Yemen’s Houthis attack Israel as IDF bombs Tehran

The armed group has entered the war as more US troops arrive in the Middle East.

Israel has conducted at least three “wide-scale” waves of strikes against Iran as the war entered its second month, with more US reinforcements flowing into the region and the Yemeni Houthis joining the fight for the first time.

A military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis has announced that the armed group targeted multiple sites in southern Israel on Sunday, adding that the strikes were coordinated with the “heroic operations” carried out by Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We had been prepared for the Houthis to join this from the beginning,” Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said, as the IDF said it intercepted at least one missile from Yemen.

In the meantime, the US Central Command said the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship, which is based in Japan, has joined the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the region. The new reinforcements include around 3,500 US sailors and Marines with transport and strike aircraft, as well as amphibious assault assets.

Israel has continued its massive offensive, not only against Iran but in Lebanon, where an IDF airstrike killed three journalists on Saturday.

Read more

Here are the latest developments:

• Iran claims it destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in Dubai in strikes against alleged US “hideouts,” and struck key Israeli electronic warfare and radar facilities in Haifa and fuel storage sites linked to Ben Gurion Air Base.

• The UN nuclear watchdog says Iran reported a new suspected Israeli strike near the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant – the third incident of its kind in ten days – with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi urging “maximum military restraint.”

• The Israeli military has confirmed the attack that killed Al Mayadeen’s Fatima Ftouni, her brother and cameraman, Mohammed, and Al-Manar’s Ali Shuaib – releasing footage of the “targeted strike” and claiming that Shuaib was a “terrorist… under the guise of a journalist.”

Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.