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US Will Keep Hitting Houthis Until Shipping Attacks Stop, Hegseth Says
People gather at the site of a house hit by a US strike in Saada, Yemen March 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Naif Rahma
The United States will keep attacking Yemen’s Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the US defense secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signaled it could escalate in response to deadly US strikes the day before.
The airstrikes, which killed at least 31 people, are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. One US official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.
The Houthi movement’s political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime” and said Houthi forces were ready to “meet escalation with escalation”, while Moscow urged Washington to cease the strikes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News: “The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones, this campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting.”
“This is about stopping the shooting at assets … in that critical waterway, to reopen freedom of navigation, which is a core national interest of the United States, and Iran has been enabling the Houthis for far too long,” he said. “They better back off.”
The Houthis, who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, said last week they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea if Israel did not lift a block on aid entering Gaza.
They had launched scores of attacks on shipping after Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
Trump also told Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, to stop supporting the group immediately. He said if Iran threatened the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”
IRAN WARNS US NOT TO ESCALATE
In response, Hossein Salami, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said the Houthis took their own decisions.
“We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they carry out their threats,” he told state media.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program:
“There’s no way the … Houthis would have the ability to do this kind of thing unless they had support from Iran. And so this was a message to Iran: don’t keep supporting them, because then you will also be responsible for what they are doing in attacking Navy ships and attacking global shipping.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Rubio to urge an “immediate cessation of the use of force and the importance for all sides to engage in political dialogue”, Moscow said.
Trump has been pressing Russia to sign a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, which Kyiv accepted last week, but Moscow has said needs to be reworked.
Trump is also increasing sanctions pressure, and hoping to enlist Russian help, to try to bring Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.
Most of the 31 people confirmed killed in the US strikes were women and children, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry. More than 100 were injured.
Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a neighbourhood known to host several members of the Houthi leadership.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighbourhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” said one of the residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia.
In Sanaa, a crane and bulldozer were used to remove debris at one site and people used their bare hands to pick through the rubble. At a hospital, medics treated the injured, including children, and the bodies of several casualties were placed in a yard, wrapped in plastic sheets, Reuters footage showed.
Strikes also targeted Houthi military sites in the city of Taiz, two witnesses said on Sunday.
HOUTHIS’ RED SEA ATTACKS DISRUPT GLOBAL TRADE ROUTE
Another strike, on a power station in the town of Dahyan, led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early on Sunday. Dahyan is where Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the enigmatic leader of the Houthis, often meets visitors.
The Houthi attacks on shipping have disrupted global commerce and set the US military off on a costly campaign to intercept missiles and drones.
The group suspended its campaign when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza in January.
But on March 12, the Houthis said their threat to attack Israeli ships would remain in effect until Israel reapproved the delivery of aid and food into Gaza.
Joe Biden’s previous US administration had also sought to degrade the Houthis’ strike power. But US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump had authorised a more aggressive approach.
The US military’s Central Command described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen.
The strikes were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, officials said.
Iran condemned the strikes as a “gross violation” of the U.N. Charter and international law.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy.”
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Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl
Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Photo: Screenshot
The Indian government announced on Thursday that its military forces had killed “Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist,” who was connected to the 2002 murder of Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.
On Wednesday, India launched “Operation Sindoor,” which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims is targeted at dismantling “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The operation came after Pakistani terrorists killed 26 Hindu tourists in Kashmir last month amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
In a post on X, the BJP confirmed that during this week’s operation, the Indian army killed Islamist terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar, who was involved in numerous terrorism plots, including the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight, the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament, and the 2016 Pathankot Air Force base attack.
– कंधार प्लेन हाईजैक
– पठानकोट आतंकी हमला
– भारतीय संसद आतंकी हमला#OperationSindoor में मारा गया मोस्ट वांटेड पाकिस्तानी आतंकी अब्दुल रऊफ अजहर। pic.twitter.com/NKuRwptldH— BJP (@BJP4India) May 8, 2025
Azhar’s involvement in the 1999 hijacking led to the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born al-Qaeda member with close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence services, who later was involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of 38-year-old Pearl, who was covering the war on terror as a journalist when he was abducted.
In a statement on X, Pearl’s father, Judea, addressed initial reports regarding Azhar’s death and his connection to his son’s murder.
“I want to clarify: Azhar was a Pakistani extremist and leader of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed. While his group was not directly involved in the plot to abduct Danny, it was indirectly responsible. Azhar orchestrated the hijacking that led to the release of Omar Sheikh — the man who lured Danny into captivity,” he said.
In 2002, the Jewish-American journalist was abducted and killed by a group of Islamist terrorists connected to Azhar’s militant network, which had ties to al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group aiming to separate Kashmir from India and incorporate it into Pakistan.
On Jan. 27, 2002, an email was sent to several Pakistani and US media organizations, which included several photos, stating that Pearl was being held in “inhumane” conditions to protest the US treatment of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba. Photo: Screenshot
Originally stationed in New Delhi as the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, Pearl later moved to Pakistan to investigate terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.
After kidnapping Pearl at a restaurant in Karachi, southern Pakistan, the Islamist terrorists, who identified themselves as the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, accused him of being an Israeli spy and sent the United States a list of demands for his release.
However, Washington did not meet their demands, and Pearl was ultimately executed after being held captive for five weeks.
His wife, Mariane Pearl, gave birth to a baby boy, Adam D. Pearl, in Paris later that year. On the Daniel Pearl Foundation website, she said, “Adam’s birth rekindles the joy, love, and humanity that Danny radiated wherever he went.”
