RSS
New US Airstrikes on Yemen Increase Pressure on Iran-Backed Houthis
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The United States carried out new airstrikes on Yemen on Monday, the Houthis‘ Al Masirah TV said, increasing pressure on the Iran-backed terrorist group and expanding the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Responding to the Houthi movement’s threats to international shipping, the US launched a new wave of airstrikes on Saturday. On Monday, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Al Jawf governorate north of the capital Sanaa were targeted, Al Masirah said.
At least 53 people have been killed in the attacks, the Houthi-run health ministry said on Sunday. Five children and two women were among the victims and 98 have been hurt, it said.
The Houthis, an armed Islamist movement and internationally designated terrorist group that has taken control of the most populous parts of Yemen despite nearly a decade of Saudi-led bombing, have launched scores of attacks on ships off its coast since November 2023, disrupting global commerce.
The strikes, which one US official told Reuters might continue for weeks, come as Washington ramps up sanctions pressure on Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.
An Emirati official last week passed on a letter from Trump, who took office in January, proposing nuclear talks with Tehran – a proposal that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected as “deception” by Washington.
Iranian Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran would respond to the letter “after full scrutiny” of it.
The Houthis say their attacks, which have forced companies to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, are in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza.
The US and its allies characterize them as indiscriminate and a menace to global trade.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday the terrorists would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues attacks on Yemen.
Under the direction of al-Houthi, who is in his 40s, the ragtag group has become an army of tens of thousands of fighters and acquired an arsenal of armed drones and ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia and the West say the arms come from Iran. Tehran denies this.
While Iran champions the Houthis, the Houthis deny being puppets of Tehran, and experts on Yemen say they are motivated primarily by a domestic agenda.
The Houthis‘ military spokesman, without providing evidence, said in a televised statement early on Monday that the group had launched a second attack against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
‘AXIS OF RESISTANCE’
The Houthis are part of what has been called the “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias that also includes the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah and is backed by Iran.
Israel has severely weakened many of Iran‘s regional allies since being attacked by Hamas gunmen in October 2023.
Israel has assassinated the top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, and the fall of another Iranian ally, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, also dealt a blow to Tehran. But the Houthis are still standing, along with pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
In further violence in the Middle East, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian men in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, local medics said on Monday. The three had left their homes to collect firewood, family members said.
Israel’s military, which began its Gaza campaign after the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023, said it had conducted attacks in central Gaza and Rafah against “terrorists” operating near their forces and trying to plant bombs.
The bloodshed underscores the fragility of a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US. There was no sign of progress from renewed talks on sustaining a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Houthis 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.
Israel’s suspension of goods entering Gaza for 16 days has increased pressure on the enclave’s 2.3 million people, The suspension, which Israel said was aimed at pressuring Hamas after its refusal to agree to a renewed temporary truce in ceasefire talks, applies to food, medicine, and fuel imports.
Houthi fighters have also fired drones and missiles towards Israel.
Israel, which has hit multiple Houthi-linked targets in Yemen, has warned the militants to halt their strikes, saying they risked the same “miserable fate” as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Assad. Trump has warned Iran to halt support for the Houthis.
The post New US Airstrikes on Yemen Increase Pressure on Iran-Backed Houthis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Some 800,000 Palestinians Evacuate from Gaza City as Israeli Defense Minister Says Operation to Ramp Up
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that more than 750,000 Palestinian residents of Gaza City have fled to safe areas as the IDF ramps up its operation against one of the last major Hamas strongholds in the enclave. The military subsequently revised the figure up to 800,000.
Katz said Israel ramped up the attacks, proceeding to what he called the “decisive” phase of its operation.
“Autonomous explosive-laden military vehicles are being deployed in advance of the troops to defuse explosives, and the fire cover to protect the troops from the air and ground is heavy and strong,” he posted to his account on the X platform.
“Gaza City is emptying because its residents realize the military operation is escalating and move south for their own safety,” said Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
The Israeli military was in control of over half of Gaza City, sources familiar with the matter told Israeli media on Saturday.
