Yemeni Military: Iran Controls Houthi Naval Attacks

Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
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Yemeni Military: Iran Controls Houthi Naval Attacks

Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit is directing Houthi military operations, including attacks on Red Sea navigation, Yemeni military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat, affirming that the Houthis have used up most of their missile stockpile.
The sources, speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirm that most of the weapons currently used to target ships are from Iran, modified and assembled in Sanaa and other centers in Saada province.
Members of the Revolutionary Guard have been entering Yemen, revealed the sources, adding that some of them were smuggled across land borders into Saada province by professional smugglers.
Others arrived by sea, particularly along the coasts of Hajjah province facing the Red Sea, sources added.
The sources also affirmed that a team of members from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group oversee every aspect of the military and political activities of the Houthis.
This includes assembling missiles and drones, preparing unmanned boats and submarines, and even controlling the release of military information and videos of operations.
They also influence the content of speeches made by the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
The sources confirmed that the Red Sea situation is linked to military actions against Yemeni government forces and their coalition backers.
Houthi fighters, trained in Iranian Revolutionary Guard camps, have limited involvement in launching basic short-range drones. Advanced weaponry remains solely under Iranian control.
Moreover, Yemeni intelligence suggests that a key Iranian Revolutionary Guard figure, Abdul Reza Shahlai, is likely leading all Houthi military operations.
So far, US airstrikes have hit Houthi weaponry hard, especially missiles and drones, thanks to advanced surveillance tech.
To counter this, Iranian experts advised the Houthis to dig large trenches in mountainous areas overlooking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, hiding missile platforms and drones.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.