Video: Israel Conducts First Direct Air Raid on Yemen
The Israeli military on Saturday staged its first-ever direct large-scale air raid on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, sparking a massive fire at the port’s oil terminal and other facilities.
The strikes are a response to attacks on Israeli-linked civilian vessels, as well as long-range missile and drone strikes on the country by the Yemen-based Houthi militant group, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
“A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the area of the Hodeidah port in Yemen in response to the hundreds of attacks carried out against the State of Israel in recent months,” the military said.
Footage circulating online suggests the strikes were concentrated at the port’s sprawling oil terminal, with multiple storage tanks seen ablaze.
Airstrike reported in Hodeidah, Yemen. pic.twitter.com/BhkfGEBNuG
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) July 20, 2024
The flames spread later on, with the burning fuel apparently leaking out of the ruptured tanks and producing single wall of fire. The attack is believed to have inflicted casualties on the ground, according to local media reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the strike later in the day, alleging that the port had been used by the Houthis to receive weaponry from Iran.
He also mentioned a recent drone strike on Tel Aviv, which killed one person and injured at least ten near the US Embassy branch office in the city. The drone attack was touted by the Houthis as a “significant military operation” with a new drone capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems.”
The Houthis, a Shia Islamist group that controls a large and the most populous part of Yemen, have been attacking Israeli-linked merchant vessels since October, describing their campaign as an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The attacks prompted a response by a US and the UK-led coalition, which has been conducting airstrikes against the group.
The bombing effort appears to have yielded little result, with the Houthis continuing attacks on merchant vessels and repeatedly targeting coalition warships. Israel’s strikes on Hodeidah will not be left unanswered, the group has already warned.
Speaker Johnson Threatens to Arrest Lawmakers Who Disrupt Netanyahu’s Congress Speech
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address Congress at the invitation of Republicans on July 24. Several Democratic lawmakers have announced their intent to boycott the speech, citing what they say are ongoing human rights abuses and war crimes by the Israeli military (IDF) in Gaza.
Additionally, this week 230 anonymous staff members have signed a letter urging a Congressional protest or boycott. According to The Hill, this includes staff from Republican congressional offices as well… “across 122 Democratic and Republican offices,” it says. The letter was organized by the Congressional Progressive Staff Association.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has put the body on notice, threatening to arrest anyone who is protesting or displaying unruly behavior.
“There are a number of Democrats in the House who have said they’re going to boycott that event. Some others may protest,” Johnsons told an audience of the Republican Jewish Coalition on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this week.
“We’re going to have extra sergeants at arms on the floor. If anybody gets out of hand… We’re going to arrest people if we have to do it,” he added.
As for the Congressional Progressive Staff Association’s letter, it reads as follows:
“Citizens, students, and lawmakers across the country and the world have spoken out against the actions of Mr. Netanyahu in his War on Gaza,” the letter says.
“Israelis have been protesting in the streets for months, decrying his failure to negotiate a ceasefire and release of hostages. We hope you will join your fellow Members of Congress in protest at his speech or in refusing to attend it.”
There are some 100 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the House and Senate, and the majority or even all of them are expected to boycott or possibly protest the speech. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, have called on Congressional security officers to refuse Johnson’s directive.
In the wake of Johnson’s crackdown threat, some pundits have highlighted that he’s a big recipient of funds from America’s foremost Israeli lobby…
Speaker Mike Johnson on Netanyahu’s upcoming visit and potential protests: “We’re going to have extra sergeants at arms on the floor… we’re going to arrest people if we have to do it,” pic.twitter.com/i30looyioN
— AIPAC Tracker (@TrackAIPAC) July 19, 2024
It remains an open question whether Netanyahu will meet with President Biden, given especially his Covid diagnosis amid the full-blown White House crisis of his staying the course and running again.
Biden is meanwhile under pressure to show some serious progress in Doha-sponsored peace talks. On Friday there are once again claims that the two sides are at the “goal line” of reaching a deal, but similar headlines have been echoed on and off again for months.
About 120 hostages remains in Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ) captivity, and Netanyahu too has faced immense domestic pressure to achieve a ceasefire deal and gain freedom for the captives.
Revival Pastor: Trump Must Lift Up Jesus Christ to Save the United States
Russia Scrambles Fighter Jets to Ward Off US Bombers Over Barents Sea
Russia scrambled MiG-29 and MiG-31fighter jets on Sunday morning to chase a pair of US Air Force B-52N bombers away from the Russian border over the Barents Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“The Russian airspace control systems located a group aerial target over the Barents Sea waters approaching the State border of the Russian Federation. To identify the aerial target and prevent a violation of the State border of the Russian Federation, the on-duty air defense units MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter jets were scrambled,” the statement read.
As the Russian fighter jets approached, the US strategic bombers made a U-turn and hurried away from the Russian border.
The Russian fighter jets carried out the mission in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters and in compliance with security measures, the Russian ministry said.
