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Washington Calls for International Action against Iran for Providing Houthis with Missiles

US Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley prepares to speak at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith
US Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley prepares to speak at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith
    New York, Sanaa, London - Jordan Dakamseh & Asharq Al-Awsat
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Washington Calls for International Action against Iran for Providing Houthis with Missiles

US Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley prepares to speak at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith
US Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley prepares to speak at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

The United States on Tuesday called for a UN action against Iran for providing Houthi rebels with missiles and violating the relevant UN resolutions.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp‎s had violated two UN resolutions on Yemen by providing weapons to the Houthis.

She added that information released by Saudi Arabia showed the missile fired in July was an Iranian Qiam, which she described as “a type of weapon that had not been present in Yemen before the conflict.”

“We encourage the United Nations and international partners to take necessary action to hold the Iranian regime accountable for these violations,” Haley said.

The two international resolutions (2216 and 2231) referred to by the US ambassador prohibit Tehran from supplying, selling or transferring weapons outside the country without a prior approval by the Security Council. The second resolution prohibits the supply of arms to Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his son, and those who act in their name or under their direction.

The US call for action against Iran came after Saudi Arabia announced that its forces intercepted last Saturday over Riyadh airport a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis, which led to the fall of shrapnel over the airport. The missile is the first to reach the Saudi capital.

The Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen stressed, on Monday, that Saudi Arabia “retains the right to respond to Iran at the right time and form.”

The coalition has also decided to temporarily close Yemen's air, sea and land ports, as well as preventing the entry of aid under UN supervision despite appeals by the United Nations.

Iran on Tuesday denied Saudi accusations of supplying Houthis with missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a telephone conversation with his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, that “the allegations by Saudi officials were contrary to reality and dangerous”, according to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, who was quoted by AFP.

Zarif also slammed “provocative actions by the Saudi government in the region,” the spokesman added.

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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.