Important Takeaways:
- A report at Al-Ain media in the UAE says that recent US strikes in Yemen have caused heavy losses among the Iranian-backed Houthis. The report says that “the US military has intensified its airstrikes on Houthi militia bases, facilities, and command centers in their main stronghold in Saada Governorate, northern Yemen.”
- “The US military launched a new series of airstrikes early Wednesday morning, targeting militia barracks and hideouts east of Saada city and Al Salem district in the same governorate,” Al-Ain reported.
- The strikes have included more than 15 raids on the Sahar and Kitaf districts in Saada, in addition to two raids on the town of Qahza, southeast of Saada.
- “This escalation comes after the Houthis announced their ninth attack on the US aircraft carrier Truman in the Red Sea.
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Important Takeaways:
- An Iranian general vowed to respond “decisively and destructively” to any threats after President Donald Trump said he ordered American forces to launch military action against Houthis in Yemen.
- “We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they carry out their threats,” Gen. Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told state media following U.S. strikes over the weekend against the Tehran-backed terrorist group, according to Reuters.
- “We are not a nation to live in hiding. We are a valid and legitimate system in the world. We announce it if we attack anywhere,” Salami was quoted as saying by ABC News.
- U.S. Central Command said Saturday it had “initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation.”
- Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday that he “ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.”
- “It has been over a year since a U.S.-flagged commercial ship safely sailed through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Aden,” Trump continued. “The last American Warship to go through the Red Sea, four months ago, was attacked by the Houthis over a dozen times.”
- Trump wrote that the “relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk.”
- “To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” his post concluded.
- The Houthis are claiming the recent U.S. strikes have killed at least 53 people and injured around 100, according to the Associated Press.
- “We will confront escalation with escalation,” the leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, reportedly said Sunday.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Israeli strikes followed several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel.
- The strikes, carried out over 1,000 miles from Jerusalem, came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned” as his military has battled those more powerful proxies of Iran
- The Israeli military in a statement said it attacked infrastructure used by the Iran-backed Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports in Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib, along with power stations, asserting they were used to smuggle in Iranian weapons and for the entry of senior Iranian officials.
- Israel’s military added it had “capabilities to strike very far from Israel’s territory — precisely, powerfully, and repetitively.”
- Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured.
- “The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
- Israel’s army later told The Associated Press it wasn’t aware that the WHO chief was at the location in Yemen.
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Important Takeaways:
- After days of Houthi missile launchings against Israel, the leader of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, has advocated a strike on Iran. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to prefer a more cautious approach in consultation with the U.S. and other allies.
- An Iranian-made hypersonic missile hit the town of Jaffa south of Tel Aviv on Saturday, injuring at least 16 people.
- According to Israeli officials quoted in Ynet News, Barnea addressed a weekend security meeting suggesting that Israel should “Go for the head, Iran.”
- Netanyahu pledged that his government will deal strongly with the Houthi threat from Yemen, noting, “Just as we have acted forcefully against the terror arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so too will we act against the Houthis.”
- The prime minister added that it has allies in the fight. “In this case, we are not acting alone,” he said. “The U.S. and other nations see the Houthis as a threat not only to international shipping but to the global order.”
- U.S. forces in the Red Sea struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday, shortly after the attack on Israel. Early Sunday, two U.S. pilots were shot down in what officials called “an apparent case of friendly fire,” when gunners on the USS Gettysburg fired at the pilots. Both were rescued.
- Netanyahu urged war-weary Israelis to continue to abide by the government’s instructions from the Home Front.
- “What I ask of you, citizens of Israel, is to be patient, to continue showing the same resilience that you have shown up until now, and to strictly follow the [IDF] Home Front Command directives,” he stated.
- Using increasingly sophisticated missiles and other weapons provided by Iran, the Houthi rebels have succeeded in disrupting life for hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in and around Tel Aviv, in the nation’s major population cluster.
- Netanyahu prefers to follow the advice of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence officials to attack Houthi positions in Yemen now, rather than take Barnea’s advice of a direct hit on Iran in the near future, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post. The thinking behind that is that an attack on the Iranian regime would be more advisable after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
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Important Takeaways:
- With Hezbollah in Lebanon disabled and Hamas’ strength waning, Houthi rebels in Yemen have been launching missiles at Israel, and Israel is striking back.
- Israeli airstrikes pounded the rebel regime in Yemen early Thursday after the Houthis launched another missile at Israel – one of several fired at the Jewish state in recent days.
- Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to huddle with top officials to discuss a hostage deal that may be fast approaching.
- A Palestinian negotiator told the BBC the talks are in the final stage. Though issues remain, it may include a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas would free 30 of the remaining 100 hostages.
- IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said from Gaza that Israeli troops continue to do their part there.
- “We are exerting pressure on Hamas daily, driving it into greater distress, to ensure the return of the 100 hostages,” Halevi said.
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Important Takeaways:
- How long will it take to unwind the Biden-Harris Middle East policy? About five minutes, according to Mike Huckabee.
- The former Arkansas governor-turned-U.S. ambassador to Israel nominee suggested that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office would signal a dramatic change, bringing unwavering loyalty to Israel while “taking the money tree” away from terrorist groups.
- “To be fair, sometimes Joe Biden has been very supportive of Israel, and we’ve heard often he and Blinken and others talk about the ironclad relationship [between Israel and the United States], and then the next day, we would hear pressure on Israel not to continue their efforts against Hamas. You’re thinking, ‘well, why wouldn’t you continue your efforts against people who massacred innocent civilians and just had a bloodthirsty attitude about it?'”
