Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, expanding its confrontation with Iran's allies in the region two days after killing the Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an escalating conflict in Lebanon.
The airstrikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah were in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel in recent days, Israel said, amid fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and Israel's main ally the United States.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded.
The strikes took place as Israel attacked more targets in Lebanon, where its intensifying bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah leaders and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Israel on Sunday vowed to keep up its assault.
"It has lost its head, and we need to keep hitting Hezbollah hard," Israel's military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israeli strikes on Sunday had killed 32 people in Ain Deleb in the south and 21 people in Baalbek-Hermel in the east and that 14 medics had been killed in airstrikes over the past two days.
Israeli drones hovered over Beirut overnight and for much of Sunday, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire across the border since the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. Yemen's Houthis have launched sporadic attacks on Israel throughout that time and disrupted Red Sea shipping.
Israel rapidly ramped up its attacks on Hezbollah two weeks ago with the declared goal of making northern areas safe for residents to return to their homes, killing much of the group's leadership. Israel's defense minister is now discussing widening the offensive.
Nasrallah's death dealt a particularly significant blow to the group which he led for 32 years, and it was followed by new Hezbollah rocket fire on Israel, while Iran said his death would be avenged.
The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon, but has also authorised its military to reinforce in the region in a sign of the growing unease.
US President Joe Biden, asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, said “It has to be." He said he will be talking to Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu but did not elaborate.
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, who leads a Senate Armed Services subcommittee, said the bomb that Israel used to kill Nasrallah was an American-made 2,000-lb (900-kg) guided weapon.
In Iran, which helped create Hezbollah in the early 1980s, senior figures mourned the death of a senior Revolutionary Guards member killed alongside Nasrallah, and Tehran called for a U.N. Security Council meeting on Israel's actions.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was moved to a secure location in Iran after Nasrallah's killing, sources told Reuters.
LEBANESE DEATHS
Nasrallah's body was recovered intact from the site of Friday's strike, a medical source and a security source told Reuters on Sunday. Hezbollah has not yet said when his funeral will be held.
Nasrallah had not only made Hezbollah into a powerful domestic force in Lebanon during his 32 years as leader, but helped turn it into the linchpin of Iran's network of allied groups in the Arab world.
Supporters of the group and other Lebanese who hailed its role fighting Israel, which occupied south Lebanon for years, mourned him on Sunday.
"We lost the leader who gave us all the strength and faith that we, this small country that we love, could turn it into a paradise," said Lebanese Christian woman Sophia Blanche Rouillard, carrying a black flag to work in Beirut.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said more than 1,000 Lebanese were killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said a million people - a fifth of the population - had fled their homes.
In Beirut, some displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut's waterfront. On Sunday morning, families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and made tea for themselves.
"You won't be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people - we will stay here. We won't leave. This is our country and we're staying," said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.
The U.N. World Food Program began an emergency operation to provide food for those affected by the conflict.
ISRAEL MILITARY ACTION
On Sunday, Israel's military said the air force had struck dozens of targets in Lebanon including launchers and weapons stores while its navy said it had intercepted eight projectiles coming from the direction of Lebanon and one from the Red Sea.
It said dozens of Israeli aircraft including fighter jets had attacked power plants and Rass Issa and Hodeidah ports, accusing the Houthis of operating "under the direction and funding of Iran" and in cooperation with Iraqi militias.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: "Our message is clear - for us, no place is too far".
Nasrallah's death capped a traumatic fortnight for Hezbollah, starting with the detonation of thousands of communications devices used by its members. Israel was widely assumed to have carried out that action but has not confirmed or denied it did.
Hezbollah's arsenal has long been a point of contention in Lebanon, a country with a history of civil conflict. Hezbollah's Lebanese critics say the group has unilaterally pulled the country into conflicts and undermined the state.
However, Lebanon's top Christian cleric, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, said Nasrallah's killing had "opened a wound in the heart of the Lebanese". Rai has previously voiced criticism of the Shi'ite Islamist Hezbollah, accusing it of dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts.