Revival Pastor: Trump Must Lift Up Jesus Christ to Save the United States
Israel’s ‘Long Arm’ Will Reach Enemies Anywhere – Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the Israel Defense Forces for carrying out a “precise and successful operation” over 1,700 kilometers away from the country’s borders, which he says serves as a clear warning to all enemies of the Jewish state.
The Israeli military launched its first-ever direct large-scale air raid against Yemen on Saturday, targeting the port city of Hodeidah. The attack triggered a massive fire at the port’s oil terminal and left at least 80 people injured, according to a preliminary tally by the health ministry in Sanaa.
“The port we attacked is not an innocent port,” Netanyahu claimed in a video statement released on Saturday evening. “It was used for military purposes, it was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran.”
“This strike comes in direct response to the killer drone attack yesterday that killed one person and injured several others a hundred yards from the US Consulate in Tel Aviv,” the Israeli leader emphasized, just several days before he is scheduled to give a speech before the US Congress in Washington, D.C.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening:
“From the beginning of the war, I made it clear that Israel will act against all those who attack us.
This is why earlier today, I asked the Israeli cabinet to back my decision to strike against the Houthi targets in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/xWE3KXQaeV— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 20, 2024
The drone attack early Friday, praised by Houthi rebels as a “significant military operation,” left one Israeli citizen dead and at least ten others wounded. The IDF blamed an unspecified “human error” for its failure to intercept the drone or at least issue an alert, even though, according to local media, it had been detected by air defenses in advance.
Israel’s strike on Yemen “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of Israel will not reach,” Netanyahu added in a Hebrew version of the address, as cited by the Times of Israel.
The Houthi group that controls a large part of Yemen has been attacking Israeli-linked merchant vessels in the region since October, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. A US and UK-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against the group, which they claim to be a proxy of Iran, but the effort appears to have yielded little result.
”The Houthis attacked us over 200 times. The first time that they harmed an Israeli citizen, we struck them. And we will do this in any place where it may be required,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a separate statement on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have promised to avenge the Israeli raid with more “impactful strikes,” Mohamed Ali al-Houthi of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said that the latest “blatant Israeli aggression” aimed “to increase the suffering of the people and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.”
Revival Pastor: Trump Must Lift Up Jesus Christ to Save the United States
US Secret Service Confirms They Rejected Requests to Strengthen Trump’s Security
The US Secret Service has acknowledged that it rejected requests to strengthen former US President Donald Trump’s security with its resources for two years before the assassination attempt, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
At the same time, Guglielmi noted that the requests for beefed-up security did not specifically concern the event in Pennsylvania where Trump was wounded in a shooting, the report said.
He also added that in cases where the Secret Service was unable to provide additional security for Trump, it instead deployed state or local law enforcement officers or altered security plans to reduce the threat to Trump’s life, the report read.
The shooting took place on July 13 at a Trump rally in Butler, the US state of Pennsylvania. Trump sustained a gun wound to his right ear and was briefly hospitalized.
Thomas Crooks, 20, killed a member of the audience and injured two others in the crowd before the US Secret Service neutralized him. The FBI is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism.
Revival Pastor: Trump Must Lift Up Jesus Christ to Save the United States
Clintons Backing Biden – Reports
Former US President Bill Clinton, and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have privately thrown their weight behind Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s candidate in the November 5 presidential election, NBC News and CNN have reported, citing anonymous sources.
The 81-year-old president has been facing a growing mutiny within his own party ranks in recent weeks as an increasing number of lawmakers and donors have called on the veteran politician to abandon his bid for reelection.
Doubts as to whether Biden is fit for a second term have come to the fore in the wake of his bungled performance at last month’s CNN-hosted debate against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. During the showdown, the incumbent repeatedly lost his train of thought, mixed up words and numbers, and struggled to finish his sentences.
On Saturday, NBC News quoted two unnamed people “familiar with the Clintons’ thinking” as saying that the two Democratic heavyweights have privately expressed support for Biden’s decision to stay in the race. They have also allegedly called on Democratic Party donors to stick with the president.
According to the media outlet, the Clintons have been “deferential” toward the incumbent head of state and offered to help his campaign in any way they can.
NBC News claimed, however, that the fact that the pair has not offered their backing publicly only goes to show how isolated Biden has become within his own party.
CNN carried a similar report on Saturday, also citing two anonymous sources, who also used the word “deferential” when describing the Clintons’ stance.
Meanwhile, NBC News estimated that the total number of opponents to a Biden ticket among Congressional Democrats had reached 35 by Friday. Such heavyweights as former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have reportedly expressed concerns regarding the incumbent’s chances of beating Trump in November.
A poll published by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on Wednesday indicated that nearly two-thirds of rank-and-file Democrats nationwide want Biden to exit the race.
The president, who is currently self-isolating after contracting Covid-19, has vowed to return to the campaign trail next week. The veteran politician has repeatedly reiterated that he is not going to drop out of the race, insisting that he is the strongest Democratic candidate to take on Trump.
NBC alleged on Friday that the president is feeling “personally hurt” and “betrayed” by the failure of some Democrats to stand behind his candidacy.
Revival Pastor: Trump Must Lift Up Jesus Christ to Save the United States