The post Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jewish Jewelry Shop Owners Brutally Assaulted in Tunisia Days Before Annual Pilgrimage
A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete. Photo: Screenshot
A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete just days before the Tunisian island was set to host its annual Jewish pilgrimage, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors.
On Wednesday morning, two Jewish men — owners of a jewelry shop in the center of the island, located off Tunisia’s southeast coast — were physically assaulted by a man carrying a large knife.
Although the attack was halted when one of them screamed — alerting members of the local Jewish community who subdued the assailant — one of them was left severely injured.
URGENT !!! Tentative de meurtre dans la
communauté juive de Djerba.
Un homme a tourné hier dans tous les magasins pour demander s’il appartenaient à un Juif et est revenu
ce matin avec une machette tentant, cette fois, de tuer
le propriétaire juif. pic.twitter.com/hxYBvrJFMV— Radio Shalom (@radioshalom94_8) May 8, 2025
According to local media reports, the attacker had surveyed the island the day before, visiting several stores to identify those owned by Jews. Local police arrested him shortly following the assault.
After the attack, one of the owners was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries. The 50-year-old Jewish man had his fingers severed during the assault and underwent surgery to reattach them.
גורמים בקהילה היהודית בתוניסיה לכאן חדשות: מוכר יהודי נדקר בשוק באי ג’רבה על ידי תושב שאינו יהודי. לפי הגורמים, לפני כשבועיים נדקרה באזור תיירת מצרפת שזוהתה בטעות כיהודייה @kaisos1987 @OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/AbG7LA6m97
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 8, 2025
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attack and expressed his wishes for a swift recovery to the victims.
“This attack comes two years after the previous deadly assault that claimed Jewish lives and the lives of security personnel during the Lag BaOmer celebration,” the top Israeli diplomat wrote in a post on X.
“I call on the Tunisian authorities to take all necessary measures to protect the Jewish community,” Saar continued.
I strongly condemn the attack on a Jew in Djerba, Tunisia today. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
This attack comes two years after the previous deadly assault that claimed Jewish lives and the lives of security personnel during the Lag BaOmer celebration.
I call on the…— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) May 8, 2025
Djerba is home to the majority of Tunisia’s Jewish community, numbering about 2,000 people, and is also where the renowned El Ghriba Synagogue, one of North Africa’s oldest synagogues, is located.
The attack comes just a week before Jewish pilgrims are expected to arrive on the island for the Lag B’Omer holiday, when thousands gather annually for three days of festivities. The annual pilgrimage to El Ghriba Synagogue, scheduled for May 15 and 16 this year, draws visitors from around the world.
The synagogue has been targeted in multiple terrorist attacks over the years, including in 1985, 2002, and 2023.
Two years ago, a shooting at the synagogue claimed the lives of two Jewish cousins and three police officers. Aviel Hadad, a 30-year-old Israeli goldsmith, and Ben Hadad, a 42-year-old Frenchman who had traveled to join the festivities, were among the victims.
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US Defense Secretary Hegseth Cancels Israel Trip Amid Rumors of Trump-Netanyahu Rift
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on, as President Donald Trump delivers remarks, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, DC, US, March 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has reportedly canceled an upcoming trip to Israel, fueling speculation of a growing rift between US President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hegseth was originally planned to arrive in Israel on Monday to hold discussions with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, the news site Axios reported. However, according to Axios and multiple Israeli reports, the Pentagon chief abruptly canceled the visit to Israel without giving a reason. The trip would have been Hegseth’s first to Israel since ascending to the position of secretary of defense.
However, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Friday rebutted allegations that Hegseth scrapped the trip to Israel, posting on X/Twitter that the defense secretary was asked to join Trump on a delegation during his visit to the Middle East next week.
“Secretary Hegseth did not cancel his trip to Israel,” Parnell said. “He was asked to join President Trump’s Middle East trip next week & is honored to do so. SECDEF very much looks forward to visiting our ally Israel soon.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Despite Parnell’s comments, Axios reported that Hegseth was already set to visit the Gulf States with Trump prior to officially canceling his visit to Israel.
Hegseth’s apparent cancellation comes amid rumors of a growing divide between Trump and Netanyahu. Reports suggest that Netanyahu and Trump’s relationship has become increasingly frayed as the war in Gaza has continued to drag on. The White House raised eyebrows earlier this week after it announced the US would no longer launch strikes against the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen. The announcement came right after Israel launched airstrikes on Yemen’s Sana’a International Airport in response to the terrorist group’s attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
“We were shocked that the Trump administration didn’t tell us anything and we learned about it from the television,” an Israeli official told Axios.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee defended Trump’s decision to broker a truce with the Houthis without first consulting the Jewish state, saying, “The United States isn’t required to get permission from Israel to make some type of arrangement that would get the Houthis from firing on our ships.”
Huckabee also called it “reckless and irresponsible” to suggest that Trump and Netanyahu do not have a strong relationship.
“It’s reckless and irresponsible for press to allege that [they] are not getting along,” he posted on X/Twitter. “Bibi [Netanyahu’s nickname] has spent more time with [Trump] than I have in past three months, and I’m his ambassador! The relationship between US and Israel remains STRONG!”
Advocates of the Jewish state have also expressed concern about reports saying the US has dropped normalization with Israel as a precondition for striking a civil nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia. If true, observers have argued the concession by the White House would imperil efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, a series of Trump-brokered agreements struck in 2020 that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.
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