RSS
US, British jets hit Houthi targets, drawing them toward a combat role in Israel’s war
WASHINGTON (JTA) — U.S. and British combat aircraft struck targets belonging to Yemen’s Houthi militia on Thursday, marking a rare and risky instance of U.S. and Western involvement in a conflict between Israel and an Arab adversary.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed militia, had been targeting Western sea vessels in the Red Sea, ostensibly to pressure Israel to cease fire in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Houthi officials said the strikes had killed five militants and wounded six.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the lead Pentagon spokesman, told CNN on Friday morning that the attacks were aimed at keeping the Israel-Hamas war from widening.
“What we continue to see is that the conflict between Israel and Hamas does remain contained to Gaza,” he said. “A major focus for us is to deter that conflict from broadening into a a wider regional conflict. And so what you had in the Red Sea, what we’ve seen is the Houthis indiscriminately attacking commercial shipping and mariners transiting this vital waterway, and so over 50 countries have been affected by this. So this is an international problem that required international response.”
Thursday’s strikes, carried out by U.S. and British aircraft, had the logistical and diplomatic backing of an array of countries adversely affected by Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
A joint statement by Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States warned that “malign actors would be held accountable should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
The statement said the Houthis had carried out more than two dozen attacks on commercial vessels since mid-November, which it called “an international challenge.” It added, :Today’s action demonstrated a shared commitment to freedom of navigation, international commerce, and defending the lives of mariners from illegal and unjustifiable attacks.”
The Houthis since their establishment have been especially hostile to Israel, although Israel had nothing to do with the group’s conflict with the Saudis. They launched the raids on commercial vessels in November as a means of siding with Hamas in its war with Israel.
But the Houthis promised retaliation to Thursday’s strikes, with a Houthi spokesman saying the strikes would “not go unanswered or unpunished,” the Associated Press reported. That portends an escalation that could potentially draw the West into an Israeli-Arab war.
Such involvements have in the past had longstanding diplomatic and military repercussions. After Israel launched a war in Lebanon in 1982, a U.S.-led bid keep the peace there saw a massive Hezbollah attack on U.S. and French forces in 1983 and a withdrawal in 1984 that, according to a CIA document from 1985, preceded growing sympathy for Hezbollah among Lebanese Shiites.
The 1956 Suez War, launched against Egypt by an Israeli-British-French alliance, led to the United Kingdom and France losing influence in the Middle East, coupled with the rise of Soviet influence in the region.
Not yet clear is how the Houthis’ backers in Iran would react to Thursday’s strikes. Saudi Arabia has for years sought to unseat the Houthis after the group seized control of parts of the country from a Saudi-backed government nearly a decade ago. The Saudis, the Houthis and the Iranians are now seeking to end that conflict and are abiding by a temporary ceasefire.
President Joe Biden has robustly backed Israel in its war, although in recent weeks he has pressured the country into drawing down forces in Gaza and increasing the entry of humanitarian assistance into the strip, which world bodies have said is verging on starvation.
The Biden administration has also sought to deter Israel and Hezbollah from expanding their conflict in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which like the Houthis and Hamas is backed by Iran, and allied militias started striking targets in northern Israel at the start of the war.
—
The post US, British jets hit Houthi targets, drawing them toward a combat role in Israel’s war appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.