Israel says intercepted missile fired from Yemen - Region
Israel has repeatedly struck Huthi-held parts of Yemen after the Iran-backed rebels began targeting the country with missile and drone attacks, claiming solidarity with Palestinians over the Gaza war.
The Huthis targeted Ben Gurion International Airport "using a 'Palestine 2' hypersonic ballistic missile", according to military spokesman Yarya Saree, who had hours earlier claimed a similar attack on the airport.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said "Yemen's fate will be the same as Tehran's" after hitting Huthi targets in Hodeida port in an attack aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.
A Huthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that "the bombing destroyed the port's dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes."
The Huthis recently resumed deadly attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, targeting ships they accuse of having links to Israel, to put pressure on Israel to end the Gaza war.
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt leads Palestinian assistance drive - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt is exerting tremendous efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and deliver as much humanitarian aid as possible to the Palestinians under siege Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tamim Khallaf indicated this week that Egypt is moving on three parallel tracks to help the Palestinians suffering from war and siege in Gaza. 'There is the security track, which includes efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire and truce, the political track which involves continuing to mobilise international support for recognition of the Palestinian state, and the humanitarian track, which aims to ensure the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip despite the obstacles imposed by Israel,' Khallaf said. He strongly denied that the Rafah Crossing linking Egypt with the Gaza Strip is closed, denouncing a 'malicious propaganda campaign' trying to distort Egypt's role in supporting the Palestinian cause. 'Egypt has never closed the Rafah Crossing on its side, and it has led a drive to secure a ceasefire and deliver aid while rejecting the displacement of the Palestinians,' Khallaf said. In recent days, posts have circulated on social media accusing Cairo of contributing to the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by preventing the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah Crossing. In response, the Foreign Ministry said it is fully aware of the attempts led by some malicious organisations (thought to include the Muslim Brotherhood) trying to distract Arab and international public opinion from the real reasons behind the humanitarian disaster that has afflicted more than two million Palestinians in Gaza. 'In fact, the Rafah Crossing has never been closed on the Egyptian side, but the crossing on the Palestinian side is occupied by the Israeli army, which blocks the flow of aid into the Strip,' said the Foreign Ministry. The Rafah Crossing is an economic and security gateway on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip and the exit of travellers and wounded Palestinians. When the Israeli army took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing on 2 March, Egypt announced it would not coordinate with it in order not to avoid legitimising its occupation. The Israeli forces have prevented the entry of aid, fuel, civil defence supplies and shelter for the displaced who have lost their homes in Gaza. They have also refused to bring in the heavy equipment necessary for removing the rubble and carrying out reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi explained in a televised speech on Monday that the Rafah Crossing is a gateway for individuals and is operating not only from the Egyptian side but also from the other side. He noted that the Gaza Strip is in need of 600 to 700 trucks of humanitarian aid every day. 'Over the past 21 months, Egypt has been keen to bring the largest volume of humanitarian assistance into the Strip through the Rafah Crossing,' Al-Sisi said, indicating that 'the volume of trucks ready to enter the Gaza Strip in the next days is very large, and for these trucks to flow without obstacles there should be coordination with the other party.' 'This is just part of what we are doing, including stopping the war, and releasing the hostages,' Al-Sisi said. Al-Sisi called on US President Donald Trump and other world leaders to intervene swiftly to end the war in Gaza and allow the entry of humanitarian aid. He warned that conditions in the Strip have become 'tragic and intolerable' in recent months. The entry of aid to Gaza was resumed in May according to a mechanism implemented by the occupation authorities and a US security company, despite the rejection of this by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Negotiations are underway through the efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the US to reinstate the truce, stop the war on Gaza, bring in humanitarian aid, and release prisoners and detainees. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli stressed this week that 'the Rafah Crossing has never been closed by Egypt and the state is making every effort to bring aid into the Gaza Strip.' 'As much as 80 per cent of the aid that has entered the Gaza Strip so far has been contributed by the Egyptian government and civil society organisations,' he said. Egypt's Cairo News Channel reported that 180 aid trucks carrying various types of aid were brought into Gaza early this week, including 137 carrying flour while the rest contained other food supplies. They entered the Gaza Strip through the Zikim Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip and the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Egypt. On Sunday, the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) launched a convoy of more than 100 humanitarian aid trucks carrying more than 1,200 tons of food supplies to Gaza. The ERC posted photographs of the convoy, dubbed 'Zad Al-Izzah' (Provision of Honour), while moving towards the enclave. The aid comprised around 840 tons of flour and 450 tons of various food supplies bound for southern Gaza. It said that more than 35,000 aid trucks carrying over 500,000 tons of aid have entered Gaza since the war erupted in October 2023. Assistance has included food, water, medical supplies, and essential items such personal hygiene products, baby formula, and