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Conflict Events Archive
16,179 documented events · latest Sep 16, 2026 — chronological archive with full summaries and multi-source verification.
Why Yemen’s Houthis have only grown stronger through years of war
Why Yemen’s Houthis have only grown stronger through years of war The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who are now advancing on a key maritime checkpoint and striking Saudi oil facilities, have been at war for years At various times over the last decade, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Britain and Israel have carried out punishing air raids on Yemen's Houthi rebels — only to see them grow even stronger. Now, as the Iran-backed Houthis advance on a key maritime chokepoint and strike Saudi oil facilities, rattling world markets, there is little that can be done to stop them that hasn't been tried before. That's because the Houthis operate in a large and mountainous territory where they can disperse fighters and military infrastructure while threatening major oil infrastructure and key trade routes. Iran and its allies in Lebanon and Iraq provide expertise, training and sophisticated weapons, according to U.N. and other experts, and the Houthis' hard-line ideology does the rest. “They are the most committed, the most ideologically pure and the most aggressive” of Iran's regional allies, says Michael Knights, who has written extensively about the Houthis and is now head of research at Horizon Engage, a New York-based strategic advisory. “They’ve been developed by the Iranians in a fast-track way. Things that took the Lebanese Hezbollah 20 years to develop, the Houthis have developed in five.” The well-armed Iranian ally has room to run The Houthis have a wide array of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones — many resembling Iranian models — that can reach all the Gulf states as well as Israel. They have also used sophisticated anti-ship missiles and naval drones to strike vessels in the Red Sea, threatening a critical trade route. Iran denies arming the Houthis, which would violate a U.N. embargo. But smuggled Iranian weapons and parts have been seized from numerous shipments bound for Yemen, and a report by U.N. experts in 2024 documented extensive military ties between the Houthis, Iran and its other allies. That report estimated that the Houthis had recruited up to 350,000 fighters by 2024, up from just 30,000 in 2015, when Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war against the Houthis and imposed a naval blockade. The Houthis can use relatively inexpensive drones and missiles to target oil and other infrastructure just across the border in Saudi Arabia, as well as tankers off the coast. And while Iran is believed to supply cutting-edge components like guidance systems, the Houthis can manufacture much of their weaponry domestically. Saudi Arabia boasts an array of U.S.-supplied weapons, including sophisticated aircraft as well as advanced missile defenses used against Iran at the height of the war last spring. But with supplies of high-end interceptors under pressure, it's unclear how long it can ward off attacks — not only from the Houthis, but from Iran-backed militias in Iraq blamed for an attack that shut down an east-west pipeline crucial for oil exports. Airstrikes have had limited effect Saudi Arabia went to war against the Houthis in early 2015, after the rebels seized much of northern and central Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, from Yemen's internationally recognized government. Even then, the Saudis feared the growth of a well-armed Iranian proxy on their border. Over the next seven years, Saudi Arabia carried out waves of airstrikes against the Houthis, often killing civilians. An array of Yemeni government forces and southern separatists struggled to push the Houthis back, and the battle lines moved little before a 2022 ceasefire. The following year, after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Houthis began attacking Red Sea shipping in what they said was a blockade of Israel. The U.S. and the U.K. launched waves of strikes against the Houthis beginning in January 2024. The following year, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an intensified air campaign, with some 2,000 munitions dropped on over 1,000 targets, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press at the time. The cost of the U.S. munitions alone totaled more than $750 million, while the Houthis destroyed seven U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones, at a cost of more than $30 million apiece. An over $60 million F/A-18 fighter jet slid off an aircraft carrier. After weeks of U.S. strikes, the Houthis agreed to stop attacking American ships. But they continued to target Israel, which responded with its own strikes later in 2025, killing the Houthi prime minister along with other senior officials and repeatedly hitting a key port. The Houthis largely kept to the sidelines in the first several months of the Iran war, but in July, they resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia and declared a blockade on Saudi shipping. Any lasting defeat would require ground troops As recent conflicts have shown, air power is rarely effective without ground troops who can move in and seize territory after strikes. In the case of Yemen, the ground fighters opposed to the Houthis are deeply divided and fought each other as recently as January. They include fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed government and southern separatists supported by the United Arab Emirates — a sometimes rival to the Saudis that withdrew from Yemen in 2019. “Half of the story is Iranian support, and this is extremely important ... but there’s another half of the story, which is the weakness of their adversaries,” said Thomas Juneau, a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa specializing in Iran and Yemen. “(Yemen's) internationally recognized government is fragmented, it's weak, it's disunited, it's corrupt, and the Houthis have systematically been able to exploit that,” he said. In recent weeks, anti-Houthi forces have fallen back from one position after another as the rebels have advanced toward the Bab el-Mandeb, a narrow strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Saudis appear reluctant to enter another full-scale war with the Houthis. A ground campaign would involve prolonged fighting and high casualties. The U.S., still preoccupied with Iran, also appears keen to stay out. A Saudi mutual defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan signed last month has yet to be activated. The diplomatic options are also limited. The Houthis are demanding that Saudi Arabia lift its blockade, which would be an admission of defeat in the long-running war and pave the way for even more extensive Iranian aid to the rebels. “As long as U.S.-Iran tensions are not resolved, there will not be significant progress between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” Juneau said. “The Houthis are in a very intransigent mood right now, and they are absolutely not ready to make any kind of concessions.”
