International Netanyahu threatens the Huthi in Yemen with tougher action
Following increased attacks by the Houthi militia on Israel, the Jewish state is threatening the Islamists in Yemen with extended military strikes.
23.12.2024, 05:05
SDA
"Just as we took powerful action against the terrorist offshoots of the Iranian "axis of evil", we will take action against the Houthi", announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's military will act "forcefully, decisively and in a sophisticated manner", he said in a video recorded immediately after a briefing with military representatives in the northern city of Safed.
On Saturday night, a missile from Yemen hit the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv. According to rescue services, dozens of people were injured. Unlike in previous cases, attempts by Israeli air defenses to intercept the missile were unsuccessful. Two days earlier, debris from a Houthi missile had fallen on a school building in the suburb of Ramat Gan. The fact that there were no casualties was only due to the fact that no one was in the building at the time of the early morning attack.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, the Houthi militias allied with Hamas have regularly attacked targets in Israel and ships in the Red Sea with rockets and drones. According to the Israeli military, the Houthis have fired 200 rockets and 170 drones at Israel since then. Most of the missiles were intercepted or did not reach Israel.
Houthi damage Israel and world trade
The damage to the Israeli economy is nevertheless considerable. The risk associated with the attacks paralyzed the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat. The damage to global trade caused by Houthi attacks on international cargo ships in the Red Sea and off the coast of Yemen is even greater. Egypt, in turn, is suffering enormous losses due to the loss of revenue from the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean and saves shipping from having to circumnavigate Africa.
Both Israel and the USA and their allies are therefore bombing Houthi positions or ports in Yemen. Israel is not alone, Netanyahu said in his announcement of intensified attacks against the Islamists. "The US and other countries see the Houthis not only as a threat to international shipping, but also as a threat to the international order," he added.
Intelligence chief: "Aiming for the head"
According to a report, the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, advises the Israeli leadership to attack Iran. "We have to aim for the head - just attacking the Houthis is not enough," he is said to have said in talks with the top government, according to a report by the television station Channel 13. The broadcaster referred to unnamed persons who had knowledge of the talks. Iran has spent years building up the Houthi militia in Yemen as an extension of its expansionist ambitions in the Middle East region.
Struggling for a new order in Syria
Around two weeks after the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the new leadership of the Arab country, appointed by the victorious rebels, is continuing its efforts to gain international acceptance. The leader of the Islamist group HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, called on the influential foreign states in the country to take joint steps for the future of Syria. "It is important that the major players agree on general principles regarding Syria," he said in Damascus after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
In addition to Turkey, it is primarily the USA and its Western allies, the Gulf states, Iran, Russia and Israel that exert military or economic influence in Syria. Nevertheless, the Syrians must be allowed to decide independently on the stability and security of the country, said al-Sharaa - previously known by his battle name Abu Mohammed al-Julani. "The population has suffered greatly over the past 14 years."
Foreign Minister Fidan said that the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria posed a threat from Turkey's perspective and once again demanded that the militia be disbanded. Ankara sees the YPG as an offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and therefore as a terrorist organization. The USA, on the other hand, supports the YPG as its ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.
No end to the bloodshed in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military attacked targets in the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone near Chan Junis. At least seven people were killed, reported a local reporter for the Arabic television channel al-Jazeera. The Israeli military announced on its Telegram channel that the attack was aimed at a Hamas fighter who had been active in the humanitarian zone.
Palestinians who have fled the war from other parts of the Gaza Strip live in the al-Mawasi tent city. According to UN figures, up to 34,000 people per square kilometer are crowded together in the 41 square kilometer area. According to Palestinian media reports, around 30 people were killed in further attacks in various parts of the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The Gaza war was triggered by the massacre by Palestinian terrorists from the coastal region on October 7 last year in Israel, which left 1,200 people dead and around 250 displaced. Since then, Israel has been fighting against the Islamist Hamas in Gaza, where, according to Palestinian figures, more than 45,000 people have been killed so far.
