Yemen’s Houthi rebels have announced a missile and drone attack targeting Israel, which they claim was coordinated with Iran and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. In a statement on Monday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the three allies “launched a barrage of cruise missiles and drones targeting several vital and military sites belonging to the Israeli enemy.” The Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, joined the conflict in support of Iran on March 28.
The group had previously launched attacks on Israel and targeted shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden during the Israeli war on Gaza, actions they described as shows of solidarity with Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israeli officials reported that the bodies of four people killed in an Iranian strike the previous day on a residential building in the northern city of Haifa had been recovered.
Reports of Hezbollah’s involvement in the strikes come as Israel continues to bombard Lebanon, purportedly targeting the Iranian-backed armed group. The latest strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, with the Israeli army declaring it was “striking Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut.” Attacks were also reported in southern Lebanon. On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had struck two Amana petrol stations “which were controlled by Hezbollah and served as significant financial infrastructure” supporting the group’s activities.
In south Lebanon, the Health Ministry said four people were killed in a raid on a car in Kfar Rumman, near Nabatieh. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported deadly strikes elsewhere in the country’s south and east, including in the Tyre district village of Burj Rahal. Lebanon’s Health Ministry also stated that an Israeli attack on Monday killed a paramedic from the Hezbollah-allied Risala Scout Association, and that two paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee were killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the WHO “has verified 92 attacks on health facilities, medical vehicles, personnel, and warehouses” in the region. “These acts cannot become the new norm,” he added. On Sunday, a strike in Beirut’s Jnah neighbourhood near the country’s largest public medical facility killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals.
Also on Sunday, a strike on the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, killed three people, including two women. Among the dead were Pierre Mouawad, a local official in the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party strongly opposed to Hezbollah, and his wife. This incident threatens to deepen internal divisions in Lebanon over Hezbollah as Israel’s strikes expand to new parts of the country. Lebanon says 1,497 people have been killed since the war erupted, including 57 health workers.
Source: www.aljazeera.com