Massie Moves to Impeach Hegseth Over Iran War, Civilian Killings and Maduro Kidnapping
Massie Moves to Impeach Hegseth Over Iran War, Civilian Killings and Maduro Kidnapping © AP Photo / J. Scott ApplewhiteRep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., listens as the House Rules Committee prepares a bill to reverse a Biden administration firearms-related regulation on so-called pistol braces, a stabilizing feature championed by some members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 12, 2023 © AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite Subscribe Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of abusing Pentagon powers in the war of aggression against Iran and other US military operations he describes as unlawful. The resolution could force a House vote. Massie charges Hegseth with: Minab school strike: Hegseth degraded civilian-protection safeguards in a way that Massie says resulted in the death or injury of more than 200 civilians at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab. Unauthorized war with Iran: Massie argues that continued US hostilities lacked congressional authorization and violated Congress’ constitutional war powers. Extrajudicial killings at sea: Massie charges Hegseth with responsibility for at least 221 deaths aboard vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking, including secondary strikes and failures to rescue survivors. Retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly: after Kelly told US troops, “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” Massie says Hegseth used the Pentagon to intimidate and retaliate against him. Venezuela: Massie described the US operation that abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife as the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader,” arguing that the narcotics-enforcement rationale masked an effort to assert US control over Venezuela’s oil. Massie concluded that Hegseth “warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
Saudi says Houthis target Mecca, warn of 'red line'
Saudi says Houthis target Mecca, warn of 'red line' Saudi Arabia reported that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards the Saudi city of Mecca. RIYADH: The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday (Sep 16) of targeting Islam's holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea. Last week's lightning offensive saw the group seize control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz strategic shipping route. The Houthis swiftly rejected Riyadh's report that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards the Saudi city of Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year. "The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone," Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis' politburo wrote on X. The Saudi coalition vowed retaliation, warning that the security of holy sites was a "red line". "The security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line, and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the Terrorist Houthi Militia," the coalition said in a statement shared by spokesman Turki al-Maliki on X. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation - a bloc of 57 Muslim countries - condemned the "heinous" attack. Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across swathes of the kingdom's south, which borders Yemen. The alerts, including the first one issued in Mecca since the Middle East war erupted in February, came a day after a wave of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen wounded 13 people in the kingdom's south. Fighting flared in July when the Houthis, who have for years controlled swathes of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive against Yemeni government forces. The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced 82,000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the United Nations. Yemen's permanent representative at the UN, Abdullah al-Saadi, said Yemenis were fighting to restore "national institutions across every inch of their land", and called on the international community to take action against the Houthis. "HOSTILE AND EXTREMIST" Yemen's plea came as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for free navigation in the Red Sea following the Houthis' offensive in the vital waterway. De facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for "ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation" through the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab - which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, the Egyptian presidency said. The revival of Yemen's civil war, dormant since 2022, has left Riyadh rushing to respond. US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to US President Donald Trump for US intervention, but was turned down. The Houthis have insisted that there is no threat to navigation in the Bab al-Mandab except for Saudi vessels. Any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers. Disruption in the strait could cause Egypt to feel the pinch too, as the Red Sea serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal, upon which Cairo relies for crucial foreign revenue. Canal revenues are currently around half of what they were before the Houthis first started attacking Red Sea shipping in 2023, a campaign they said was in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed, saying it would be "catastrophic for the entire world". The Houthis have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, helping push global prices above the US$100-a-barrel threshold. The Saudi-led coalition said it would deal with the attacks "firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom", and would take "all necessary operational measures to deter this ... hostile and extremist approach". Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia launched 52 airstrikes on Yemen over the past 24 hours, accusing it of targeting civilian sites, including schools and bridges. But Riyadh's strikes have failed to reverse the group's gains. A US military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces as they face attacks, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.
