Free Republic

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen will continue to attack Israel and will not abide by any rules of engagement, the group’s spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam tells Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV, a day after Israel struck Houthi military targets near Yemen’s Hodeida port in retaliation for a drone strike in Tel Aviv on Friday in which one person was killed. Abdulsalam says there will be “no red lines” in the Houthis’ response to Israel. “All sensitive institutions with all its levels will be a target for us,” he says. Earlier today, the Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the terror group’s “response...

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office praised former President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his record of achievements in protecting Israel and promoting peace between Israel and neighboring Arab states. “Israelis and the prime minister remember very, very well the incredible support which President Trump, while he was in office, gave to this country,” said Israeli government spokesman David Mencer. Mencer was reacting to news that Trump had reposted Netanyahu’s message of support following the attempted assassination on the former U.S. president on Saturday. Netanyahu expressed his relief that Trump had survived, offered best wishes for his...

On Friday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) stated that the Biden administration has been “micromanaging at the political level” when it comes to combating the Houthis and this micromanaging, pinprick strategy is like the strategy that “cost us in Vietnam under the Johnson and Kennedy administration[s].” Host Tom Basile asked, “Whenever I hear [about] a strike from the Houthis, I keep on thinking of Gulliver being pestered by these Lilliputians. Why aren’t we taking these people out and why aren’t the Israelis doing it or why aren’t we doing it...

The Biden administration’s legal justification for its attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen is “laughable,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said at a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing Tuesday on United States actions in the Red Sea. Speaking to defense officials, Kaine said though “Houthi behavior is abhorrent,” he has “grave skepticism” about the administration’s interpretation of presidential military powers under Article 2 of the Constitution. “A narrow mission to defend U.S. shipping, both military and commercial — that is Article 2 self-defense,” Kaine said. “Article 2 self-defense means you can defend U.S. personnel, you can defend U.S. military assets, you...

Closer cooperation between Russia and the Houthis in Yemen could exacerbate the strategic dilemma facing Western powers as they seek to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and beyond. There are indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering supplying the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi movement with anti-ship ballistic cruise missiles, Middle East Eye (MEE)—citing an unnamed senior U.S. official—reported on Saturday.

Recent reports suggest that Russia is considering providing the Houthi rebels in Yemen with advanced anti-ship ballistic cruise missiles, potentially exacerbating the strategic dilemma facing Western powers as they seek to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and beyond.

The Yemeni Armed Forces responded Saturday to Israel's attack on Houthi military targets near the Al Hudaydah Port, following hundreds of Houthi attacks on Eilat and the Red Sea. "The Israeli enemy has launched a brutal aggression against Hodeidah Governorate, targeting with several raids the power station that supplies the coastal city of Hodeidah with electricity," the Yemeni Armed Forces said. "It also has targeted the Hodeidah port and fuel tanks, all of which are civilian targets." "The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that they will respond to this blatant aggression and that, with the help of Allah Almighty, they will...

The 'Writing on the Wall' has been ignored for several months. The Israeli defense establishment is in a state of complete shock. Though the writing was on the wall, no one saw it coming from a couple thousand kilometers away. That is despite the fact that Hezbollah has managed to successfully strike Israel dozens of times with drones without being detected. The Houthis and an Iranian militia from Iraq have successfully hit parts of Eilat, including a naval base, using drones from late 2023 to mid-2024, without being detected. Israel has essentially outsourced its defense responses regarding the Houthis to...

An Iranian-made drone sent by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck Israel on Friday, leaving one person dead and at least 10 wounded in a neighbourhood near the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. The aerial strike — the first lethal Houthi attack in Israel — rumbled through the centre of the city, causing shrapnel to rain down and spreading shards of glass over a large radius. "We are holding an investigation today and in the coming days to understand exactly from where the threat was fired and what are the needed responses to defend the country and what are the attacking responses...

A report in the Saudi-based Al Arabiya news outlet cites sources claiming that the Houthi terror group fired a ballistic missile and four drones at Israel overnight. The missile and three of the drones were reportedly shot down by US forces based in the region, and only the fourth drone managed to reach Tel Aviv, where it apparently exploded in the air, with the shrapnel killing one person and wounding others.

