JERUSALEM: A surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen at central Israel on Monday was intercepted, the Israeli military said.
The missile set off air raid sirens across large swaths of central Israel, sending residents running for shelter.
“Following the sirens that sounded in a number of areas in central Israel, the surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen was successfully intercepted” by the Israeli Air Force, the military said in a statement.
The statement did not say who fired the missile. The Iran-backed Houthi movement which controls northern Yemen has frequently attacked Israel over the past year in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.
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Israeli military says it intercepts missile fired from Yemen
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Israeli military says it intercepts missile fired from Yemen
- The missile set off air raid sirens across large swaths of central Israel, sending residents running for shelter
Yemeni official among 13 abducted by Houthis in Ibb over revolution celebrations
- The militia has targeted hundreds of people who celebrate the anniversary of the Sept. 26, 1962, revolution or encourage others to do so
- Meanwhile, relatives of detained Yemeni humanitarian workers renew appeal to the Houthis to release them or at least allow visitors
AL-MUKALLA: A local government official was among 13 Yemenis abducted by the Houthis in Ibb province over the past two days, local media reported on Monday, as the militia continues to crack down on people who commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the 1962 revolution in the country.
Al-Masdar Online said Khaled Al-Kerizi, the deputy head of the provincial office of the Ministry of Culture, was taken from his home in Al-Mashannah District.
The Houthis also reportedly snatched eight people in Yarim District and four in Al-Udayn District and the countryside, increasing the number of people abducted in province in the past week to 48.
The Houthi crackdown in areas of northern Yemen under their control has targeted hundreds of people who celebrated the anniversary of the revolution or encouraged others to do so. The revolution, which began on Sept. 26, 1962, toppled the Zaidi imamates that had controlled northern Yemen for centuries and limited the right to rule to Hashemites. Much of their ideology is shared by the Houthis.
In an attempt to suppress pro-revolution celebrations in Sanaa, the Houthis have deployed military forces and vehicles, as well as undercover operatives in civilian clothing armed with batons, who have abducted people from the streets and their homes.
Some of those taken were pictured in videos dancing to a nationalist song commemorating the revolution. Others posted messages on social media platforms praising the revolution or encouraging others to celebrate it.
HuMENA, a human rights organization based in Brussels, strongly condemned the arbitrary Houthi raids on homes and abductions. It said members of the militia have detained about 500 people since Sept. 20, including about 40 journalists and writers, as well as teachers, university professors and students, lawyers, and members of the former ruling party, the General People’s Congress.
“We call on the international community and humanitarian organizations to take a firm stance against these violations, pressuring the Houthi group to end this repressive campaign and immediately release all detainees, ensuring the protection of citizens’ rights and freedom of expression,” HuMENA said.
Meanwhile, relatives of abducted Yemeni employees of international aid and human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions, renewed their appeals to the Houthis to release the detainees or at least allow visitors.
“Today marks four months since my father Ahmed’s detention in Yemen, without hearing from him or checking on his condition; months of anxiety, fear and sadness that consumes our hearts at all times,” Khaled Al-Yemeni, the son of an aid worker abducted by the Houthis on June 6, wrote in a message posted on Facebook on Sunday.
“We appeal to Ansar Allah’s leadership and all concerned parties to take action on my father’s case and release him as soon as possible. Our family is in constant pain, and we hope for relief soon.”
Ansar Allah is the official name of the Houthis. Since May, militia members have abducted dozens of Yemenis working for UN agencies, international aid and human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions in Sanaa and other parts of Yemen under their control, accusing them of using humanitarian work as a cover to spy for the US and Israel.
The UN and other organizations have strongly condemned the Houthis for their actions. They deny the allegations against their employees and demand the militia release the detainees and stop harassing humanitarian workers.
The Houthis said they buried 126 “unidentified” bodies in Hodeidah and Saada provinces in the past few days. The Houthi Yemeni Security Media reported on Sunday that in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the militia buried 66 bodies that had been stored at Al-Thawra Hospital in Hodeidah province.
On Thursday, the same media office said the Houthi Public Prosecution buried 60 unidentified bodies, some of which were those of African migrants, that had been stored at Al-Jamhuri Hospital in Saada province.
Force alone will not lead to Israel’s security, France says
- “Force alone cannot guarantee the security of Israel, your security. Military success cannot be a substitute for a political perspective,” Barrot said
JERUSALEM: Israel’s security cannot be guaranteed with military force alone and will require a diplomatic solution, France’s foreign minister said on Monday, and Paris would continue efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Speaking at the end of a four-day tour of the Middle East, Jean-Noel Barrot was in Israel on Monday to mark a year since Hamas militants crossed into Israel killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage back to Gaza.
The assault triggered an Israeli military campaign in Gaza that has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry. The war has spread conflict across the region with Israel stepping up military operations over its northern border in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.
“Force alone cannot guarantee the security of Israel, your security. Military success cannot be a substitute for a political perspective,” Barrot told a news conference in Jerusalem.