diapers, as well as ambulances and fuel trucks. Official statistics show that around 105,000 Gazan Palestinians have entered Egypt since 2023 to receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals. The delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza this week came after the Israeli army declared a 10-hour 'truce' during which military operations were suspended in three areas of the Gaza Strip: Gaza City in the north; Deir Al-Balah in the centre; and Khan Younis in the south. The pause in military activity will take place from 10am to 8pm each day until further notice, the Israeli army said. Most media outlets agree that pressure exerted by the UN, Egypt, and Qatar compelled Israel to allow the delivery of aid through the Rafah Crossing and to declare a 10-hour truce. The Gaza government's Media Office, however, said on Monday evening that Israel had allowed no more than 87 aid trucks into the Strip, the majority of which were looted and stolen. It indicated that the occupation forces had opened the way for the trucks to enter, only for them to fall into the hands of criminal gangs and thieves under their direct protection. North Sinai Governor Khaled Megawer said the trucks that departed from the Rafah Land Port in North Sinai this week were part of Egypt's ongoing efforts to alleviate the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Strip. 'All the Egyptian state authorities are working around the clock to coordinate efforts to deliver as much aid as possible to the besieged Palestinians in Gaza,' Megawer said. He indicated that in addition to the humanitarian aid given by the Egyptian Red Crescent, the Al-Azhar-affiliated Beit Al-Zakat (House of Alms) also sent a relief convoy carrying hundreds of tons of food and medical supplies plus 1,000 tents to shelter Palestinians who have lost their homes during the war. Former foreign minister and chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Al-Orabi stressed that Egypt's role and contributions to efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian problem are well-known. 'It is Egypt that has stood firmly against all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause and disrupted Israeli schemes for displacing the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip,' Al-Orabi said, noting that 'the queues of humanitarian aid trucks standing in front of the Rafah Crossing, waiting for Israel to allow them to enter, clearly confirms the falsity of what some parties are promoting, claiming that the crossing is closed on the Egyptian side or that Egypt has to open the crossing by force even if it means war with Israel.' He added that the dubious calls for gatherings in front of Egyptian embassies abroad are merely a 'bubble' that will soon disappear. Al-Orabi said there is no question that the banned Muslim Brotherhood group is ready to participate in the campaign against Egypt. 'The entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza this week confirmed to all that this group is lying and that it is not Egypt that is closing the Rafah Crossing, but it is Israel that has occupied the Palestinian side of the crossing since March and prevented any flow of aid,' Al-Orabi said. MP Mahmoud Hussein, head of the Central Secretariat for Egyptians Abroad, said the banned Muslim Brotherhood's lies about the Rafah Crossing and its calls for demonstrations in front of Egyptian embassies abroad aim to politicise the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. 'This group's calls are intended to secure internal political gains rather than hold Israel accountable or to put it under international pressure to end the war,' Hussein said. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Palestinian statehood and starvation - World - Al-Ahram Weekly
The push for wider international recognition of a Palestinian state is being overshadowed by aggressive Israeli policies against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The countdown is on for Palestinians to hear the world show more support for their right to their own state. According to a joint press conference of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and France on Monday, on 21 September, during the launch of the UN General Assembly in New York, France along with several other states will be officially recognising Palestinian statehood. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that several European states will join France, whose President Emmanuel Macron announced the plan to recognise a Palestinian state during the annual UN General Assembly meetings in September. Other European and non-European countries, Barrot added, will join later in a process that should allow for the fulfilment of the two-state solution. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that both Saudi Arabia and France are working to encourage more countries around the world to join the momentum for the 'overdue' recognition of a Palestinian state. 'Already, there are 129 [UN member] states that recognise Palestinian statehood, and we are working to get others to join the momentum,' he said. Barrot and Bin Farhan were speaking at the New York headquarters of the UN on the sidelines of an international meeting headed by France and Saudi Arabia to promote Middle East peace. The conference opened on Monday, after a few weeks of delay due to the Israeli strikes against Iran, and it is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday. It is expected to issue a document, qualified by an informed diplomatic source in New York, as 'very detailed and quite clear in language', about what needs to be done for the fulfilment of the two-state solution, 'which remains at least in diplomatic quarters the only option for the management of the Palestinian cause.' According to this source, there are three key documents that have acted as guidelines for the document that will be adopted by the around 70 UN member states attending the conference in New York: the 1947 UN Partition Plan of Palestine; the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative; and the Arab-Islamic Plan for the Reconstruction of Gaza. 