If the Houthis make good on their threats, it would be an escalation of their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. To date, they claim attacks have been limited to ships going to Israel or those with connections to Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Pentagon disputes that claim and has said that the Houthis have targeted multinational ships. In at least one instance, the Houthis have targeted at least one Chinese ship, according to USNI News’ timeline of activity in the Red Sea. It is possible that the Houthis were...

This attack is a couple of weeks old; I haven't seen any reporting on this incident, conflicting reports exist on how successful the attacks were. The astounding part is supposedly the Houthis armed with sophisticated weapons from Iran have attempted to hit a moving tanker in the Mediterranean over 1000 miles away from Yemen. If the attacks are true and the tanker was actually damage in the Mediterranean that represents a major escalation in the wars in the Middle East. Here are a couple of other links about the attack. https://maritime-executive.com/article/houthi-claim-long-range-attacks-including-lpg-carrier-in-the-mediterranean https://safety4sea.com/houthis-claim-attacks-on-three-ships/

Despite an agreement with China to give safe passage to all Chinese shipping in the Red Sea, the Houthis struck a Chinese ship with a ballistic missile on Saturday.From 2:50 to 4:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) March 23, the Iranian-backed Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) into the Red Sea in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated oil tanker.At 4:25 p.m. (Sanaa time), a fifth ballistic missile was detected as fired toward M/V Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance. M/V Huang Pu suffered minimal damage, and a fire on...

The head of the Yemeni Houthi terrorist organization, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, issued remarks on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on Sunday guaranteeing to his supporters that he would continue to orchestrate terrorist attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea despite the holiday season. “We will continue our operations and many of our fundamental and necessary activities must continue,” Houthi promised, according to the Iranian state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Houthi’s terrorist group, formally known as “Ansar Allah,” began a campaign of drone and missile strikes against seemingly random ships attempting to navigate in the greater...

ADEN, Yemen, March 2 (Reuters) - The Rubymar cargo ship, attacked last month, has sunk in the southern Red Sea, Yemen's internationally recognised government said in a statement on Saturday. If verified, it would be the first vessel lost since Houthi militants began targeting commercial shipping in November. [ed., Sinking has since been verified by multiple outlets including UK maritime shipping office.] The government statement said the ship sunk on Friday night and warned of an "environmental catastrophe". The ship was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it came under attack, the U.S. military's Central Command previously said.

The successful targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia.Four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti have been struck out of commission in recent months, presumably as a result of attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, according to an exclusive report in the Israeli news site Globes. The successful targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia. Most...

3 submarine cables cut in the Red Sea between Jeddah and Djibouti. AAE-1, EIG and SEACOM/TGN-Eurasia are down. Note: Authorities looking at potential terror link. Confirmed: Submarine cables cut by Houthis in Yemen waters. To repair the cables, need permission from Yemen to enter their waters Insurance companies have canceled insurance for cable ships to ply in Yemen waters No maintenance cable ships willing to do repairs Cable ships cost $60-&100 million each. Who will take the risk?

Liberia-flagged oil tanker Chios Lion was assessing damage and investigating a potential oil spill after it was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said on Tuesday. An unmanned watercraft inflicted minor damage to Chios Lion’s port side on Monday as part of a swarm of attacks by the Houthis on the vessel and another ship sailing around 100 nautical miles northwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah.

Fairly 'low budget', unsophisticated malware, say researchers, but it can collect the same data as Pegasus When it comes to surveillance malware, sophisticated spyware with complex capabilities tends to hog the limelight – for example NSO Group's Pegasus, which is sold to established governments. But it's actually less polished kit that you've never heard of, like GuardZoo – developed and used by Houthi rebels in Yemen – that dominates the space. This is according to Lookout principal researcher Justin Albrecht, who spoke to us about the analyst's report, out today, revealing the existence of GuardZoo. The report says that the...

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — which had been leading the response against Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden — is returning home. U.S. Central Command announced that the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will head to the Middle East to maintain a presence in the region. The Eisenhower was deployed to the region more than seven months ago — just a few weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel.