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US Navy Thwarts Houthi Attack in Red Sea, Militias Remain Defiant

The Houthi attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade. (Reuters)
The Houthi attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade. (Reuters)
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US Navy Thwarts Houthi Attack in Red Sea, Militias Remain Defiant

The Houthi attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade. (Reuters)
The Houthi attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade. (Reuters)

An American warship shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile fired Thursday by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias, the US military said.

In a post on the X platform on Thursday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM): “The USS MASON (DDG 87) shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis between 5:45 - 6: 10 p.m. (Sanaa time) on Dec. 28.”

“There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries. This is the 22nd attempted attack by Houthis on international shipping since Oct. 19,” it noted.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas.

The attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade, prompting the United States to set up a multinational naval task force earlier this month to protect Red Sea shipping.

In addition to US military action, the Treasury Department unveiled sanctions Thursday against a network involved in financing Houthi attacks.

The Treasury said it had sanctioned the head of the Currency Exchangers Association in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, along with three exchanges in Yemen and Türkiye responsible for "facilitating the flow of Iranian financial assistance" to the Houthis.

The Houthis say they are targeting Israel and Israeli-linked vessels to push for a stop to the offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis remain defiant. Defense minister in its illegitimate government Mohammed al-Atefi said the militias “don’t recognize red lines,” claiming that they possess weapons with “unexpected” ranges.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam threatened to turn the Red Sea into a battlefield after the US Navy shot down a Houthi drone.

He warned the US against its continued “bullish” activity, saying the Houthis were justified in attacking vessels in the Red Sea after Washington and its allies turned the region into a military zone.

He charged that the US and its allies are passing through the region solely to protect Israeli vessels.

The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Following the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, which has carried out a relentless campaign in Gaza that has killed at least 21,320 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Those deaths have sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for attacks by armed groups across the region that are opposed to Israel.

US forces in Iraq and Syria have also repeatedly come under fire from drone and rocket attacks that Washington says are being carried out by Iran-backed armed groups.

On Monday, a drone attack wounded three American personnel in northern Iraq, after which the US military struck three sites it said were used by Iran-backed forces in the country.

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Arab World

Israel Says Halting Hezbollah Attacks Is Now a War Goal as Officials Warn of a Wider Operation 

Smoke rises above Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon, in Israel, September 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon, in Israel, September 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Halting Hezbollah Attacks Is Now a War Goal as Officials Warn of a Wider Operation 

Smoke rises above Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon, in Israel, September 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon, in Israel, September 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel announced Tuesday that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the north in order to allow its residents to return is now an official war goal, as the country considers a wider military operation that could ignite an all-out conflict. 

Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to take heavier military action to halt the near-daily attacks, which began shortly after the outbreak of the nearly yearlong Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has regularly launched airstrikes in response and has targeted and killed senior Hezbollah commanders. As recently as last month it appeared a full-blown war was imminent. 

The tit-for-tat strikes have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Hezbollah has said it would halt the attacks if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, but those talks have repeatedly bogged down. The United States has pressed for restraint even as it has rushed military aid to Israel, warning its close ally that a wider war would not achieve its goals. 

Israeli media have meanwhile reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with a politician seen as far more hawkish. That would be the biggest leadership shakeup in Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza and set off wider regional tensions. 

The announcement on Lebanon came after Israel's security Cabinet met late into the night. It said the Cabinet has “updated the objectives of the war” to include safely returning the residents of the north to their homes. “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective,” it said. 

US envoy Amos Hochstein, who has made several visits to Lebanon and Israel to try to ease tensions, met with Netanyahu on Monday. 

Hochstein told the prime minister that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help achieve the goal of returning Israelis to their homes, according to a US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks. 

Hochstein said Netanyahu risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale war in Lebanon and said the Biden administration remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution in conjunction with a Gaza ceasefire or on its own, the official said. 

Netanyahu told Hochstein that residents cannot return without “a fundamental change in the security situation in the north,” according to a statement from the prime minister's office. 

It said that while Netanyahu “appreciates and respects” US support, Israel will “do what is necessary to safeguard its security." 

Defense Minister Gallant has meanwhile said the focus of the conflict is shifting from Gaza to Israel's north. He told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week that time is running out for an agreement with Hezbollah, saying “the trajectory is clear.” 

Hezbollah has said that while it does not want a wider war it is prepared for one. 

Raed Berro, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said Monday that the party “is ready for confrontation and has a lot in its pocket to deter the enemy and protect Lebanon in case Netanyahu thinks of expanding the war.” 

The war in Gaza began when Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Fighters are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead, after releasing most of the rest during a ceasefire last year. 

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters but says just over half were women and children. The Israeli bombardment and ground invasion has devastated large areas of the densely populated enclave and driven around 90% of its 2.3 million residents from their homes. 

Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region, which have carried out strikes on Israeli and US targets in solidarity with the Palestinians. A missile launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias on Sunday set off air raid sirens in central Israel without causing casualties. Israel has hinted at a military response. 

Israel and Iran traded fire directly for the first time in April, and Iran has threatened to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in its capital in July. The targeted killing was widely blamed on Israel, which has not said whether it was involved. 

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent most of this year trying to broker an agreement in which Hamas would release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. 

President Joe Biden endorsed the framework of the agreement in May and the UN Security Council backed it days later. But since then, both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands, and the talks appear to be at an impasse.