EU Condemns Houthi-Launched Missile Targeting Riyadh

A member of the Saudi security forces stands guard as other demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Arar, near Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq March 18, 2015. (File: Reuters)
A member of the Saudi security forces stands guard as other demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Arar, near Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq March 18, 2015. (File: Reuters)
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EU Condemns Houthi-Launched Missile Targeting Riyadh

A member of the Saudi security forces stands guard as other demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Arar, near Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq March 18, 2015. (File: Reuters)
A member of the Saudi security forces stands guard as other demonstrate their skills during a military exercise in Arar, near Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq March 18, 2015. (File: Reuters)

The European Union condemned the firing of a ballistic missile in the direction of Riyadh by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

A European spokeswoman described on Monday the attack as a serious escalation, saying that such action is unacceptable and contrary to international law.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday a list including 40 names of leaders and members responsible for planning, executing and supporting various terrorist activities by attributed to Iran-backed Houthi terrorists, as well as offering financial rewards for information leading to their arrest or whereabouts.

In a statement published on the Saudi state-owned news agency SPA, the Kingdom renewed its commitment to combat terrorism, dry up its sources of financing, fight extremist ideology and tools of its publication and promotion and its continuous action to eradicate it and protect the society from it and based on the dedicated increasing of terrorist activity by Houthi militias.

Houthis have shown a continuous endeavor to harm the Kingdom's security with support of the Iranian regime (the sponsor of the all terrorist organizations in the region) and detected bolstered Houthi cooperation with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization.

More so, Houthis have sought to work with within framework of exchanging expertise and enhancing military capabilities among these terrorist organizations and the use of ballistic missiles in a grave precedent in which these dangerous missiles are made available to these rogue terrorist organizations in a direct threat to the Kingdom's cities which aims at terrorizing the innocent and harming the Kingdom's security, stability, tranquility and public order.

The Kingdom announces the first list of 40 names of leaders and elements responsible for planning, implementing and supporting the Houthi terrorist group's various terrorist activities.

Saudi Arabia also announced financial rewards to any one providing information leading to the arrest of those blacklisted.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.