Houthis Claim Responsibility for Attack on Israel

Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up at a square, in Sanaa, Yemen, 31 October 2023. (EPA)
Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up at a square, in Sanaa, Yemen, 31 October 2023. (EPA)
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Houthis Claim Responsibility for Attack on Israel

Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up at a square, in Sanaa, Yemen, 31 October 2023. (EPA)
Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up at a square, in Sanaa, Yemen, 31 October 2023. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias officially claimed on Tuesday missile and drone attacks targeting Israel.

This marks the first time the militias claim attacks that American and Israeli forces previously said had been launched from the southern Red Sea region.

In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Yehya Saree claimed that the militias “launched a large batch of ballistic missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy.”

“This operation is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine and confirm that we will continue to carry out more qualitative strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression stops,” he added.

Israel said on Tuesday its fighter jets and its new Arrow missile defense system shot down two salvos of incoming fire hours apart as it approached the country's key Red Sea shipping port of Eilat.

The missile fire sparked a rare air raid siren alarm to go off in Eilat, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Jerusalem, sending people fleeing into shelters.

Days ago, American, Israeli and Egyptian media had reported on a mysterious explosion Thursday that hit the Egyptian resort town of Taba, near the border with Israel. The blast wounded six people. The reports said the attack had been launched from the southern Red Sea.

For Israel, Tuesday's attack marked an incredibly rare reported in-combat use of the Arrow missile defense system, which intercepts long-range ballistic missiles with a warhead designed to destroy targets while they are in space, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said. “No infiltrations were identified into Israeli territory.”

Observers and analysts question the efficiency of the Houthi missiles and drones, accusing the militias of exploiting the developments in Gaza to gain sympathy among the Yemeni people.

Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi had previously claimed that his group would join the war on Gaza if the US directly became involved by siding with Israel.

The Yemeni people dismissed and mocked the Houthis’ “false heroics”, demanding that they instead focus their attention on the suffering in Yemen, not Palestine, lifting the siege on Taiz city and ending the violations on the ground.

The Houthis have previously threatened to attack marine routes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

They have also exploited the conflict in Gaza to impose more tariffs on the people, who have been plunged into poverty because of the militias’ practices, including the withholding of wages of public sector employees for seven years.

The Houthis have called on the people to make donations for the people in Gaza, prompting the ire of Yemenis who can barely make ends meet because of the Houthi practices that have led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.



Israeli Strike Wounds a Hospital Chief in Besieged Northern Gaza, Health Officials Say

A Palestinian man gestures toward ambulances transporting victims of Israeli bombing to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 23, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man gestures toward ambulances transporting victims of Israeli bombing to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 23, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Strike Wounds a Hospital Chief in Besieged Northern Gaza, Health Officials Say

A Palestinian man gestures toward ambulances transporting victims of Israeli bombing to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 23, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man gestures toward ambulances transporting victims of Israeli bombing to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 23, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

An Israeli strike has wounded the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of Gaza, local and international health officials said.

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya was in his office when it was hit by an Israeli quadcopter drone on Sunday, according to the humanitarian organization MedGlobal.

The doctor was wounded by shrapnel in his thigh and back, causing serious bleeding that requires surgical care, the aid group said. Abu Safiya is the lead physician in Gaza for MedGlobal, which has worked in Gaza since 2018.

Dr. Munir al-Boursh, director general of Gaza's Health Ministry, posted a video to social media on Monday showing Abu Safiya limping and leaning on a crutch while speaking to patients inside the hospital.

The Israeli military said it was unaware of a strike on the grounds of Kamal Adwan Hospital and said it does its utmost to avoid harming civilians.

During the past month, Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit several times, was put under siege and was raided by Israeli troops, who are waging a heavy offensive in the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp and towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. The Israeli military says it detained Hamas fighters hiding in the hospital, a claim its staff denies.

Abu Safiya said Israeli strikes on the hospital last week wounded nine medical staff and damaged the generator and oxygen systems. He said the hospital was treating 85 wounded, 14 children in the pediatric ward and four newborns in the neonatal unit.

Israel also denied knowledge of conducting any strikes on in the area of the hospital at that time.