- “The fact remains that the real problem here is not Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis. It’s Iran,” Huckabee told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Monday.
- “They’re the ones who fund it [terrorism], and when the Biden administration reversed the maximum pressure campaign that was effectively shutting down Iran’s ability to have money to fund this nonsense, that’s what changed everything, so I expect the president [Trump] will put the maximum pressure back on Iran, and that’s going to take the money tree away from some of these terrorist groups and make it much harder for them to do their incredibly horrible and dastardly deeds of murdering civilians.”
- More shakeups will come with the changing of the guard, Huckabee insisted, as he weighed in on Trump’s Cabinet nominees thus far.
- “[They are] disruptors, people who don’t come just to oil the machinery of DC, and if there ever was a time when this country needed a disruption in the ebb and flow of the unit party, the deep state, the establishment, call it what you will call it, the swamp, the sewer [it’s now]… this president has putting together a team that is going to be disruptive to Washington, but restorative to the American families living out here in the middle of the country. That’s why he was overwhelmingly elected, and it’s why there is a solid mandate that he carries into office on January 20th.”
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Important Takeaways:
- The Pentagon’s statement reads:
- “Today, U.S. military forces, including U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers, conducted precision strikes against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. U.S. forces targeted several of the Houthis’ underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region. This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified. The employment of U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.
- For over a year, the Iran-backed Houthis, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, have recklessly and unlawfully attacked U.S. and international vessels transiting the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis’ illegal attacks continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce, threaten environmental catastrophe, and put innocent civilian lives and U.S. and partner forces’ lives at risk. At the direction of President Biden, I authorized these targeted strikes to further degrade the Houthis’ capability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend U.S. forces and personnel in one of the world’s most critical waterways.
- Again, the United States will not hesitate to take action to defend American lives and assets; to deter attacks against civilians and our regional partners; and to protect freedom of navigation and increase the safety and security in these waterways for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels. We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks. I am grateful for the professionalism and skill of the brave American troops who took part in today’s actions and who continue to stand guard in defense of our Nation.”
- The timing of such a strike makes perfect sense as it happened just as the tension between Israel and Iran is about to hit uncharted territory and the world awaits what is by all indications going to be a significant strike by Israel directly on Iran.
- Sending a very direct reminder that the U.S. has the ability to destroy extremely hardened sites with conventional weapons and it is willing to use them seems right on cue in terms of deterrence theater.
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Important Takeaways:
- Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack that reached central Israel for the first time on Sunday, saying the group employed a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” in a “specific military operation” targeting the Tel Aviv area, in a statement from the group’s military spokesperson.
- The Iranian proxy falsely added that Israel had failed to intercept the missile. While the IDF’s Arrow system failed to bring the missile down before entering Israeli airspace, it did ultimately intercept it.
- “It crossed a distance of 2,040 km in 11 and a half minutes and caused a state of fear and panic among the Zionists, as more than two million Zionists headed to shelters for the first time in the history of the Israeli enemy,” the military spokesperson added.
- The spokesperson continued saying that the attack came as the result of the group’s efforts in developing missile technologies capable of bypassing naval, ground, and aerial interception systems.
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Important Takeaways:
- The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemned the Houthi terrorist organization of Yemen on Tuesday for raiding its office in the national capital, Sana’a, stealing critical documents, and taking employees hostage.
- High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk demanded the freedom of his employees and uninterrupted access to Yemeni civilians in a statement on Tuesday revealing a previously unreported Houthi raid on U.N. officials on August 3. The Houthis, whose Iran-backed terrorist organization is formally known as “Ansarallah,” have for years brutalized human rights workers within their reach. More recently, in June, the Houthis launched an abduction spree in which they raided the homes of U.N. and non-governmental organization workers and took them hostage, severely disrupting humanitarian efforts.
- The OHCHR affirmed that the United Nations had been one of several targets of the June raids, in which the Houthis abducted 13 U.N. staffers, six of them affiliated with the Human Rights Office.
- “They are all being held incommunicado.”
- On August 3, Houthi leaders reportedly expanded the repression by raiding the OHCHR office in Sana’a and stealing critical information. That office had stopped operating after the raids in June.
- “Ansar Allah de facto authorities sent a ‘delegation’ to the premises of the UN Human Rights Office in Sana’a that forced national staff to hand over belongings, including documents, furniture and vehicles, in addition to the office’s keys. They are still in control of the premises,” the U.N. body confirmed on Tuesday.
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Important Takeaways:
- Leading shipping groups have urged governments “with influence” to put a stop to Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea after a second freighter sank this week.
- At least three seafarers have been killed in the attacks so far. The latest sinking is likely to have led to another death
- “It is deplorable that innocent seafarers are being attacked while simply performing their jobs, vital jobs which keep the world warm, fed, and clothed,” the shipping associations said in their statement.
- “This is an unacceptable situation, and these attacks must stop now. We call for states with influence in the region to safeguard our innocent seafarers and for the swift de-escalation of the situation in the Red Sea,” they added.
- The Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels, based in Yemen, started launching drone and missile strikes on vessels in the Red Sea in November in what they say is revenge against Israel’s war in Gaza. They have since also seized one vessel and its crew, who are still being held hostage.
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