US plans $2.8 bln sale of heavy aerial bombs to Israel — newspaper
An article in The Washington Post explained that the deal was planned to be implemented through the Foreign Military Financing mechanism, which provides grants and loans to help other countries buy American weapons
Gaza residential building collapses, six families reportedly trapped
Rescue crews in Gaza pull survivors from a collapsed building as cries for help echo beneath the rubble, witnesses say.
‘Red line’: Saudi coalition accuses Houthis of targeting Mecca with drone
‘Red line’: Saudi coalition accuses Houthis of targeting Mecca with drone Drone intercepted heading towards the Saudi holy city, but Houthi official rejects claim as a ‘worn-out lie’ The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam’s holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea. Last week’s lightning offensive saw the group seize control of the entirety of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz strategic shipping route. The Houthis swiftly rejected as a “lie” Riyadh’s report that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards the Saudi city of Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.
Saudi says Houthis target Mecca, warn of 'red line'
The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam's holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea. Last week's lightning offensive saw the group seize control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz strategic shipping route. The Houthis swiftly rejected as a "lie" Riyadh's report that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards the Saudi city of Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year. "The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone," Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis' politburo wrote on X. The Saudi coalition vowed retaliation, warning that the security of holy sites was a "red line". "The security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line, and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the Terrorist Houthi Militia," the coalition said in a statement shared by spokesman Turki al-Maliki on X. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation -- a bloc of 57 Muslim countries -- condemned the "heinous" attack. Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across swathes of the kingdom's south, which borders Yemen. The alerts, including the first one issued in Mecca since the Middle East war erupted in February, came a day after a wave of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen wounded 13 people in the kingdom's south. Fighting flared in July when the Houthis, who have for years controlled swathes of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive against Yemeni government forces. The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced 82,000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the United Nations. Yemen's permanent representative at the UN, Abdullah al-Saadi, said Yemenis were fighting to restore "national institutions across every inch of their land", and called on the international community to take action against the Houthis. Yemen's plea came as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for free navigation in the Red Sea following the Houthi's offensive in the vital waterway. De facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for "ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation" through the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab -- which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, the Egyptian presidency said. The revival of Yemen's civil war, dormant since 2022, has left Riyadh rushing to respond. US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for US intervention, but was turned down. The Houthis have insisted that there is no threat to navigation in the Bab al-Mandab except for Saudi vessels. Any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers. Disruption in the strait could cause Egypt to feel the pinch too, as the Red Sea serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal, upon which Cairo relies for crucial foreign revenue. Canal revenues are currently around half of what they were before the Houthis first started attacking Red Sea shipping in 2023, a campaign they said was in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed, saying it would be "catastrophic for the entire world". The Houthis have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, helping push global prices above the $100-a-barrel threshold. The Saudi-led coalition said it would deal with the attacks "firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom", and would take "all necessary operational measures to deter this... hostile and extremist approach". Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia launched 52 airstrikes on Yemen over the past 24 hours, accusing it of targeting civilian sites, including schools and bridges. But Riyadh's strikes have failed to reverse the group's gains. A US military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces as they face attacks, a US official told AFP on Tuesday. burs-cms/tc
