At least 18 combatants have been killed in battles between Yemeni government forces and Iran-backed Houthis in the country's southwest, two military officials said Thursday. The clashes on Wednesday were triggered by a Houthi attack on a frontline area between government-controlled parts of Lahij governorate and Houthi-run parts of Taiz province, said Mohammed al-Naqib, a spokesperson for the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group allied with the government. The attack came despite a lull in fighting that has largely held since the expiry of a six-month truce brokered by the United Nations in April 2022. In April, a surprise Houthi attack killed 11 fighters loyal to the Yemeni government in Lahij province.
Yemen's Houthis have unveiled a new, solid-fuel missile in their arsenal that resembles aspects of one earlier displayed by Iran that Tehran described as flying at hypersonic speeds. The Houthis fired its new "Palestine" missile, complete with a warhead painted like a Palestinian keffiyeh checkered scarf, at the southern Gulf of Aqaba port of Eilat in Israel on Monday. The attack set off air raid sirens but caused no reported damage or injuries. Footage released by the Houthis late Wednesday showed the Palestine being raised on a mobile launcher and rising quickly into the air with plumes of white smoke coming from its engine.
The Houthi group conducted military operations targeting three vessels in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Wednesday. The Houthis have attacked ships off its coast for months, saying it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza. Houthis targeted two vessels in the Red Sea, Roza and Vantage Dream, with a number of missiles and drones, Saree added in a televised speech. The third ship, the US vessel Maersk Seletar, was targeted in the Arabian Sea with a number of drones, Saree said.
Israel hit a Gaza school on Thursday with what it described as a targeted airstrike on up to 30 Hamas fighters inside, and a Hamas official said 40 people were killed, including women and children sheltering at the U.N. site. Video footage showed Palestinians hauling away bodies and scores of injured in a local hospital after the attack, which took place at a sensitive moment in mediated talks on a ceasefire that would involve releasing hostages held by Hamas and some of the Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The United States issued a joint statement with other countries calling on Israel and Hamas to make whatever compromises were necessary to finalize a deal after eight months of war in the Gaza Strip.