© Thomson Reuters 2024.
35 Comments
Tamarama
Israel is unhinged.
kurisupisu
Do the Jews also claim Lebanese land too?
The Israeli state claims to act in its defense but the actions speak to ‘offense’
MarkX
I just can't understand what Israel is thinking now. At first they had sympathy for the October 7 attacks, but that quickly disappeared with their massive attacks on Gaza. Now moving on the Lebanon and Yemin, this will never end well, and they are just empowering more hatred towards them!
kurisupisu
Someone explain please.
How does destroying a power station in Yemen prevent the launching of missiles?
Chabbawanga
100% guaranteed to bring about lasting peace
Chabbawanga
Its called collective punishment. Israels MO.
deanzaZZR
Biden/Blinken keep sending bombs. Bi Bi continues dropping them on neighboring sovereign countries. Now that's teamwork.
The Ripper!
How is that, when Hezbollah has been shooting missiles into Israeli civilian populations on a daily basis since October 7?
It is inspiring though to see Israel keep up the pressure even where threats come in daily from Hezbollah. Hamas, Iran, Houthis et al.
Not possible to empower more hatred from those who already hate Israel.
Nothing wrong with collectively punishing the Islamic extremist terrorists.
Chabbawanga
There was an article publish in the Jerusalem Post last week titled 'Is Lebanon part of Israel's promised territory?' It has since been deleted.
You can find it here.
http://web.archive.org/web/20240925120359/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680
The short answer according to the article is 'yes'.
The Ripper!
Gaza is not a sovereign country.
Aly Rustom
man that is an understatement.
Its going to end in a regional war.
Exactly.
Sanjinosebleed
Collective punishment equals war crime!
Fighto!
Whether Israel is right or wrong - cases can probably be made for both - the likes of Iran and the Houthi, Hezbollah and Hamas terror groups will do nothing but make threats of revenge and shake their fists.
Billot
kurisupisu
Claim? What claims? You do know that Israel returned almost the entirety of the Sinai to Egypt for peace (after Egypt tried to invade Israel) AND removed their OWN citizens from Gaza to allow Gazan arabs a chance to create a state (OOPS! they elected Hamas!).
It's called "preemptive strike". You know that concept that applies when your ENEMY WANTS TO KILL ALL WOMEN AND CHILDREN ISRAEL, because they are Iranian backed Islamists, so you attack before they can do so.
I suppose your solution for Israel is to just wait and die. NOT GONNA HAPPEN lol
Billot
Tamarama
Your definition of unhinged is interesting. If by unhinged you mean preemptively strike an enemy who wants to SLAUGHTER every man woman and child in Israel, because they are Islamist terrorists backed by Iran.
If that's your definition of unhinged, then may we all be unhinged, lest we get murdered instead
Billot
MarkX
"if the choice is between being dead and getting sympathy and being alive and being criticized by your enemies, then we would rather be alive"
Does this make sense to you MarkX? Or do you prefer Israel just lie down and die?
Israel is surrounded by enemies who have codified Israeli deaths into their charters. YOU BETTER BELIEVE ISRAEL DOESN'T CARE ABOUT WORLD OPINION WHEN THEIR LIVES ARE AT STAKE.
Billot
kurisupisu
HAPPY to oblige my FRIEND! It sends the direct message: HOUTHI REBELS, STOP SENDING BALLISTIC MISSILES AT TEL AVIV, OR YOU WILL FACE CONSEQUENCES
Is that too complicated, or must I explain it in SIMPLER terms?
Moderator: You have made your point. No need for further posts here.
changamangaliay
Israel is commiting war crimes, killing 1000s of children, babies women deliberately is not a self defense but genocide, period.
WA4TKG
I was wondering how long the Houthi’s luck was going to hold out.
The Ripper!
No, Israel is engaged in a war. Casualties happen in war.
