Arab Coalition Destroys Ballistic Missile Launchpad in Yemen's Hajjah Governorate

Government security member helps his disabled father get to a Mosque for Eid Prayers in Aden. EPA
Government security member helps his disabled father get to a Mosque for Eid Prayers in Aden. EPA
TT

Arab Coalition Destroys Ballistic Missile Launchpad in Yemen's Hajjah Governorate

Government security member helps his disabled father get to a Mosque for Eid Prayers in Aden. EPA
Government security member helps his disabled father get to a Mosque for Eid Prayers in Aden. EPA

Arab Coalition air forces destroyed on Friday a ballistic missile launchpad in Yemen, reported the pan-Arab television news channel Al-Arabiya.

The launchpad was used and put together by Iran-allied militias in the war-torn country, and was in the Hajjah Governorate.

A military source stated that the coalition strike targeted the missile platform after it was spotted in a rural area between the Hiran administrative district and the northern border town of Hardh.

The coalition launched a number of airstrikes in the area that led to the destruction of heavy weaponry and vehicles belonging to the Houthi militias killing and injuring an unspecified number of militants.

The source further stated that the platform was used to fire a ballistic missile to the Saudi territories earlier. He said that the coalition forces located the platform and targeted it despite efforts to conceal its position.

The operation came at a time when the Yemenis welcomed the first day of Eid al-Adha holiday this year with untold grievances and suffering caused by the continued insurgency militias lead.

Iran-backed Houthi militiamen and armed loyalists backing ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh have led a national coup against the internationally backed and constitutionally elected government. In 2014, militiamen overran the capital Sana’a forcing the government headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to relocate to Aden.

Many Yemenis lived under militia bombardment as they exploit various weapons and stage infiltration attempts against national army positions in hopes of restoring positions lost in previous battles.

Over the past 48 hours, militia ranks suffered heavy casualties and material damage as a result of renewed confrontations on various fronts and raids by coalition fighters.

Putschist gunmen did not observe sanctity during Eid prayers and days, as they continued their crimes and violations against defenseless citizens by shelling mosques. Militias are responsible for the death of seven soldiers and wounding 11 others as a result of rocket shelling, said a field source.

The bombardment took place in east of Sana'a, during the Eid prayer, another local source said.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
TT

Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.