DUBAI: Suspected US airstrikes pounded Yemen overnight into Saturday, reportedly killing at least one person as the American military acknowledged earlier bombing a major military site in the heart of Sanaa controlled by the Houthi rebels.
The full extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear. The attacks followed a night of airstrikes early Friday that appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the campaign that began March 15.
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation under President Donald Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.
Meanwhile, satellite photos analyzed by the AP show a mysterious airstrip just off Yemen in a key maritime chokepoint now appears ready to accept flights and B-2 bombers within striking distance of the country Saturday.
New strikes come as US releases video of one bombing
The strikes into Saturday targeted multiple areas in Yemen under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis, including the capital, Sanaa, and in the governorates of Al-Jawf and Saada, rebel-controlled media reported. The strikes in Saada killed one person and wounded four others, the Houthi-run SABA news agency said.
SABA identified the person killed as a civilian. Houthi fighters and their allies often aren’t in uniform. However, analysts believe the rebels may be undercounting the fatalities given the strikes have been targeting military and intelligence sites run by the rebels. Many of the strikes haven’t been fully acknowledged by the Houthis — or the US military — while the rebels also tightly control access on the ground.
One strike early Friday, however, has been confirmed by the US military’s Central Command, which oversees its Mideast operations. It posted a black-and-white video early Saturday showing an airstrike targeting a site in Yemen. While it didn’t identify the location, an AP analysis of the footage’s details corresponds to a known strike Friday in Sanaa. The footage shows the bomb striking the military’s general command headquarters held by the Houthis, something the rebels have not reported.
The Houthi-controlled Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry in Sanaa separately said US strikes Friday destroyed “broadcasting stations, communication towers and the messaging network” in Amran and Saada governorates. The strikes in Amran around the Jebel Aswad, or “Black Mountain,” had appeared particularly intense.
US campaign follows Houthi shipping threats
The new campaign of airstrikes, which the Houthis now say have killed at least 58 people, started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.
The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war that has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
The Houthis have begun threatening both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two American allies in the region, over the US strikes. That’s even as the nations, which have sought a separate peace with the Houthis, have stayed out of the new US airstrike campaign.
An AP analysis of satellite photos from Saturday shows the American military has moved at least four long-range stealth B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean — a base far outside of the range of the rebels that avoids using allies’ Mideast bases. Three had been earlier seen there this week.
That means a fourth of all the nuclear-capable B-2s that America has in its arsenal are now deployed to the base. The Biden administration used the B-2 with conventional bombs against Houthi targets last year.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has launched attacks from the Red Sea and the American military plans to bring the carrier USS Carl Vinson from Asia as well.
Meanwhile, France said its sole aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, was in Djibouti, an East African nation on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The French have shot down Houthi drones in the past, but they are not part of the American campaign there.
Mysterious airstrip in Bab el-Mandeb appears ready
Satellite images Friday from Planet Labs PBC show an airstrip now appears ready on Mayun Island, a volcanic outcropping in the center of the Bab el-Mandeb. The images showed the airstrip had been painted with the designation markings “09” and “27” to the airstrip’s east and west respectively.
A Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis had acknowledged having “equipment” on Mayun, also known as Perim. However, air and sea traffic to Mayun has linked the construction to the UAE, which backs a secessionist force in Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council.
World powers have recognized the island’s strategic location for hundreds of years, especially with the opening of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
The work on Mayun follows the completion of a similar airstrip likely constructed by the UAE on Abd Al-Kuri Island, which rises out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.
New US strikes against Houthi rebels kill at least 1 in Yemen
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New US strikes against Houthi rebels kill at least 1 in Yemen

- American operation under President Donald Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden
- The strikes into Saturday targeted multiple areas in Yemen under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis
Shadowy extremist group claims Damascus church attack

It came after unspecified “provocation“
BEIRUT: A little-known Sunni Muslim extremist group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Damascus church over the weekend that authorities have blamed on the Daesh group.
Sunday’s attack killed 25 and wounded dozens of others, striking terror into the Syrian Arab Republic’s Christian community and other minorities.
A statement from Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna said a group operative “blew up the Saint Elias church in the Dwelaa neighborhood of Damascus,” saying it came after unspecified “provocation.”
The Islamist authorities who took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December had quickly blamed the attack on Daesh and announced several arrests on Monday in a security operation against Daesh-affiliated cells.
But the Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna statement on messaging app Telegram, where it counts several hundred followers, said the government’s version of events was “untrue, fabricated.”
The group, which was formed after Assad’s ouster, vowed that “what is coming will not give you respite” warning that “our soldiers... are fully prepared.”
In March, a dispute took place in front of the Saint Elias church, as residents expressed opposition to Islamic chants being played on loudspeakers from a car.
Sunday’s attack was the first suicide bombing in a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011, according to a Syrian monitor.
It followed sectarian violence in recent months including massacres of members of the Alawite sect to which Assad belongs and clashes with Druze fighters, with security one of the new authorities’ greatest challenges.
The bloodshed has raised concerns about the government’s ability to control radical fighters, after Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) led the offensive that ousted Assad.
HTS was once affiliated with Al-Qaeda before breaking ties in 2016.
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a Syria-based analyst and researcher, said Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna could be “a pro-Daesh splinter originating primarily from defectors from HTS... and other factions but currently operating independently of IS.”
He also said it could be “just a Daesh front group.”
Citing a Saraya source, Tamimi said a disillusioned former HTS functionary heads the group, whose leadership includes a former member of Hurras Al-Din, the Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate which announced in January it was dissolving, upon the orders of the new government.
The monitor said Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna had previously threatened to target Alawites and had carried out an attack in Hama province earlier this year.
The group is accused of involvement in the sectarian massacres in March that the monitor alleged to have killed more than 1,700 people, mostly Alawite civilians.
Sirens in north Israel after army detects Iranian missiles

- Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war
- Iran has not formally accepted a ceasefire
The Israeli military reported two missiles fired from Iran mid-morning on Tuesday, leading sirens to blare in the north several hours after US President Trump announced a ceasefire plan.
“Two missiles were launched from Iran and they were intercepted,” a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity, with the army saying people could leave shelters around 15 minuutes after the first alert.
Trump announced a phased 24-hour ceasefire process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, which Israel said it had agreed to. Iran has not formally accepted a ceasefire.