US House approves resolution demanding end to Iran war
The resolution is not legally binding and serves as a recommendation
Amazon Says Cloud Infrastructure In Bahrain, UAE 'Beyond Saving'
Amazon Says Cloud Infrastructure In Bahrain, UAE 'Beyond Saving' Via The Cradle Amazon Web Services (AWS) says it cannot restore access to its cloud-computing facility in Bahrain or one of three data-hosting zones in the UAE due to the extensive damage caused by Iranian retaliatory strikes, Reuters reported on 15 September. "The damage to our infrastructure spanned multiple Availability Zones and exceeded what our regional and multi-AZ services are designed to withstand," AWS reported in its status update seen by Reuters. via Stars & Stripes In the UAE, resources and data held exclusively within one zone, labeled mec1-az2, have been damaged beyond hope of recovery, the company said, as engineers are still salvaging what they can from the two other battered zones and across the wider Emirati region. An availability zone refers to a cluster of one or more data centers sitting inside the same geographic region, the structure AWS relies on to keep services running when a single site goes down. The outages trace back to March, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, and Tehran responded with missile and drone salvos against Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases. AWS confirmed at the time that two of its UAE facilities took direct hits, while a drone strike near one of its Bahraini sites left the infrastructure there destroyed. Most Bahrain-based customers shifted their workloads elsewhere on AWS advice before the region went dark in April, but the company says it has now exhausted every option for recovering whatever was left behind. The losses have called into question the resilience of the Gulf's fast-expanding cloud and AI infrastructure. The UAE is already redrawing plans to war-proof a major AI data center project, weighing decentralized site building alongside underground and blast-resistant construction, and even equipping the data center itself with anti-air defenses. Israel and the US have long ago transformed AI infrastructure into a weapon of war deployed extensively across West Asian theaters. Cloud platforms, data centers, and high-capacity computing systems now help store intelligence, process intercepted communications, analyze surveillance, and support military operations across West Asia, extensively so in Gaza and Iran. Iran maintains that data centers operated by US technology companies are not simply civilian facilities, but strategic assets supporting US and Israeli aggression, thereby making them legitimate targets for retaliation. AI has become a central instrument of US and Israeli warfare across West Asia, embedded in how targets are chosen, tracked, and struck. Israel has weaponized AI platforms including automated targeting systems like The Gospel, Lavender, and Where’s Daddy? to harvest mass data, autonomously generate kill lists, and orchestrate systematic airstrikes and assassinations against Palestinians. Backed by corporate infrastructure like Microsoft Azure, which stored massive caches of intercepted Palestinian communications, the Israeli military has deployed AI-driven drone surveillance to track and assassinate Palestinians. Iran Destroyed An Amazon Data Center In Bahrain The US has run algorithmic warfare systems such as Palantir's Maven to process satellite, drone, and radar intelligence, using machine learning to speed the production of targeting recommendations against Iranian forces. More than 1,000 targets were designated within the first 24 hours of the war on Iran, one of which resulted in the massacre of at least 150 people, including at least 120 schoolchildren at the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab. Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 22:35
Israel started an anti-Qatar campaign, then scrapped it
Days after October 7, Israel began building a global campaign to pressure and isolate Qatar.
Middle Eastern countries disappointed with US security guarantees — ex-top diplomat
Antony Blinken said the US had no good military solution to the current conflict "absent a full-scale invasion of Iran, which would be a disaster"
Attacks on Saudi oil expose Iraqi PM’s struggle to control armed factions
A senior Iraqi source points to a resistance 'splinter' group for the September attack on the East-West pipeline.
Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi drone headed for Mecca
Saudi Arabia says it intercepted a drone before it entered Islam's holiest city, calling pilgrims' security a 'red line'
Iran war increasing inflation, straining US munitions: congressional report
Report by nonpartisan research body finds that replenishing depleted munitions stockpiles could take up to five years.