RSS
Trump Says ‘We Will Get It Done’ in the Middle East
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday about reaching a deal to end the war in Gaza, saying there is “a real chance for greatness in the Middle East,” ahead of talks on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump did not provide specific details of a prospective ceasefire-for-hostages agreement in Gaza, but Vice President JD Vance told “Fox News Sunday” that top US officials are immersed in “very complicated” negotiations with Israeli and Arab leaders.
“We have a real chance for Greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, first time ever. We will get it done,” Trump said in a Truth Social post that was issued as he rode in his motorcade to his suburban Virginia golf club.
Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House with the aim of reaching a framework for a deal, according to administration officials.
Trump said on Friday talks on Gaza with Middle Eastern nations were intense and that Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants were aware of the discussions, which he said would continue as long as required.
Vance described himself as “cautiously hopeful” about reaching a deal.
“I feel more optimistic about where we are right now than where we have been at any point in the last few months, but let’s be realistic, these things can get derailed at the very last minute,” he said.
He said the plan has three main components: Returning all hostages, ending the Hamas threat to Israel, and escalating humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“So I think we’re close to accomplishing all three of those objectives,” Vance said.
When international leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York this week, the US unveiled a 21-point Middle East peace plan to end the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
That plan calls for the return of all hostages, living and dead, no further Israeli attacks on Qatar and a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for “peaceful coexistence,” a White House official said.
Israel angered Qataris by launching an airstrike against Hamas targets in their capital Doha on September 9.
A Hamas representative said on Saturday that the group had not seen the US plan.
RSS
Hamas Says It Lost Contact with Two Hostages as Tanks Thrust Deeper into Gaza City
A mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza near the border, in Israel, September 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Hamas said on Sunday it had lost contact with two Israeli hostages held in Gaza City, and called on Israel to pull troops back and suspend air strikes for 24 hours so fighters could retrieve the captives.
The fate of the two hostages, which has strong domestic resonance in Israel, could cast a shadow over a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on Monday.
Israel has launched a massive ground assault on Gaza City, flattening whole districts and ordering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee to tented camps, in what Netanyahu says is a bid to destroy Hamas once and for all in its final bastion.
Nevertheless, the past few days have seen increasing talk of steps towards a diplomatic resolution to the nearly two-year-old war. Trump said on Friday that a deal on Gaza seemed likely.
HAMAS SAYS IT HAS NOT RECEIVED NEW PEACE PROPOSAL
Hamas said earlier on Sunday that it had not yet received a new proposal to end the war. Netanyahu says Hamas must lay down its arms or be defeated. The militant group has so far said it will never give up its weapons as long as Palestinians are struggling for a state.
The Hamas military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, called on the Israeli military to pull troops back from the Sabra and Tel Al-Hawa districts southeast of Gaza City’s center, and suspend flights over the area for 24 hours from 1500 GMT so it could reach the two trapped hostages.
The Israeli military did not directly comment on the request but made clear it had no plans to halt its advances, issuing a statement ordering all residents of parts of Gaza City including the Sabra district to leave. It said it was about to attack Hamas targets and raze buildings in the area.
Gaza residents and medics said Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Sabra, Tel Al-Hawa and nearby Sheikh Radwan and Al-Naser neighbourhoods, closing in on the heart of the city and western areas where hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering.
RESCUERS UNABLE TO REACH TRAPPED RESIDENTS
Local health authorities said they had been unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls from trapped residents.
Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international organizations, to let it rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The families of the two hostages identified by Hamas have requested that their names not be published by the media.
Hamas precipitated the war when it attacked Israeli territory in October, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages. Forty-eight hostages are still in Gaza, of whom Netanyahu says 20 are believed still alive.
The Israeli military says that Hamas, which ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, no longer has governing capacity and that its military force has been reduced to a guerrilla movement.
The Israeli military launched its long-threatened ground offensive on Gaza City on September 16 after weeks of intensifying strikes on the urban center.
Over the past 24 hours, the air force had struck 140 military targets across Gaza, including militants and what it described as military infrastructure, the military said.
The World Food Program estimates that between 350,000 and 400,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since last month, although hundreds of thousands remain. The Israeli military estimates that around a million Palestinians were in Gaza City in August.