif, a veteran diplomat who previously served as Iran’s foreign minister, helped seal the 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and Western powers, including the United States.
The deal however was torpedoed in 2018 after the US unilaterally withdrew from it under Trump, who later reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
In response, Iran rolled back its obligations under the deal and has since enriched uranium up to 60 percent, just 30 percent lower than nuclear-grade.
Tehran has repeatedly denied Western countries’ accusations that it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.
Zarif also said on Saturday that Trump’s political approach toward Iran led to the surge in enrichment levels.
“He must have realized that the maximum pressure policy that he initiated caused Iran’s enrichment to reach 60 percent from 3.5 percent,” he said.
“As a man of calculation, he should do the math and see what the advantages and disadvantages of this policy have been and whether he wants to continue or change this harmful policy,” Zarif added.
During his first term, Trump also ordered the killing of revered Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
Soleimani was killed in a drone strike while he was in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Thursday said he hoped the president-elect’s return to the White House would allow Washington to “revise the wrong approaches of the past” — however stopping short of mentioning Trump’s name.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters he was “not looking to do damage to Iran.”
“My terms are very easy. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I’d like them to be a very successful country,” he said after he cast his ballot.
Trump’s victory comes as Iran has exchanged direct attacks with its arch-nemesis, Israel, raising fears of further regional spillover of the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israeli rejects ‘biased’ warning of famine in Gaza

Israeli rejects ‘biased’ warning of famine in Gaza
Updated 21 min 52 sec ago
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Israeli rejects ‘biased’ warning of famine in Gaza

Israeli rejects ‘biased’ warning of famine in Gaza
  • “Unfortunately, the researchers continue to rely on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests,” the military said
  • Israel’s military said it had increased aid efforts including opening an additional crossing on Friday

JERUSALEM: Israel rejected on Saturday a group of global food security experts’ warning of famine in parts of northern Gaza where it is waging war against Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“Unfortunately, the researchers continue to rely on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests,” the military said in a statement.
The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said on Friday in a rare alert that there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine in parts of north Gaza with immediate action required from the warring parties to ease a catastrophic situation.
Israel’s military said it had increased aid efforts including opening an additional crossing on Friday.
In the last two months, 39,000 trucks carrying more than 840,000 tons of food have entered Gaza, it said, and meetings were taking place daily with the UN which had 700 trucks of aid awaiting pickup and distribution.
With some critics decrying a starvation tactic in north Gaza, Israel’s main ally the US has set a deadline within days for it to improve the humanitarian situation or face potential restrictions on military cooperation.


Electrical generator explosion at Beirut’s Hamra district torches cars, building

Electrical generator explosion at Beirut’s Hamra district torches cars, building
Updated 52 min 28 sec ago
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Electrical generator explosion at Beirut’s Hamra district torches cars, building

Electrical generator explosion at Beirut’s Hamra district torches cars, building
  • Video footage showed some parked cars engulfed in flames as the blaze intensified

CAIRO: A large explosion on Beirut’s Hamra district on Saturday sparked a fire that engulfed several cars at a parking lot and caused smoke to spread massively across the area, local media reported.
Video footage showed some parked cars engulfed in flames as the blaze, which resulted from the electrical generator explosion, intensified.
The fire also spread to a nearby building, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said. 
The incident triggered panic as firefighting teams rushed to the scene, battling the blaze that remained out of control. 
Civil defense teams were working to extinguish the blaze and evacuate adjacent buildings, NNA added.


Famine looming in north Gaza: UN-backed report

Famine looming in north Gaza: UN-backed report
Updated 09 November 2024
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Famine looming in north Gaza: UN-backed report

Famine looming in north Gaza: UN-backed report
  • UN projects the number of people in Gaza facing ‘catastrophic’ food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000
  • Vast areas of the Gaza Strip have been devastated by Israel’s retaliatory assault

ROME: Famine is looming in the northern Gaza Strip amid increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid, a UN-backed assessment said Saturday.
The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of “an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip.”
“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future,” said the alert.
On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing “catastrophic” food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report classified that as IPC Phase 5 — a situation when “starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident.”
Since that report, conditions have worsened in the north of Gaza, with a collapse of food systems, a drop in humanitarian aid and critical water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, the committee said.
“It can therefore be assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas,” it read.
Vast areas of the Gaza Strip have been devastated by Israel’s retaliatory assault launched after the October 7 attack last year by Hamas.
Israeli forces have intensified their operations in large swathes of the Gaza Strip’s north since early October, where evacuation orders are in place.
Aid shipments allowed to enter the Gaza Strip were now lower than at any time since October 2023, said the report.
Access to food continues to deteriorate, with prices of essentials on the black market soaring. Cooking gas rose by 2,612 percent, diesel by 1,315 percent and wood by 250 percent, it said.
“Concurrent with the extremely high and increasing prices of essential items has been the total collapse of livelihoods to be able to purchase or barter for food and other basic needs,” said the alert.
The body expressed concern over Israel’s cutting ties last month with the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), warning of “extremely serious consequences for humanitarian operations” in Gaza.


Gaza rescuers say 14 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say 14 killed in Israeli strikes
Updated 09 November 2024
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Gaza rescuers say 14 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say 14 killed in Israeli strikes

GAZA STRIP: Gaza’s civil defense agency said on Saturday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 14 Palestinians overnight, including women and children.
An air strike hit tents housing displaced Palestinians in the southern area of Khan Yunis, killing at least nine people, including children and women, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also confirmed the toll, saying 11 others were wounded in the strike and were taken to Nasser Hospital.
A second air strike killed five people, including children, and injured about 22 when “Israeli warplanes hit Fahad Al-Sabah school,” which had been turned into a shelter for “thousands of displaced people” in the Al-Tuffah district of Gaza City, Bassal said.
The dead and injured were taken to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, he added.

In recent months, the military has struck several schools-turned-shelters where Israel has said Palestinian militants are operating.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said its troops killed “dozens of terrorists” in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, where it has been conducting a sweeping air and ground operation for more than a month to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Israeli forces also killed several militants in the area of Rafah in the territory’s south, the military added.
The military is currently engaged in a two-front war, with troops fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
“Over the past day, the IAF (air force) struck over 50 terror targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement.
“Among the targets struck were military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers,” it added.
Israel’s war in Gaza broke out after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people on Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which included those who died and were killed in captivity.
During the attack, militants abducted 251 people, 97 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 43,508 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers to be reliable.