EU Naval Mission in Red Sea Destroys Missiles, Houthi Seaborne Drone

This handout grab of a video taken and released by the French 'Etat-Major des Armees' on March 20, 2024, shows a Houthi UAV threatening commercial navigation prior to its destruction by a French army helicopter from a French destroyer patrolling in The Red Sea. (Photo by Handout / Etat-Major des Armees / AFP)
This handout grab of a video taken and released by the French 'Etat-Major des Armees' on March 20, 2024, shows a Houthi UAV threatening commercial navigation prior to its destruction by a French army helicopter from a French destroyer patrolling in The Red Sea. (Photo by Handout / Etat-Major des Armees / AFP)
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EU Naval Mission in Red Sea Destroys Missiles, Houthi Seaborne Drone

This handout grab of a video taken and released by the French 'Etat-Major des Armees' on March 20, 2024, shows a Houthi UAV threatening commercial navigation prior to its destruction by a French army helicopter from a French destroyer patrolling in The Red Sea. (Photo by Handout / Etat-Major des Armees / AFP)
This handout grab of a video taken and released by the French 'Etat-Major des Armees' on March 20, 2024, shows a Houthi UAV threatening commercial navigation prior to its destruction by a French army helicopter from a French destroyer patrolling in The Red Sea. (Photo by Handout / Etat-Major des Armees / AFP)

The EU's naval mission in the southern Red Sea said on Thursday it had destroyed three ballistic missiles and a Houthi seaborne drone to protect merchant ships.

The EU's mission, known as Aspides, said on social media platform X that a French warship had destroyed the ballistic missiles and a German destroyed the drone, operated by the Iran-aligned Houthis and spotted near commercial vessels.

Aspides was launched in February to help protect the key maritime trade route from drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi militias, who say they are retaliating against Israel's war on Gaza.

Other countries, including the United States and Britain, also have naval forces operating in the area.



Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday it would be a huge mistake to stop Israel's military offensive in Gaza now.

Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party which is part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition, made the comment as Israeli officials continued talks via mediators about a possible ceasefire deal with Hamas.

He wrote on social media platform X: "Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. This is the time to squeeze the neck until we crush and break the enemy. To stop now, just before the end, and let him recover and fight us again, is a senseless folly."

Several officials in the Middle East and the US believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by the nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.

Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure — including Israel’s ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.”