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France Stayed Out Of Strikes Against Yemen Houthis to Avoid Escalation, Says Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters)
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France Stayed Out Of Strikes Against Yemen Houthis to Avoid Escalation, Says Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters)

France stayed out of a Britain-US coalition that carried out air strikes against Iran-backed Houthis who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea as Paris feared an escalation, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.

"France has decided not to join a coalition that has carried out pre-emptive strikes against the Houthis on their soil. Why? Precisely because we have a position that seeks to avoid any escalation," Macron told reporters, emphasising that the subject was not "military" but "diplomatic".

This came as the US military carried out new strikes in Yemen on Tuesday against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country as a missile struck a Greek-owned vessel in the Red Sea.

Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have affected companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on their sites in Yemen.

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Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
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Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File

The head of Israel's domestic intelligence service said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to sack him followed his refusal to fulfil requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and disrupting the leader's corruption trial.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said that Netanyahu's March move to dismiss him was not based on professional grounds but was prompted by unmet expectations of personal loyalty to the prime minister.

In response, Netanyahu's office said it would soon deliver a detailed refute of Bar's affidavit, which it called "false". Netanyahu's move to sack Bar fuelled protests in Israel and was suspended by the Supreme Court, after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful. Critics say that the government is undermining key state institutions and endangering the foundations of Israeli democracy. Netanyahu's Likud party has accused Bar of acting against the prime minister and turning parts of the Shin Bet service into "a private militia of the Deep State." Israel's government has backed Netanyahu, who said that he had lost confidence in Bar over the agency's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a security failure that had led to the country's deadliest day, Reuters reported.

But in the unclassified part of his affidavit, Bar argued that the quest to oust him began more than a year after the attack. He cited a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025, which he said appeared to prompt the prime minister's moves against him.

Bar also said he refused to sign off on a security request aimed at preventing continuous testimony by Netanyahu at his corruption trial. Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, began testifying in his long-running court case in December.