America and Israel launched major attacks within hours of each other on the Houthis and Hezbollah in a new onslaught on Iranian proxy forces as the Middle East conflict escalates further
America and Israel launched massive two-pronged attacks on Iran’s proxy forces today, hitting both the capitals of Lebanon and Yemen with airstrikes. The US military bombarded over 40 locations in Yemen, including Sanaa, hitting Houthi rebel targets hours before Israel blitzed Hezbollah with a bomb attack on Beirut, Lebanon.
Major strikes on Yemen came in the aftermath of the “Signalgate” scandal in which Donald Trump ’s top team discussed a previous attack on Houthis – before it took place. In a pre-dawn operation rebel-held capital Sanaa was targeted with missiles, hitting seven people, whilst bombs rained down on other cities and Houthi mountain hideouts.
US Central Command, a military HQ dominating the Middle East, Central and South Asia and North Africa, now has a free pass to bomb Houthi targets without asking the White House. Terrifying imagery of smoke and flames rising from an oil refinery and smoke billowing over Sanaa appeared on social media soon after the intense assault.
The full extent of the damage and the total number of casualties are not immediately clear. Al Jazeera reported that bombs hit the provinces of Saada, Marib, al-Jawf, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Sanaa International Airport. It’s also believed that the US struck the mountainous terrain north of Sanaa in Amran, a region where both camps and other Houthi military armaments are located.
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news network described communication networks going down after the attacks, which included at least 19 strikes there alone. A renewed campaign of airstrikes started on March 15 and the Houthis say they have killed at least 57 people. It started after rebels threatened to begin targeting ” Israeli ” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip.
At least 14 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Friday. 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.
Israel hit Beirut’s south with waves of bombs hours later – the first such attack since a ceasefire ended fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in November. That attack was preceded with an attack by drones and then an Israeli warplane, it is believed. Beirut was rocked by a large boom and locals witnessed smoke rising from the area where a large building had been levelled.
Earlier Friday, Israel’s army urgently warned people to evacuate parts of a Beirut suburb, vowing to retaliate against strikes which it said were launched from Lebanon into northern Israel. Israel’s defence minister said Friday that if there was no peace in Israel’s northern communities there would be no peace in Beirut either.
It is believed Israel was targeting a Hezbollah HQ and the attack followed two rockets being fired into Israel from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah denied firing the rockets at northern Israel, and accused Israel of seeking a pretext to continue attacking Lebanon.
The attacks mark a new escalation in the US approach toward Iran as Tehran has suffered major setbacks with losses of Hezbollah fighters and Houthis too. Iran had before the Gaza war, enormous reach across the Middle East.
It is believed Israel and the US have grown closer in the dual enmity towards Iran and many observers suspect Tehran could come under further scritny or a possible attack from either military force or both.