Houthi attacks expose Iran’s desperation — here’s how Trump must respond
Tehran saw its leverage slipping away — and expanded the battlefield to attack the United States and its allies from a different angle. That’s the takeaway from this week’s fighting in Yemen, as Iran-aligned Houthi terrorists took aim at Saudi Arabia’s critical oil infrastructure and shipping routes. When the US military proved it could escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that leads to the Indian Ocean, the regime was in a bind. It lost its ability to choke off the exports of its Gulf neighbors, while remaining unable to export its own oil due to the ongoing US blockade. Without revenue from its oil sales, an Iranian financial crisis is imminent — so the regime, through its terror proxies, seeks to open a new front in the energy war. So far it has succeeded. For the last several months Riyadh has relied on its East-West pipeline to export over 4 million barrels a day — roughly 4% of global oil supply — via northern and southern routes out of the Red Sea. But last week Iraqi militias — likely operating with Houthi coordination, under the guidance of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps advisers — attacked the pipeline itself, choking off that export option. The damage could take a month or more to repair, intensifying economic pressure on the US and its allies. The Houthis — an Islamist rebel group that has sought to oust Yemen’s internationally recognized government since the early 2000s — profess a slightly different strain of radical Shiite Islam than their patrons in Tehran. But their slogan is almost identical: “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews, and victory to Islam.” At the same time as the pipeline attack, Houthi militias marched down Yemen’s Red Sea coast and seized Bab al-Mandeb, the waterway’s southern chokepoint, from Yemeni government forces. By holding the territory along the Red Sea’s narrow entrance and the island inside it, the Houthis can effectively control transits through the key waterway. The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said, “Maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.” But Iran and the Houthis are unlikely to remain so benevolent for long, now that Tehran has successfully turned the conflict with the United States into a war over energy markets. Oil prices have already climbed in response: AAA reported that the national average gas price this week reached its highest point since June, hitting $4.32 on Tuesday. But the Houthis have goals of their own beyond Iran’s wartime aims: They want to rule Yemen as its official government. And Saudi Arabia, as the primary backer of the Republic of Yemen, is the key hurdle to their domestic ambitions. The terror group hopes that pressure on Riyadh — exerted through attacks on the kingdom and its energy infrastructure, and Houthi control of the Red Sea — will force them into a deal. That’s a dangerous prospect, for Riyadh, for Washington and for the world. Instead, the United States must commit to supporting Saudi Arabia in driving the Houthis back from their strategic positions on the Red Sea coast. The Treasury Department can target the Houthis’ financial lifelines by sanctioning exchange houses, financial institutions and front companies — particularly in Oman — that facilitate transactions on behalf of the group. Furthermore, Treasury should identify and block Houthi crypto wallets, an increasingly important resource for its war machine. And Washington needs to seriously consider increasing its operational support of Riyadh, including potential US airstrikes, in the effort to free southern Yemen from this terrorist group. It makes little sense to continue striking Iran while granting immunity to one of its key proxies. In the days after the Houthi advance, President Donald Trump said that its leaders had asked Washington not to intervene, on the grounds that their grievance is against only one country — by implication, Saudi Arabia. But the Houthis, like the regime in Tehran, consider themselves to be engaged in a perpetual war against the United States. Trump seems loath to end the cease-fire that began in 2025, after his administration conducted a seven-week bombing campaign against the Houthis. Since then, the Houthis have not targeted American ships to avoid incurring damaging airstrikes. But ultimately, the Iranian threat to the Red Sea will persist as long as the Houthis occupy the coast. Anything short of their removal is just a half-measure that buys time for Houthi terrorists to dig in further. Bridget Toomey, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focuses on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis.
Saudi says Houthis target Mecca, warn of ‘red line’
- Saudi Arabia accused Houthi rebels of targeting Mecca, vowing retaliation and warning holy sites are a “red line.” - The Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom. - The revived civil war has displaced 82 000 people since September and rattled global oil and shipping markets. The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam’s holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea. Last week’s lightning offensive saw the group seize control of the entirety of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz strategic shipping route. The Houthis swiftly rejected as a “lie” Riyadh’s report that it shot down a drone from the rebels heading towards the Saudi city of Mecca, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year. “The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone,” Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis’ politburo wrote on X. The Saudi coalition vowed retaliation, warning that the security of holy sites was a “red line”. “The security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line, and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the Terrorist Houthi Militia,” the coalition said in a statement shared by spokesman Turki al-Maliki on X. