Israeli fighter jets for the first time attacked Yemen Saturday, retaliating on the Houthi stronghold days after the Iran-backed group attacked the former U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, in a drone strike that killed one and wounded seven.
Saturday’s military operation targeted the western Yemen city of al-Hudaydah, The Times of Israel reported. The bombs destroyed fuel repositories and oil refineries.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the retributive strikes, saying it was a response to the hundreds of attacks the Houthis have aimed at Israel in recent months. The group has joined Iran in efforts to punish Israel for its war in Gaza.
Earlier reports suggested that the US and UK had also sent jets as part of the mission, but the Times of Israel reported that Israeli jets alone carried out the strikes.
The retaliation came as some U.S. politicians, including Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, began calling on President Biden’s administration to reverse its February 2021 removal of the group from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.
Torres, in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, wrote that, in light of the Tel Aviv attack, “strongly” urged him “to consider relisting the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
Meanwhile, Israeli military officials said there is “increasing” evidence last weekend’s major airstrike on Gaza did in fact kill Mohammed Deif, the Hamas leader thought to have masterminded the Oct. 7 terror attacks on the Jewish state that triggered the ongoing nine-month offensive.
“The signs are increasing as to the success of the elimination of Muhammad Deif,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, reports the Times of Israel.
Hagari said Hamas is concealing what happened to Deif July 13, when IDF forces dropped five 2,000-pound bombs in the al-Mawasi area, taking out Hamas commander Rafa’a Salameh.
Hagari claims Salameh and Deif “were next to each other at the time” of last week’s bombings, and confirmed Salameh was “definitely eliminated” in the attack.
Word of Deif’s likely demise came on the heels of IDF’s strikes Saturday on a building linked to a company that allegedly funds the terrorist group’s atrocities.
The building, located in a designated humanitarian zone on the Gaza Strip, was bombed on Friday, the Times of Israel reported.
IDF said the business was used for safekeeping Hamas munitions and funneling money to the terrorists since the war’s start.
In other developments, Israeli bombings on Saturday claimed the lives of nearly 30 Palestinians while peace talks continue at a sluggish pace.
Blinken, however, said he believes a cease-fire agreement is imminent.
“I believe we’re inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line in getting an agreement that would produce a cease-fire, get the hostages home and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability,” Blinken said on Friday, adding some lingering issues were still being ironed out.
In a related development, the U.S. Capitol Police said they are beefing up security throughout Washington, D.C., in preparation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, set for Wednesday.
Police anticipate they’ll be dealing with large groups of protestors while Netanyahu is in the capitol.
