
Israel attacks Yemeni ports, Houthi-run television says
ADEN (Reuters) - Israel attacked Yemen's ports of Hodeidah and Salif along the country's Red Sea coast on Friday, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said, in an apparent response to the militant group's missile launches against Israel.
Al Masirah did not provide further details, but two residents in Hodeidah said they heard four loud booms. There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The Houthis have continued to fire missiles at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, although they have agreed to halt attacks on U.S. ships.
The Israeli military, which has carried out numerous retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets, intercepted a missile launched by the group on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Israel issued evacuation orders for the ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif, saying they were being used by the Iranian-aligned Houthis.

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The Hill
6 minutes ago
- The Hill
Watchdog investigating whether Hegseth aides were asked to delete Signal messages: Report
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon's watchdog is looking into whether any of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's aides were asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The inspector general's request focuses on how information about the March 15 airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen was shared on the messaging app. This comes as Hegseth is scheduled to testify before Congress next week for the first time since his confirmation hearing. He is likely to face questions under oath not only about his handling of sensitive information but also the wider turmoil at the Pentagon following the departures of several senior aides and an internal investigation over information leaks. Hegseth already has faced questions over the installation of an unsecured internet line in his office that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols and revelations that he shared details about the military strikes in multiple Signal chats. One of the chats included his wife and brother, while the other included President Donald Trump's top national security officials and inadvertently included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson had no comment on Friday, citing the pending investigation. The inspector general's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Besides finding out whether anyone was asked to delete Signal messages, the inspector general also is asking some past and current staffers who were with Hegseth on the day of the strikes who posted the information and who had access to his phone, according to the two people familiar with the investigation and the documents reviewed by the AP. The people were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans have said that the information Hegseth posted to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets could have put those pilots' lives at risk and that for any lower-ranking members of the military it would have led to their firing. Hegseth has said none of the information was classified. Multiple current and former military officials have said there is no way details with that specificity, especially before a strike took place, would have been OK to share on an unsecured device. 'I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,' Hegseth told Fox News Channel in April after reporting emerged about the chat that included his family members. 'I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things. That's what I've said from the beginning.' Trump has made clear that Hegseth continues to have his support, saying during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia that the defense secretary 'went through a lot' but 'he's doing really well.' Hegseth has limited his public engagements with the press since the Signal controversy. He has yet to hold a Pentagon press briefing, and his spokesman has briefed reporters there only once. The inspector general is investigating Hegseth at the request of the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Signal is a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications, but it can be hacked and is not approved for carrying classified information. On March 14, one day before the strikes against the Houthis, the Defense Department cautioned personnel about the vulnerability of the app. Trump has said his administration targeted the Houthis over their 'unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism.' He has noted the disruption Houthi attacks caused through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, key waterways for energy and cargo shipments between Asia and Europe through Egypt's Suez Canal. The Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, between November 2023 until January this year. Their leadership described the attacks as aimed at ending the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

7 minutes ago
FBI, DHS warn of 'elevated threat' to Jewish community in new PSA
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning of an "elevated threat" facing the Jewish community in the wake of two attacks: Sunday's Molotov cocktail assault in Boulder, Colorado, and last month's killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C. The Israel-Hamas conflict "may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters," the FBI and DHS said in a public service announcement issued Thursday night. "Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States." The public should "remain vigilant" and "report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement," the agencies said. The PSA references Sunday's attack in Boulder when Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, according to prosecutors. Fifteen people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured, officials said. Soliman, who was arrested at the scene, allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" during the attack, the FBI said. Soliman later told police "he wanted to kill all Zionist people," court documents said. He "said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)," documents said. Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime as well as 118 state charges, including attempted murder, assault and explosives charges. He has not entered a plea in either case. The PSA also mentions the May 21 killings of two Israeli Embassy staff members. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were fatally shot as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, "free, free Palestine," according to police. The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years. "I am angry," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said a news conference in Boulder on Wednesday. 'It's way past time for our political leaders, community groups, media outlets, tech platforms, faith leaders to take action before more Jewish blood is spilled. And it's way past time to stop excusing antisemitic rhetoric," he said. Greenblatt urged the public to speak out against hate and shared small, specific actions people can take.


CBS News
30 minutes ago
- CBS News
Opponents say Netanyahu's decision to arm "clans in Gaza" to help fight Hamas will come back to haunt Israel
Former Israeli Defense Minister and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Liberman on Thursday accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of authorizing weapons transfers to a criminal gang in Gaza that he likened to the ISIS terrorist group. Netanyahu appeared later in the day to confirm the operation, suggesting it would save the lives of Israeli forces battling Hamas in the Palestinian territory. "They are receiving weapons from the state of Israel. It's a total madness," Liberman said in a radio interview. "It's unclear to me who approved it." Liberman said the head of Israel's primary domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet was aware of the weapons transfers, "but I'm not sure the [Israel Defense Forces] knows. We're talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza. No one can guarantee that these weapons will not be directed at Israel. We have no way of monitoring or following." Liberman appeared to be referring to a militia called the Popular Forces of Palestine, led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The group is opposed to Hamas, the Israeli- and U.S.-designated terrorist group Israel has been at war with for more than a year and a half. Popular Forces is believed to be a relatively small armed group based in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It has been accused of looting trucks trying to deliver aid to Gaza's starving population, which its leader reportedly denied. There have been reports that Shabab, the group's leader, was previously jailed by Hamas for smuggling drugs, as well as reports that his brother was killed by Hamas when the group cracked down on attacks on U.N. aid convoys Late on Thursday, Netanyahu acknowledged that, "on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What's wrong with that? It's only good. It only saves the lives of IDF soldiers." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP/Getty Abu Shabab denied receiving weapons from Israel in a statement posted on social media. "We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering — one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the group said. "This desperate attempt to link us to the occupation is, in reality, an implicit admission that we have become a powerful and influential force." Hamas orchestrated and led the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on southern Israel that began the war in Gaza. It said, following Netanyahu's remarks, that "every individual involved in these mercenary gangs [Israel has allegedly been supporting] is considered by us to be an Israeli soldier. We will deal with them with full force." Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to the claim that Israel is arming Abu Shabab with a warning that it could see a repeat of a grim history for the country. For decades, including multiple terms in office for Netanyahu, Israel allowed Hamas to grow and entrench its control in Gaza, with millions of dollars in support from the Arab would pouring in. It was seen as a cynical bid to prevent a unified Palestinian leadership from taking hold in Gaza and the much larger territory of the West Bank. "After Netanyahu finished giving millions of dollars to Hamas, he moved on to giving weapons to organizations close to ISIS in Gaza, all off the cuff, all without strategic planning, all leading to more disasters," Lapid said on social media. "Weapons that enter Gaza will eventually be turned against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens," he said.