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More Than 20 Countries Now Part of US-Led Red Sea Coalition: Pentagon
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin addresses US forces at the Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, Dec. 19, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Phil Stewart
A total of more than 20 countries have agreed to participate in the new US-led coalition safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as more nations join the effort, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Still, the new Pentagon total would suggest that at least eight of the countries who have signed up have also declined to be publicly named, in a sign of political sensitivities of the operation as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war.
“We’ve had over 20 nations now sign on to participate,” Major General Patrick Ryder said, noting declarations by Greece and Australia.
“We’ll allow other countries, defer to them to talk about their participation.”
The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian two days ago, saying more than a dozen countries had agreed to participate in an effort that will involve joint patrols in Red Sea waters near Yemen.
Each country will contribute what they can, Ryder said, dubbing it a “coalition of the willing.”
“In some cases that will include vessels. In other cases, it could include staff or other types of support,” he told a news briefing.
The crisis in the Red Sea has grown out of the war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas.
The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists stormed across the Gaza border into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis and foreigners.
Israel responded with a military campaign of air strikes and ground operations in Gaza with the stated aim of wiping out Hamas.
Iranian proxies including the Houthis and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah have fired rockets at Israel since the conflict began. The Houthis, meanwhile, have stepped up their Red Sea attacks, threatening to target all ships heading to Israel and warning shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.
The attacks have disrupted a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via the Suez Canal and caused container shipping costs to rise sharply as companies seek to ship their goods via alternative, often longer, routes.
The US Navy and British and French navies have responded by shooting down Houthi drones and missiles, defensive actions that some critics in Washington say don’t go far enough to discourage the Houthis from continuing their attacks.
The post More Than 20 Countries Now Part of US-Led Red Sea Coalition: Pentagon first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Says Will Seek Relief from Tariffs in Meeting with Trump
US President Donald Trump waves as he walks before departing for Florida from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he hopes US President Donald Trump will ease tariffs imposed on Israel when the two meet in Washington this week.
Under a sweeping new tariff policy announced by Trump, Israeli goods face a 17% US tariff. The US is Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner.
Netanyahu, who has spent the last few days visiting Hungary, departs for Washington on Sunday for an impromptu visit with Trump that is expected to take place on Monday, officials said.
He said in a statement that the talks will cover Israeli hostages still held in Gaza after 18 months, achieving victory in Gaza and the tariff regime on Israel.
“I hope that I will be able to help on this issue. That is the intention,” Netanyahu said of the tariffs. “I am the first international leader, the first foreign leader, who will meet with President Trump on the issue, which is so important to the Israeli economy.
“There is a long line of leaders who want to do this regarding their economies. I think that it reflects the special personal link, as well as the special ties between the US and Israel, which is so vital at this time.”
Trump extended the surprise invitation in a phone call on Thursday with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader raised the tariff issue, according to the Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli finance ministry official said on Thursday that Trump’s latest tariff announcement could impact Israel’s exports of machinery and medical equipment.
Israel had already moved to cancel its remaining tariffs on US imports last Tuesday. The two countries signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and about 98% of goods from the US are now tax-free.
The post Netanyahu Says Will Seek Relief from Tariffs in Meeting with Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Turkey Left Fuming After Israel Demolishes Key Military Bases in Syria
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – Turkey was left fuming after at least three air bases in Syria where it hoped to deploy its forces were devastated by Israeli air strikes this week.
The Israeli strikes the T4 and Palmyra air bases in Syria’s Homs province and the main airport in Hama province. Israeli attacks came despite Ankara’s efforts to reassure Washington that a deeper military presence in Syria was not intended to threaten Israel.
Turkish military teams in recent weeks scoped out all three sites, four officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters.
Strikes at T4 “destroyed the runway, tower, hangars and the planes that were grounded. It was a tough message that Israel won’t accept the expanded Turkish presence,” said one of the intelligence officials who spoke to the news agency.
Ankara is positioning itself to play a major role in the new Syria, filling a vacuum left by Iran, in an expansion of Turkish sway that has put Israel—embroiled in a multi-front war of survival for the last year and a half—on edge.
The post Turkey Left Fuming After Israel Demolishes Key Military Bases in Syria first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Despite Credible Accusations of Antisemitism, UN Renews Albanese’s Rapporteur Mandate Until 2028
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – The United Nations Human Rights Council has renewed the mandate of Francesca Albanese as Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, extending her hugely controversial tenure by three more years, in spite of fierce opposition from Israel and the US over her vast track record of biased and bigoted statements. Albanese, who has held the position since 2022, was reappointed with the automatic support of the 47-member council.
“The renewal of Francesca Albanese’s mandate is a disgrace and a moral stain on the United Nations,” said Danny Danon, Israel’s UN envoy. “Albanese is a notorious antisemite who has repeatedly expressed not only biased views against Israel, but also hateful rhetoric targeting the Jewish people as a whole.”
The Italian lawyer and academic’s numerous objectionable statements included rehashing the antisemitic conspiracy theory that the US is “controlled” by the “Jewish lobby,” obsessively comparing Israel to Nazi Germany—including saying that “the trajectory of the genocide as I say, this has been the dormant gene of the colonial project that Israel has enforced in Palestine”—, insinuating that Israel and the CIA were behind the deadly 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo, denying the antisemitic nature of the extremist ideology espoused by Hamas and more.
The post Despite Credible Accusations of Antisemitism, UN Renews Albanese’s Rapporteur Mandate Until 2028 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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