US Piles Pressure on Yemen's Houthis with New Airstrikes 

A person (L) inspects the damage at a cordoned off area a day after US airstrikes targeted a nearby position, in Sanaa, Yemen, 16 March 2025. (EPA) 
A person (L) inspects the damage at a cordoned off area a day after US airstrikes targeted a nearby position, in Sanaa, Yemen, 16 March 2025. (EPA) 
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US Piles Pressure on Yemen's Houthis with New Airstrikes 

A person (L) inspects the damage at a cordoned off area a day after US airstrikes targeted a nearby position, in Sanaa, Yemen, 16 March 2025. (EPA) 
A person (L) inspects the damage at a cordoned off area a day after US airstrikes targeted a nearby position, in Sanaa, Yemen, 16 March 2025. (EPA) 

The United States carried out new airstrikes on Yemen on Monday, the Houthis' Al Masirah TV said, expanding the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Responding to the Iran-aligned Houthi militias' threats to international shipping, the US launched a new wave of airstrikes on Saturday. On Monday, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Al-Jawf governorate north of the capital Sanaa were targeted, Al Masirah said.

At least 53 people have been killed in the attacks, Anees Alsbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry, said on Sunday. Five children and two women were among the victims and 98 have been hurt, Alsbahi added on X.

The Houthis, which launched a coup against the legitimate government a decade ago, have launched scores of attacks on ships off its coast since November 2023, disrupting global commerce. The US campaign to intercept missiles and drones has burned through stocks of US air defenses.

The strikes, which one US official told Reuters might continue for weeks, come as Washington ramps up sanctions pressure on Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday the militants would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues attacks on Yemen.

"If they continue their aggression, we will continue the escalation," he said in a televised speech.

The Houthi political bureau described the US attacks as a "war crime." Moscow urged Washington to stop them.

The Houthis' military spokesman, without providing evidence, said in a televised statement early on Monday that the militias had launched a second attack against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.

Israel has weakened a large part of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" against US influence in the Middle East - including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas since being attacked by Hamas gunmen in October 2023.

Top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders have been assassinated and fall of another Iranian ally, Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in December also dealt a blow to Tehran.

But the Houthis are still standing, along with pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.

US WARNING

The Houthis said last week they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea if Israel did not lift a block on aid entering Gaza.

They had launched scores of attacks on shipping after Israel's war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza's Palestinians.

Trump warned Iran, the Houthis' main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group. If Iran threatened the US, he said, "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won't be nice about it!"

In response, Hossein Salami, the top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said the Houthis made their own decisions.

"We warn our enemies that Iran will respond decisively and destructively if they carry out their threats," he told state media.

US warplanes shot down 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the Truman, a US official told Reuters. US forces also tracked a missile that splashed down off the coast of Yemen, the official said.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures": "The minute the Houthis say we'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones. This campaign will end, but until then it will be unrelenting."

He said reopening freedom of navigation was a core national interest for the US and that Iran had been "enabling the Houthis for far too long."

"They better back off," he said.

The Houthis suspended their campaign when Israel and Hamas agreed on a Gaza ceasefire in January. But on March 12 they said their threat to attack Israeli ships would stay in effect until Israel reapproved the delivery of aid and food into Gaza.



EU's Kallas Says Gaza Situation 'Unacceptable'

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for the weekly College of Commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for the weekly College of Commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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EU's Kallas Says Gaza Situation 'Unacceptable'

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for the weekly College of Commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for the weekly College of Commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that she told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that the situation in Gaza is "unacceptable".

"Yesterday I also talked to Foreign Minister Saar ...what is happening, why are you doing this. And I mean, also conveying the message that this is unacceptable," she told reporters in Brussels.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said on Wednesday that the resumption of fighting in the war between Israel and Hamas threatens the peace efforts of Arab states.

"The resumption of fighting ... jeopardizes the positive efforts of the Arab states, which together want to pursue a peaceful path for Gaza, free from Hamas," Baerbock said in a statement, calling for great restraint from all sides.

She spoke ahead of her trip to Lebanon to discuss the conflict.

Israel carried out more airstrikes in Gaza on Wednesday, a day after shattering nearly two months of relative calm since a ceasefire began and killing over 400 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.