'Every single line in the new document is in line with these three documents,' he said. However, he explained that 'nobody is suggesting that Israel would withdraw to the lines of the 1947 Partition Plan. The objective is to the lines of 4 June 1967, with some inevitable adjustments.' The source added that there are some 'general timelines' included in the document with regards to 'the process that should lead to the fulfillment of the two-state solution.' However, he added that these were not mandatory. The document, the same source said, would include very clear language on five points: the need to pursue the diplomatic path to resolve the conflict; that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the only representative of the Palestinian people and the body in charge of the launch of a Palestinian state; full respect for Israeli security 'including a monopoly of arms by the PA'; the expansion of Arab-Israeli peace; and financial support for a future Palestinian state. In the press conference on Monday, Bin Farhan said that 'the recognition of a Palestinian state should not be subject to an Israeli veto.' He added that Saudi normalisation with Israel 'depends to a great extent' on the establishment of a Palestinian state. The push for international recognition of a Palestinian state 'as a base for Middle East peace' started during the UN General Assembly meetings last year on a Saudi initiative that was later joined by France under the banner of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. It was only this month, against the backdrop of an international outcry against the Israeli war on Gaza, which has evolved into a war of starvation, that Macron announced the French commitment to recognise a Palestinian state. Currently, Palestine has a non-member observer status at the UN, secured in a General Assembly vote in November 2012. However, according to Palestinian assessments over the years, both from the PA and from the resistance movements in Gaza, this status has not secured Palestinian rights on the ground. On Monday, Barrot said he expected Israel to release the European financial aid directed to the PA and to allow a prompt humanitarian aid mission for Gaza. Barrot and Bin Farhan spoke hours after President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, in a special televised statement, appealed to US President Donald Trump to act promptly to end the 'tragedy in Gaza' and to allow for the entry of sufficient aid to starving Gazans. Al-Sisi said that Gaza needs no fewer than 600 to 700 trucks of aid per day to overcome the severe starvation it has been facing. In a counter statement to that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has claimed that there is no starvation in Gaza, Trump said on Monday that it is hard to fake the pictures reflecting the acute hunger of the Gazans. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told the conference on the Palestinian cause this week that Egypt is heavily engaged in the push for a ceasefire in Gaza. Cairo and Doha are committed to working for a ceasefire in Gaza despite growing pessimism over the chances for a deal implementing a two-month truce that would allow for the release of a significant number of the surviving Israeli hostages in Gaza, the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid for Gazans, and the start of a process of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. An Egyptian source said on Monday evening that there are crucial problems hampering the chances for a ceasefire. 'Netanyahu is stalling,' the source said. He added that it was only under firm international pressure that he had agreed to allow some aid trucks in from Egypt and for air-drops of aid to be administered by Jordan and the UAE. Addressing the UN conference in New York, Barrot said that the current US-operated aid operation for Gaza had led to a blood bath. Since the beginning of the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May, over 900 Palestinian civilians have died trying to access the distributed food, many shot by Israeli soldiers positioned near the hand-out points. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Israel has continued to annex homes and evict Palestinians. The operations have been coupled with attacks from armed Israeli settlers against Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians. Last week, the Israeli Knesset voted in favour of the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. The non-binding vote that saw a majority of 71 against 13 called for the imposition of 'Israeli sovereignty in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.' The PA strongly denounced the decision, describing it as a 'declaration of war' against Palestinian rights and the effective end of any political horizon based on a two-state solution. 'This resolution reveals the true face of the occupation government,' said Palestinian Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh. Hamas also condemned the move as a 'direct assault' on Palestinian land and called for increased resistance against what it labelled as 'creeping annexation'. In his statement before the UN conference on the Palestinian cause, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the conference was being held while Israel was dismantling the two-state solution. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
See - Sada Elbalad
2 hours ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
Tsunami Waves Arrive Japan & Russia
Rana Atef Powerful tsunami waves hit coastal areas in Russia's Kuril Islands and Japan's northern main island, Hokkaido, following a strong earthquake that struck this morning near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, according to the Associated Press. Whales have started to wash ashore in Japan as a result of the MASSIVE Tsunami. 🤯🤯🤯 This is NOT GOOD. It's not a common thing to see at all, and it's indicative that this quake was absolutely DEVASTATING to the marine life. What is really eye opening about this, is that in… — The Patriot Voice (@TPV_John) July 30, 2025 The Japanese authorities announced that a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8 struck an area off the coast of Kamchatka. As a result, they issued a tsunami warning, with waves potentially reaching up to one meter along the eastern coast facing the Pacific Ocean. 🚨 BREAKING: Water rapidly receding at Hanalei Bay on Kauai, Hawaii Tsunami expected in mere minutes — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 30, 2025 Japan's Meteorological Agency confirmed that the strong quake took place early in the day and noted that the tsunami's effects could extend to wide areas, including Hokkaido and neighboring regions. Similarly, authorities in Russia's Severo-Kurilsk district issued a matching tsunami warning and have already begun evacuating residents from coastal areas, according to Russia's "RT" channel. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
