Israel's Defense Minister Warns Yemen's Houthis of Heavy Retaliation

FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
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Israel's Defense Minister Warns Yemen's Houthis of Heavy Retaliation

FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa

Israel's defense minister on Thursday warned Yemen's Houthis will suffer heavy blows if they continue to fire at Israel and that its defense forces are prepared for any mission.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the US does not include sparing Israel, the Houthis said on Wednesday, later saying they targeted Israel with drones.

"Israel must be able to defend itself on its own against any threat and any enemy," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on X.

"The Houthis will suffer heavy blows from Israel if they continue to fire at us”, he said, adding that the Israeli army is prepared for any mission.

Katz also cautioned the Iranian leadership, which he accused of financing and arming the Houthi organization, declaring that the proxy system is over and "the axis of evil has collapsed."

He stated that Iran bears direct responsibility and warned that actions similar to those taken against Hezbollah in Beirut, Hamas in Gaza, Assad in Damascus, and the Houthis in Yemen could be carried out in Tehran.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.