Israeli defence minister orders attacks on Iran after ceasefire 'violation'
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he had ordered the country’s military to respond forcefully to what he said was Iran’s violation of a ceasefire with Israel.
The directive followed an announcement by the military that it had detected missile launches from Iran towards Israel.
Less than three hours earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that the ceasefire was now in effect.
Katz said the military had been instructed to carry out high-intensity operations against targets in Tehran.

Israel and Iran accept ceasefire
Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war that roiled the Middle East, after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a US military base in Qatar.
The acceptance of the deal by both sides came after Tehran launched a final onslaught of missiles targeting Israel that killed at least four people early Tuesday morning, while Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump.

Israel says agreed to Trump proposal for bilateral ceasefire with Iran
Israel said Tuesday it had agreed to a “bilateral ceasefire” with Iran proposed by US President Donald Trump, following 12 days of war with its arch-foe.
“Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet... to announce that Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation ‘Rising Lion’ and much more,” the government said in a statement, adding that it had removed “an immediate dual existential threat: nuclear and ballistic”.
“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and for their participation in removing the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement said, adding that “Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire.”
Israel rescuers say 4 dead in multi-wave Iran missile attacks
At least four people were killed in Israel in a multi-wave Iranian missile attack Tuesday shortly before a staggered ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump was meant to enter force, emergency services and the army said.
Writing on X, the Magen David Adom rescue service said three people were pronounced dead at the scene of a strike in southern Beersheba while a fourth was added in an update to its figures.
Another two people were “moderately injured” while 20 were treated for minor injuries and anxiety, it said.
UN condemns ‘weaponization of food’ in Gaza

GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday condemned Israel’s apparent “weaponization of food” in Gaza, a war crime, and urged Israel’s military to “stop shooting at people trying to get food.”
“Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution,” the UN human rights office said in written notes provided before a briefing.
“Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food.”
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began food distribution operations in Gaza on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into the occupied Palestinian territory for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
The UN said in May that “100 percent of the population” of the besieged territory were ” at risk of famine.”
The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF — an officially private effort with opaque funding — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan warned in the briefing notes of “scenes of chaos around the food distribution points” of the GHF.
Since the organization began operating, “the Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities,” he said.
He pointed to reports that “over 410 Palestinians have been killed as a result, (while) at least 93 others have also been reportedly killed by the Israeli army while attempting to approach the very few aid convoys of the UN and other humanitarian organizations.”
“At least 3,000 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents,” he said.
“Each of these killings must be promptly and impartially investigated, and those responsible must be held to account.”
Kheetan cautioned that the system “endangers civilians and contributes to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
“The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime, and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law,” he warned.
The UN rights office demanded immediate action to rectify the situation.
“The Israeli military must stop shooting at people trying to get food,” Kheetan said, also demanding that Israel “allow the entry of food and other humanitarian assistance needed to sustain the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”
“It must immediately lift its unlawful restrictions on the work of UN and other humanitarian actors,” he said.
And he called on other countries to “take concrete steps to ensure that Israel — the occupying power in Gaza — complies with its duty to ensure that sufficient food and lifesaving necessities are provided to the population.”
Oman Air resumes flights as Iraq, Syria reopen airspace after Iran-Israel truce announcement

- Iraq reopened its airspace 12 days after closing it amid the Iran-Israel conflict
DUBAI: Oman Air on Tuesday announced the resumption of flights as Iraq and Syria reopened their airspace following Israel and Iran’s acceptance of a ceasefire plan to end their 12-day war that had destabilized the region.
Iraq reopened its airspace 12 days after closing it during the Iran-Israel conflict, aviation authorities confirmed. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said the move came “following a comprehensive assessment of the security situation and coordination with relevant national and international authorities.”
The reopening of airspace and resumption of flights is expected to ease regional flight disruptions and allow airlines to resume more direct and efficient routes.
Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid

- Thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations in Gaza, as famine looms across the territory after more than 20 months of war
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid near a distribution site in the center of the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, the latest deadly incident targeting aid-seekers.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 21 people were killed and around 150 wounded “as a result of the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of gatherings of citizens waiting for aid... in the central Gaza Strip with bullets and tank shells” in the early hours of Tuesday.
AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment on the incident.
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory.
Bassal added that five people were killed and several injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in Gaza City at dawn.
Thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations in Gaza, as famine looms across the territory after more than 20 months of war.
According to figures issued on Saturday by the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, at least 450 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 injured by Israeli fire while seeking aid since late May.
Many of those have been near sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to rescuers.
The privately run foundation’s operations in Gaza have been marred by chaotic scenes. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
Israel’s opposition leader on Tuesday called for an end to the war in Gaza, after Israel announced it had agreed to a ceasefire with Iran.
“And now Gaza. It’s time to finish it there too. Bring back the hostages, end the war,” Yair Lapid wrote on X.