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – a bloc of 57 Muslim countries – condemned the “heinous” attack. READ | Yemen’s Houthis reach strategic island at mouth of vital shipping lane Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across swathes of the kingdom’s south, which borders Yemen. The alerts, including the first one issued in Mecca since the Middle East war erupted in February, came a day after a wave of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen wounded 13 people in the kingdom’s south. Fighting flared in July when the Houthis, who have for years controlled swathes of northern Yemen, launched a large-scale offensive against Yemeni government forces. The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has forced 82 000 people to flee their homes since the start of September, according to the United Nations. Yemen’s permanent representative at the UN, Abdullah al-Saadi, said Yemenis were fighting to restore “national institutions across every inch of their land”, and called on the international community to take action against the Houthis. ‘Hostile and extremist’ Yemen’s plea came as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called for free navigation in the Red Sea following the Houthi’s offensive in the vital waterway. De facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Tuesday for “ensuring the freedom and security of maritime navigation” through the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab – which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, the Egyptian presidency said. The revival of Yemen’s civil war, dormant since 2022, has left Riyadh rushing to respond. US media reported last week that the Saudi crown prince made a personal request to President Donald Trump for US intervention, but was turned down. The Houthis have insisted that there is no threat to navigation in the Bab al-Mandab except for Saudi vessels. Any attacks in the waterway are likely to make it less attractive to shippers. ALSO READ | Attacks on Saudi Arabia drive oil near $100 a barrel Disruption in the strait could cause Egypt to feel the pinch too, as the Red Sea serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal, upon which Cairo relies for crucial foreign revenue. Canal revenues are currently around half of what they were before the Houthis first started attacking Red Sea shipping in 2023, a campaign they said was in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. On Tuesday, Qatar warned of dire consequences if Bab al-Mandab was closed, saying it would be “catastrophic for the entire world”. The Houthis have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading crude exporter, helping push global prices above the $100-a-barrel threshold. READ MORE | Saudi Arabia cornered by Iran’s proxy attacks, blockade The Saudi-led coalition said it would deal with the attacks “firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom”, and would take “all necessary operational measures to deter this... hostile and extremist approach”. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia launched 52 airstrikes on Yemen over the past 24 hours, accusing it of targeting civilian sites, including schools and bridges. But Riyadh’s strikes have failed to reverse the group’s gains. A US military task force is working to enhance intelligence-sharing and planning assistance for Saudi forces as they face attacks, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.
Trump administration approves sending powerful bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons sale
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago. The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 of the bombs, made up of 20,000 Mk84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final. Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal, most of which is to be paid for with foreign military financing — in which U.S. taxpayer dollars are given to Israel to turn around and buy the weapons from the United States. The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israeli’s military capacity. The conflict in Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and has decimated the enclave. The U.S. brokered a fragile ceasefire, but violence has continued. The package, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post, comes as Israel has faced increasing international isolation over its war in Gaza in response to the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. The sale signals that some strains in the relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially since the two countries launched the war against Iran in February, are not impeding the closeness of the U.S.-Israeli alliance. Trump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years and expressed some frustration with Netanyahu tied to the Iran conflict before their latest meeting in July at the White House. In 2024, the Biden administration held off on one shipment of the bombs, but Trump lifted that hold when he took office again. Last year, the Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review process and approved a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel that included more than 35,500 of the bombs. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January. The 2,000-pound bombs have multiple variants, with some designed to penetrate deep, underground targets while others detonate above ground and cause widespread damage. Though the Israeli military has offered few details about what bombs and artillery it has used in Gaza, experts analyzing strike footage and blast fragments found on-site believe the U.S.-made bombs have been used there, targeting a tunnel network used by Hamas but also killing of people in densely populated areas. While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since the fragile ceasefire took hold in October, Israel has continued to carry out strikes in the territory, including some overnight and into Tuesday that killed several people. That is even after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a key Mideast negotiator, met with Netanyahu last month in an effort to push the ceasefire deal forward and asked Israel to reduce its attacks. Militants have carried out shooting attacks on Israeli troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to those and other ceasefire violations. The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in 2023 killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s offensive in Gaza to retaliate has killed more than 73,264 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Panic on board Iranian plane as violent shaking rips cabin apart
A Sepehran Airlines Boeing 737 cabin rips apart after an emergency landing in Mashhad, Iran.
Iran-backed Houthis’ actions go beyond domestic conflict — Yemen’s PM
Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani says Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia "cannot be separated from the military escalation" on Yemen’s Red Sea coast
Republican lawmaker moves to impeach Pete Hegseth over Iran war
Republican lawmaker moves to impeach Pete Hegseth over Iran war - Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky filed a privileged resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, forcing a House vote within two days. - Massie accused Hegseth of high crimes and misdemeanors, citing military operations in Iran, Caribbean boat strikes, and violations of constitutional duties regarding war powers. - The move marks a historic first where a lawmaker has introduced impeachment articles against a Cabinet member from their own political party. - The impeachment resolution follows an ongoing feud after Hegseth campaigned against Massie during his Republican primary in Kentucky. - Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson defended Hegseth, stating the Department of Defense is unified and performing strongly under Hegseth and President Trump.