“To bring the hostages home to their loved ones, to allow the displaced to return home in the north (of Israel), after a year of war, the time for diplomacy has come.”
Barrot’s arrival in Israel, where about 180,000 French citizens live, came at a tricky time in Franco-Israeli relations after President Emmanuel Macron was firmly rebuffed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekend.
Macron had called for a de facto arms embargo on Israel and, in a veiled attack on the US, said countries that both supplied weapons and called for a ceasefire where they were being used in conflict were being incoherent. French arms supplies to Israel are minimal.
Barrot reiterated that it was odd to call for a ceasefire while giving offensive weapons. He said that France, as a staunch defender of Israel’s security, felt it was vital to be frank about the ongoing suffering of civilians in Gaza, but also the military operation now in southern Lebanon.
France worked with the United States in trying to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon at the end of September. Diplomatic sources had at the time believed this had secured a temporary truce, a day before Israel heavily bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
“We have a responsibility to act today to avoid Lebanon finding itself in a short horizon in a dramatic situation like Syria found itself a few years ago,” Barrot said.
Ceasefire proposals put forward together with Washington remain on the table, he said.
Israel can’t confirm death of Hezbollah’s Safieddine, spokesperson says
- Asked if Israel could confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine, spokesperson David Mencer said: “We don’t have that confirmation yet”
JERUSALEM: Israel cannot confirm whether the potential successor to the slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, a government spokesperson said on Monday, following reports that he was targeted in an Israeli air strike last week.
Asked if Israel could confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine, spokesperson David Mencer told an online briefing: “We don’t have that confirmation yet. When it is confirmed, as and when, it will be on the IDF (Israeli military) website.”
A Hezbollah official told Reuters on Sunday that Israel was obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday.
Israel has killed much of Hezbollah’s military command and senior leadership in nearly a year of fighting that began when Hezbollah opened a front in solidarity with Palestinians the day after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Commander of Iran’s Quds Force is ‘in good health’, force’s deputy commander says
- Qaani had traveled to Lebanon after the killing of Nasrallah
DAMASCUS: The top commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, is in “good health,” the force’s deputy commander Iraj Masjedi said on Monday, after two Iranian security sources told Reuters he had been out of contact since strikes on Beirut last week.
“He is in good health and is carrying out his activities. Some ask us to issue a statement... there is no need for this,” Masjedi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media in reference to Qaani.
The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported that a message from Qaani was conveyed to a conference in solidarity with Palestinian children held on Monday in Tehran, adding that the commander could not attend “due to his being in another important meeting.”
One of the security officials told Reuters that Qaani was in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, during a strike last week that was reported to have targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine. The official said he was not meeting Safieddine.
Israel has been hitting multiple targets in Dahiyeh as it pursues a campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Tehran named Qaani the head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps’ overseas military-intelligence service after the United States assassinated his powerful predecessor Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
The Quds Force heavily influences its allied armed groups across the Middle East.
HRW: Israeli strikes endanger civilians on Lebanon-Syria border
- Human Rights Watch said the strikes were "impeding civilians trying to flee and disrupting humanitarian operations"
Beirut, Lebanon: Human Rights Watch on Monday said Israeli strikes near the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing were putting civilians at "grave risk" as they prevented them from fleeing and hampered humanitarian operations.
The Israeli military said Friday its fighter jets struck Hezbollah positions near the Masnaa border crossing in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
Syrian transport ministry official Sleiman Khalil told AFP on Monday that the road was still "completely cut off to vehicle traffic", but people could still cross on foot.
Human Rights Watch said the strikes were "impeding civilians trying to flee and disrupting humanitarian operations", adding "the situation places civilians at grave risk."
"An Israeli attack on a legitimate military target may still be unlawful if it can be expected to cause immediate civilian harm disproportionate to the anticipated military gain," it said in a statement.
If Hezbollah used the crossing to transfer weapons, the Iran-backed group too "may be failing to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control", HRW added.
The Israeli military said it "struck an underground tunnel" crossing the border that "enables the transfer and storage of large quantities of weapons underground".
"The tunnel's operations were led by the 4400 Unit, the unit responsible for the transportation of weapons from Iran and its proxies to Hezbollah in Lebanon," the military added.
On Friday, an AFP photographer saw people carrying bags and children as they walked around a crater where a strike had hit.
The head of the United Nations refugee agency Filippo Grandi warned Sunday that the bombing of the road "has de facto blocked many people from seeking safety in Syria".
Lebanese authorities said Friday that more than 370,000 people had crossed from Lebanon into Syria since September 23, most of them Syrian nationals.
More than 774,000 Syrian refugees were registered with the UN in Lebanon before the latest escalation, though the tiny country said that it hosted some two million of them -- the world's highest ratio of refugees per capita.
HRW's Lama Fakih said that "by making a border crossing inaccessible at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing fighting and many others are in need of aid, the Israeli military threatens considerable civilian harm."
Even if the crossing were used for military purposes, "Israel would need to take into account the expected civilian harm compared to the anticipated military gain", she added in the statement.
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