
Israel says it has hit Houthi targets including last plane at Sanaa airport
JERUSALEM, May 28 (Reuters) - Israel said on Wednesday it had hit Houthi targets including the last remaining plane used by the group at Sanaa international airport, after the Yemeni militants launched missiles towards Israel a day earlier.
Israel's defence ministry said the strike had destroyed the plane used by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have fired a series of missiles at Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
"This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we have established: whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay a heavy price," the defence ministry said in a statement.
The Houthis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sanaa airport, the largest in Yemen, came back into service last week after temporary repairs and runway restoration following previous Israeli strikes.
It was mainly used by U.N. aircraft and the only remaining civilian aircraft of Yemenia Airways, after three others were destroyed in the last attack.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US-backed Gaza aid group to halt distribution on Wednesday, UN to vote on ceasefire demand
CAIRO/JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS, June 4 (Reuters) - The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will not give out any aid on Wednesday as it presses Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites, a day after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were killed. The GHF said it has asked the Israeli military to "guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks" near military perimeters; develop clearer guidance for civilians; and enhance training to support civilian safety. "Our top priority remains ensuring the safety and dignity of civilians receiving aid," said a GHF spokesperson. An Israeli military spokesperson warned civilians against moving in areas leading to GHF sites on Wednesday, deeming them "combat zones". The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it opened fire on a group of people it viewed as a threat near a GHF food aid distribution site. The International Committee of the Red Cross said at least 27 people were killed and dozens injured. The GHF said the incident was "well beyond" its site. Palestinians who collected food GHF boxes on Tuesday described scenes of pandemonium, with no-one overseeing the handover of supplies or checking IDs, as crowds jostled for aid. The U.N. Security Council is also set to vote on Wednesday on a demand for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and humanitarian access across Gaza, where aid has trickled amid chaos and bloodshed after Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on the enclave where famine looms. "It is unacceptable. Civilians are risking – and in several instances losing – their lives just trying to get food," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, adding that the aid distribution model backed by the U.S. and Israel was "all a recipe for disaster, which is exactly what is going on." That model is run by the newly created GHF, which started operations in the enclave a week ago and said on Tuesday that it has given out more than seven million meals from three so-called secure distribution sites. GHF Interim Executive Director John Acree urged humanitarians in Gaza: "Work with us and we will get your aid delivered to those who are depending on it." The U.N. and other aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral and the distribution model militarizes aid. GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get aid to the distribution sites. It is the latest in a string of efforts to get more aid into the enclave, where experts say the entire population of some 2.1 million people is at risk of famine. Jordan last year spearheaded humanitarian air drops, while the U.S. briefly installed a floating aid pier, but it was beset by challenges. The U.N. has long-blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for hindering the delivery of aid into Gaza and its distribution throughout the war zone. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. Israel said on Tuesday that three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza. Gaza health officials said at least 18 more Palestinians were killed in other military strikes in the territory on Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza. The 10 elected members of the U.N. Security Council have asked for the 15-member body to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution that demands "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties." The draft text, seen by Reuters, also demands the release of all hostages held by Hamas and others, and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on the entry of aid and its safe and unhindered distribution, including by the U.N., throughout Gaza. "The time to act has already passed," Slovenia's U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told Reuters. "It is our historical responsibility not to remain silent." As U.S. President Donald Trump's administration tries to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, it was not immediately clear if Washington would veto the draft text. A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the U.N. said: "We cannot preview our actions currently under consideration." A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain or France - to pass. The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, which do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Israel launches strikes on weapons in southern Syria
Israel said it had launched strikes on weapons belonging to Syria, hours after reports that two projectiles had been fired from Syria into Israel on Israeli strikes on southern Syria caused "significant human and material losses", Syria's foreign ministry said, adding that Israel was "trying to destabilise the region". Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the projectiles launched into recent indirect talks to ease tensions between the two countries, Israel has stepped up attacks on targets in Syria since Sharaa led a rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024. "Violent explosions shook southern Syria, notably the town of Quneitra and the Daraa region, following Israeli aerial strikes," said the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring a statement, Syria's foreign ministry said: "This escalation constitutes a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and aggravates tensions in the region."Syria has never been and will never be a threat to anyone in the region." It was unclear how many people were killed or injured in Israel's strikes. Israel said the strikes came after two projectiles launched from Syria landed in open areas of the country, causing no media reported that the strikes were the first launched from Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. It was not immediately clear who fired the projectiles."We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel," Katz foreign ministry said reports of the launches from inside Syria "have not been verified yet".When the Assad regime was deposed, Israel launched a wave of attacks to degrade Syrian military has also encouraged the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, territory which Israel seized from Syria in 1976 and is considered illegally occupied under international month, US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift decade-old sanctions on Syria, imposed in response to atrocities committed by forces loyal to Assad during a 13-year civil that conflict, more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their month, Israel bombed an area near Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, a strike which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a "clear message" that it would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus".UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the bombing was a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Israel attacks Syrian targets after projectiles launched toward its territory
Israel hit southern Syria with a series of strikes overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, saying it had targeted weapons belonging to Syrian authorities after the launch of projectiles towards its territory Israel launched the two attacks after reporting projectiles had been fired from Syria on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the two projectiles. A Syrian state news agency and security sources reported a series of Israeli strikes, targeting several sites in the Damascus countryside and Quneitra and Daraa. They came days after an Israeli strike killed a civilian near a village in western Syria in the first such attack in nearly a month. Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, had said earlier that he held Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the two projectile launches. 'We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon,' Katz said. The Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that reports of the launches towards Israel had not been verified yet and reiterated that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region, the state news agency Sana reported. 'We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilise the region to achieve their own interests,' the Syrian foreign ministry said. Syria and Israel have recently engaged in direct talks to ease tensions, a significant development in relations between the two countries that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades. Several Arab and Palestinian media outlets circulated a claim of responsibility for the projectiles fired on Tuesday to a little-known group, Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades, an apparent reference to Hamas' military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024. Reuters could not independently verify the statement. Syrian state media earlier reported an Israeli strike in the southern Daraa province, an attack the Syrian foreign ministry later said resulted in 'significant human and material losses.' Local residents said Israeli mortars were striking the Wadi Yarmouk area, west of Daraa province, near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The area has witnessed increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli military incursions into nearby villages, where residents have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops. Israel has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that destroyed much of Syria's military infrastructure. It has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967 and has taken more territory in the aftermath of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December, citing lingering concerns over the extremist past of the country's new rulers.