Israel strikes Yemen amid ongoing offensive in Lebanon, Gaza
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The news: Israel targeted Yemen's Houthis on Sunday, while Hezbollah confirmed the recent killing of another senior official in Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, days after airstrikes in Beirut killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah, as Israel engaged in combat with all three Iran-backed militias in the region: Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.
Israel’s military pounded Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday while the Israeli air force hit the port of Hodeidah in Yemen, Axios reported, citing Israeli officials.
The numbers: The strike, Israel’s second-ever in Yemen, was in retaliation for missile attacks the Houthis had launched against Israel in the past two weeks, the publication said. It is unclear if there were casualties from the strikes.
Dozens of Israeli air force aircraft attacked Houthi military targets, including power plants and a seaport used to import oil, the IDF told the publication in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military continued targeting Hezbollah positions in Beirut and Lebanon's Beqaa Valley on Sunday.
A total of seven senior Hezbollah officials, including Nasrallah – its top leader for more than three decades, and Kaouk – deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council – have been killed since 20 September.
On Friday, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Abbas Nilforushan, was also killed during the strikes in Beirut, the Guard confirmed Sunday.
The attacks in Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people, including at least 87 children and 14 paramedics, according to the health ministry. The UN said over 211,000 have been displaced due to the violence, with about 70,000 fleeing to Syria.
In the Gaza strip, Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas militants killed at least 11 Palestinians, health officials in the area said on Sunday. A school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, in the northern part of the strip, was among the targets, resulting in four deaths and several injuries.
The context: The ongoing airstrikes in Lebanon and now Yemen following the nearly yearlong war in Gaza since Hamas targeted Israel on 7 October, mark a critical escalation in Israel’s war against the Iran-backed militia groups.
The strikes followed a defiant speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday at the United Nations General Assembly, where he vowed to keep targeting Hezbollah until thousands of evacuated Israeli civilians could return to their homes without the threat of rocket attacks.
In a video statement on Saturday local time, Netanyahu said the attacks on Friday to assassinate Nasrallah, which a New York Times analysis shows were carried out using 2,000-pound (907 kilogram) bombs, were crucial to prevent Hezbollah’s resurgence and to allow displaced Israelis to return home.
The escalation has heightened fears of a broader regional conflict involving Iran and its proxies, while the White House continues to push for a ceasefire and diplomatic resolution.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly mourned Nasrallah calling on all Muslims to rise against Israel, while Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned the killing of General Abbas Nilforushan would not go unanswered.
What they said: "I ordered the assassination of Nasrallah because he could have rebuilt Hezbollah, no matter how battered,” Netanyahu said in a televised video statement. “The work is still incomplete," he warned.
The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah was a “measure of justice” for victims of a four-decade “reign of terror,” President Joe Biden said Saturday.
Asked about the risk of about an escalation into a regional war, leading to a direct conflict between the US and Iran, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CNN, “we’ll watch and see what they (Iran) do,” Kirby said. “We certainly will make sure that we have the capability to not only defend our troops and our facilities, diplomats and military as well as Israel itself if it comes to that.”
The sources: Axios , The Washington Post , The New York Times , Associated Press
