Israel strikes Syria, US pounds Huthis in Yemen

Israel struck a Hezbollah target in Syria on Thursday, a war monitor said, and the United States used heavy bombers to hit rebel targets in Yemen nearly a month into the war in Lebanon.

Syria, the Huthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza all belong to the so-called axis of resistance led by Iran, which on October 1 conducted a missile strike on Israel.

Israel has vowed to retaliate for Iran's strike, sparking concern around the world that what is already a war on multiple fronts could morph into an all-out regional conflict.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief on Thursday warned Tehran would hit Israel "painfully" if it attacks Iranian targets.

"If you make a mistake and attack our targets, whether in the region or in Iran, we will strike you again painfully," Hossein Salami said.

Salami was speaking at the funeral of a Guards general who was killed in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month that also killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

According to Syrian state media, an Israeli strike on the city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, wounded two civilians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the Israeli raid targeted a "weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah".

The Israeli military did not comment on the strike when contacted by AFP.

- 'Firmer' US stance on Huthis -

Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years, including multiple attacks along the Lebanese border that seek to cut off Hezbollah's main weapons and equipment supply route from Iran to Lebanon.

In Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Israel's main ally the US conducted multiple B-2 bomber strikes on weapon storage facilities, according to the US military and defence department.

"US forces targeted several of the Huthis' underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Huthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

The B-2 is a stealth aircraft capable of flying non-stop from the US, with a payload of 40,000 pounds of bombs, the US Air Force says on its website. That is a far heavier weapons load than on most other modern warplanes.

Mohammed al-Basha, a US-based Yemen and Middle East security analyst, said the use of B-2 bombers indicated Washington was taking "a firmer stance" against the Huthis.

"This operation signifies a shift in US policy, indicating a firmer stance against the group's destabilising behaviour as Washington intensifies efforts to degrade their military capabilities," Basha said.

- The Iran link -

Hamas sparked the Gaza war with Israel with its attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed 42,438 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which the UN considers reliable.

In support of its ally Hamas, Hezbollah opened up a front against Israel by launching cross-border attacks from Lebanon last year.

The ensuing exchanges of fire forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.

With Hamas weakened but not crushed, Israel widened the focus of its operations to Lebanon, launching massive strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around the country and on September 30 sending in ground troops.

On Wednesday, Israel's bombardment of Hezbollah targets toppled buildings and killed a city mayor in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's health ministry said 16 people were killed in strikes on two municipal buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, where Hezbollah and its ally Amal hold sway.

On Thursday, Israel issued an evacuation warning for civilians in part of the eastern Lebanese Bekaa valley, a Hezbollah stronghold.

- 'Total destruction' -

Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters have been clashing near Lebanon's border with Israel, where Hezbollah said Thursday it hit four Israeli tanks with guided missiles.

Rescue workers affiliated with Amal in the southern city of Qana were digging through the rubble of several buildings destroyed in a bombing this week.

"More than 15 buildings have been completely destroyed, total destruction in a neighbourhood in Qana," said Mohammed Nasrallah Ibrahim, one of the rescuers.

The war has left at least 1,373 people dead, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

Israel has faced criticism over its strikes in Lebanon, including from its tops arms supplier the United States.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Washington had told Israel its operations should "not threaten the lives of civilians", UN peacekeepers deployed in the country or the Lebanese military.

Following a string of incidents last week, the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission on Wednesday accused Israeli forces of "firing at their watchtower" in a "direct and apparently deliberate" manner.

The Israeli military said later that it was not targeting UN peacekeepers.

- Famine risk -

In Gaza, Israel has faced condemnation over the levels of aid reaching the besieged territory, with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warning that there is "a real risk" of famine.

For over a week, Israeli forces have staged sweeping air and ground assaults in northern Gaza and the Jabalia area, saying that Hamas militants were regrouping there.

Nidal al-Arab, 40, lost 10 family members in Israeli strikes on Jabalia.

"People are trapped. If they don't die of shelling, they will soon die of thirst and hunger," he told AFP.

The head of the civil defence agency in northern Gaza, Ahmed al-Kahlout, said that more than 200,000 people have been "deprived of food aid for the 12th consecutive day, as well as potable water".

Source: AFP