Israeli Military Says it has Struck Houthi Targets in Yemen

A huge column of fire erupts following reported strikes in Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A huge column of fire erupts following reported strikes in Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Israeli Military Says it has Struck Houthi Targets in Yemen

A huge column of fire erupts following reported strikes in Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
A huge column of fire erupts following reported strikes in Hodeidah on July 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli army said Saturday it has struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen following a fatal drone attack by the militias in Tel Aviv the previous day.

A number of “military targets” were hit in the western port city of Hodeidah, the Israeli army said, adding that its attack was in response to “hundreds of attacks” against Israel in recent months.

“The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.
Israel’s military said it alone carried out the strikes and “our friends were updated.” An Israeli Defense Forces official didn't say how many sites were targeted, but told journalists that the port is the main entry point for Iranian weapons. The official didn't say whether it was Israel’s first attack on Yemen.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam posted on X that the “blatant Israeli aggression” targeted fuel storage facilities and the province’s power station. He said the attacks aim “to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”

Abdulsalam said the attacks will only make Yemen's people and armed forces more determined to support Gaza. “There will be impactful strikes,” Mohamed Ali al-Houthi of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen wrote on X.

A media outlet controlled by the Houthis in Yemen, Al-Masirah TV, said the strikes on storage facilities for oil and diesel at the port and on the local electricity company caused deaths and injuries, and several people had severe burns. It said there was a large fire at the port and power cuts were widespread.

The drone attack by the Houthis killed one person in the center of Tel Aviv and wounded at least 10 others early Friday.



Iraq: PMF Commemorates Victims of US Airstrike Five Years Ago

A photo of the commemoration published by PMF accounts
A photo of the commemoration published by PMF accounts
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Iraq: PMF Commemorates Victims of US Airstrike Five Years Ago

A photo of the commemoration published by PMF accounts
A photo of the commemoration published by PMF accounts

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), along with its affiliated factions, marked the fifth anniversary of a US airstrike that targeted Kataib Hezbollah bases in late December 2019.

The commemoration took place amid growing discussions in Iraqi political and public circles regarding the potential restructuring of the PMF and the integration of its members into other military institutions. These talks also include debates about dissolving armed factions associated with the “Axis of Resistance” or the possibility of military strikes against them by Israel.

The US airstrike in December 2019 killed 25 members and wounded 55 others from Kataib Hezbollah, part of the 45th and 46th brigades of the PMF. The strike was in retaliation for an attack on a base in Kirkuk that killed an American soldier.

On this occasion, the PMF and its factions held a “symbolic funeral,” featuring approximately 30 symbolic coffins that were paraded through Baghdad streets, culminating at the Martyr’s Monument east of the capital.

The 2019 airstrike escalated tensions between Washington and the PMF factions. It was followed by violent protests and an attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad by PMF members and affiliated groups. In response, Washington carried out a missile strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force (the external arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of the PMF.

A source close to the PMF and its factions stated: “The symbolic funeral serves as a reminder of the victims of the US airstrike, reflecting the ongoing hostility between the two sides.”

“There is real concern within the PMF factions about what may come next, given the rapidly evolving regional developments and the fractures within the Axis of Resistance,” the source added.

Separately, the State of Law Coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, denied reports of forming a new militia.

“There is no truth to the claims that Nouri al-Maliki is forming an armed faction called ‘Sons of the State’,” a source from the State of Law Coalition stated in a press release.

The source added: “Al-Maliki believes in the importance of relying on official state institutions to safeguard the political system. He is a key architect of the state and the law and remains committed to the security framework of the state.”

This denial follows media reports citing Iraqi sources that claimed al-Maliki was planning to establish an armed group named “Sons of the State” to protect the country from potential future threats.