My question is, Why is Israel taking such a humane approach to this war? Why does Israel give people advance notice so that they can evacuate buildings before Israel attacks a military site or cove of terrorists there? Why does Israel give food and medicine to its enemy's people? Israel was providing polio vaccinations for up to 200,000 people a day.
Why is Israel acting so humanely in these wars?
kurisupisu
@The Ripper
.
Oh my!
Suggesting that October 7th is the start of all this violence is absolutely blinkered.
So many innocent people recently dead or maimed
Also,Israel has resorted to assassination after assassination to goad its enemies.
The assassinations on Iranian soil and cyber warfare targeting civilian utilities are some of rhe destructive acts Israel has engaged in well before Hamas invaded on October 7th.
Also,witness the maiming and killing using the rigged pagers.This scheme was hatched over two years ago.
Israel is by no means an innocent player in all this.
It’s not necessary to defend the indefensible when the whole world has already condemned Israel as acting outside the scope of international law.
wallace
Provided by UNRWA, not Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/polio-vaccinations-begin-in-northern-gaza-despite-operational-challenges/
Chabbawanga
You know you have a great argument when you use caps
Yohan
Regardless what you think about Israel, their military organization is perfectly functioning. It's flawless.
Never ever try to start a military confrontation with this country, you will not win.
Ken
This is what history will remember them for? The people of Israel are really okay with that?
The Ripper!
Israel let them in "wallace". You didn't know that?
I didn't suggest that, I only pointed out that Hezbollah has been shooting rockets at Israeli civilians everyday since then.
And before then too.
Where? I did see over 2800 terrorists were killed and maimed by pagers. Isn't that a good thing? Israel only targets terrorists.
The whole world except for the US, the UK... for starters.
Talk about blinkered.
Terrorists just have not caught on yet.
GDBD
I literally laughed when reading this. A starving Hamas with pre-history tools was able to launch such an attack that shaken Israel. US had to send warships to the eastern Mediterranean sea to calm their anxiety and security concerns. You know, I know, everyone knows it will take only one battle for Israel to cease to exist. What Israeli leadership does is just speeding up that process.
wallace
The Ripper!
Provided by UNRWA, not Israel.
That is not the same as your comment provided by Israel. UNRWA has been in Gaza for decades so nothing new.
The Ripper!
I'm guessing no one affiliated with Hamas is laughing.
No one affiliated with Hezbollah is laughing either I bet. Try paging them to see if you can get a comment.
Oh, and Ayatollah Khomeini is not laughing either--he scooted off into hiding.
I don't know. Who is that battle with? When will it happen? Why has it not happened yet?
But enjoy your literal laugh. I'll laugh with you. lol
NB
The solution for the Middle East conflict is coexistence between the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews.
NB
War is launched by one sovereign country against another soverign country. The goal is to bring an end to the existence of the other country, and annihilate its population. Raids targetted aginst civilian population, with the goal of slaughtering them (and burn and rape them as well) are carried out. The attacked country receives a rain of missiles. The attacked country responds, but is being taught by the world that it is not polite to respond against a sovereign country.
itsonlyrocknroll
There is a huge IDF ground force massing on Lebanon border indicating a ground invasion is imminent.
IDF prepares to invade southern Lebanon as 2 more Hezbollah leaders are presumed dead
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/29/g-s1-25330/idf-strikes-hezbollah-invasion-lebanon
Unless Biden/Harris administration quicky respond with a clear policy plan of prevention, then a full blown middle eastern war is inevitable.
wallace
Netanyahu hates Biden and won't listen any further. A ground war will happen and the US will be powerless to prevent it.
Ken
I'm not a fan of Israel right now either but what you said is going too far. That's too disrespectful
Blacklabel
Biden about the Yemen strikes: “I've spoken to both sides. They gotta settle the strike. I'm supporting the collective bargaining effort. I think they'll settle the strike."
wow, too much time hanging around Kamala.