Israel Deploys Missile Boats in Red Sea as Houthis Attack from Yemen 

This picture taken on November 1, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows a flare fired by Israeli forces falling above the Palestinian enclave amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 1, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows a flare fired by Israeli forces falling above the Palestinian enclave amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Deploys Missile Boats in Red Sea as Houthis Attack from Yemen 

This picture taken on November 1, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows a flare fired by Israeli forces falling above the Palestinian enclave amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 1, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows a flare fired by Israeli forces falling above the Palestinian enclave amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

The Israeli military said it had deployed missile boats in the Red Sea on Wednesday as reinforcements, a day after the Iran-aligned Houthi militias said they had launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and vowed to carry out more.

Images disseminated by the military showed Saar-class corvettes patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea, which Israel sees as a new front as its war in Gaza draws retaliation from Iran-aligned pro-Hamas forces elsewhere in the region.

The Houthis said on Tuesday they had launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7. It vowed there would be more such attacks to come "to help the Palestinians to victory".

In what appeared to be a new attack overnight, the Israeli military said it had intercepted an "aerial threat" over the Red Sea.

Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said on Tuesday the Houthi attacks were intolerable, but declined to elaborate when asked how Israel might respond.

The Houthis are part of the Iran-aligned regional alliance hostile to Israel and the United States which includes Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The Houthis govern swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, more than a thousand miles from Israel.

Missiles and drones fired at Israel from the Red Sea area since Oct. 7 have so far either been shot down or fallen short.

In an Oct. 27 incident, Israel said the Houthis were behind a drone attack that caused explosions in two Egyptian towns on the Red Sea, saying they had been intended to hit Israel.



Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
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Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)

A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists left the Greek island of Syros Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, after more than 150 protesters demonstrated at the island’s port, unfurling Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Carrying banners that read: “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip — the protesters chanted slogans on the dock near where the cruise ship, the Crown Iris, was docked on Tuesday, local media said. There were no reports of any violence.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

Greece’s coast guard said the ship set sail at around 3 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, but did not immediately have any further details.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release. “All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed. It did not release any details of their discussion.