Israel-Gaza war live updates: U.S. prepares for sustained military campaign against Houthis in Yemen

Israel-Gaza war live updates: U.S. prepares for sustained military campaign against Houthis in Yemen

The Biden administration is planning a sustained military campaign targeting the Houthis in Yemen after 10 days of strikes failed to halt their attacks on maritime commerce, administration officials told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. As violence spreads across the region, a number of U.S. troops are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries after Iran-backed militants in western Iraq attacked the Ain al-Asad Air Base, U.S. Central Command said.

Here’s what to know

• A Palestinian American teenager was fatally shot in the West Bank, a family member told The Washington Post. Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, 17, grew up in the New Orleans area. The State Department confirmed the death of an American civilian in the West Bank and Israeli police said they were launching a “comprehensive investigation” into the incident.
• Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Reuters that the group’s attacks would remain focused on blockading Israel and retaliating against U.S.-led airstrikes, and would not expand into a new fight against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Iran-backed rebels have taken an outsize bite out of global shipping and are threatening the Israeli economy.
• The Israeli army confirmed that it has removed bodies from gravesites in Gaza in the search for hostages. “The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Bodies determined not [to] be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”
• At least 24,927 people have been killed in Gaza and 62,388 wounded since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.

1:30 AM: U.S. forces assess damage after attack on Iraqi base; Iran accuses Israel of Syria strike

This file photo from 2019 shows Ain al-Asad air base western Iraq.

American forces are assessing the damage from a Saturday evening attack on an air base in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command, which said air defenses intercepted “most” of the missiles and rockets launched by Iranian-backed militants.

A number of U.S. personnel were being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries, and at least one Iraqi service member was wounded by the missiles that reached Ain al-Asad Air Base, Centcom said on social media. Reuters reported that U.S. troops suffered “minor injuries” in the attack. The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. troops based in Iraq and Syria have increasingly come under attack amid the war in Gaza. There have been more than 130 attacks on U.S. troops in those countries by Iranian-backed militant groups since Oct. 17, according to the Pentagon.

Earlier Saturday, an explosion in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killed five Iranian military advisers, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Referring to Israel, it accused “the evil and criminal Zionist regime” of invading Damascus.

The incidents join a list of attacks, including a wave of Iranian ballistic missile strikes last week in Iraq, which have fueled fears that the ongoing conflict could spark a full-blown regional war.

When reached for confirmation of the Damascus strike, the Israeli military said it does not comment on foreign reports. Iranian state media reported that Tehran called the strike a “desperate attempt to spread instability” in the region and said it has the right to respond.

The IRGC said in its statement that the attack was carried out by “fighter jets” and that “a number of Syrian forces” were among the dead.

Video of the aftermath Saturday showed smoke rising above the city. Syrian state media said the blast struck a residential building in the western Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh that is home to diplomatic missions and aid agencies.

Niha Masih contributed to this report.

By: Justine McDaniel and Susannah George

1:29 AM: As Houthis vow to fight on, U.S. prepares for sustained campaign

Houthi supporters in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, on Friday.

The Biden administration is crafting plans for a sustained military campaign targeting the Houthis in Yemen after 10 days of strikes failed to halt the group’s attacks on maritime commerce, stoking concern among some officials that an open-ended operation could derail the war-ravaged country’s fragile peace and pull Washington into another unpredictable Middle Eastern conflict.

The White House convened senior officials on Wednesday to discuss options for the way ahead in the administration’s evolving response to the Iranian-backed movement, which has vowed to continue attacking ships off the Arabian peninsula despite near-daily operations to destroy Houthi radars, missiles and drones. On Saturday, U.S. Central Command announced its latest strike, on an anti-ship missile that was prepared for launch.

The Houthis, one powerful faction in Yemen’s long-running civil war, have framed their campaign, which has included more than 30 missile and drone attacks on commercial and naval vessels since November, as a means of pressuring Israel, bolstering their standing amid widespread regional opposition to the Jewish state.

Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, described their strategy in Yemen as an effort to erode the Houthis’ high-level military capability enough to curtail their ability to target shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or, at a minimum, to provide a sufficient deterrent so that risk-averse shipping companies will resume sending vessels through the region’s waterways.

“We are clear-eyed about who the Houthis are, and their worldview,” a senior U.S. official said of the group, which the Biden administration designated this week as a terrorist organization. “So we’re not sure that they’re going to stop immediately, but we are certainly trying to degrade and destroy their capabilities.”

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By: Missy Ryan, John Hudson and Abigail Hauslohner