Yemen targets Israel again with ballistic missile
...and downs the twelfth US MQ-9 Reaper drone in ~1 year.
This afternoon Al Mayadeen quoted Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesman of the YAF (Yemeni Armed Forces), as saying that the YAF “executed a military operation that targeted ‘Israel's’ Nevatim base in Al-Naqab, southern occupied Palestine, using a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile which reached its target”. This would be the second time that the YAF uses its Palestine 2 ballistic missile, following its “inauguration” on Sunday 15th September 2024, which I covered in the article in the link below.
The Israeli “Defense” Forces (IDF), quoted by The Times of Israel, claimed that “the missile was successfully intercepted by air defenses”, without providing proof, however I tend to believe the Houthis, since we know very well that Israelis are liars, that their air defences failed to repel the Iranian missile barrage in Operation True Promise 2 on 1st October 2024 and that they constantly fail to intercept Hezbollah’s rocket and missile attack across its territory (see this Al Mayadeen article for more details on their most recent attacks) - just have a look at the 3rd and 4th video at the end of this article.
Speaking at the million-man march in Sabeen Square in Sanaa (Yemen), Yahya Saree said that this morning the YAF air defences downed a $32 million American MQ-9 Reaper drone, the twelfth since the Houthis entered the fray after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on 7th October 2023: that’s $384 million of wasted US taxpayers’ money!
In his speech Saree stated the following:
Yemen remains committed to supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples by upholding the maritime blockade on the enemy and through supportive military operations.
Operations will not cease until the aggression ends, the blockade on Gaza is lifted, and the attacks on Lebanon stop.
That would be a very easy and cheap way to stop the Houthi’s Red Sea blockade, instead of wasting money in expensive military operations such as Prosperity Guardian to protect shipping in the Red Sea, but no… the Outlaw US Empire and its British vassal state keep bombing Yemen and, in particular, the at-Tuhayat district in Yemen's Hodeidah governorate, as reported by the Yemeni News Agency Saba, quoted by Al Mayadeen in the article in the first link above. Nevertheless, the Yemeni people are strong and they keep marching every Friday in their “million-man” marches in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people under the following slogans:
Even if you gather all the armies of the world with their planes, fleets, warships, destroyers, and military arsenals, we are stronger with God.
The enemies will not be able to deter Yemen from its principled and faith-driven stance in supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.
You are not alone. We are by your side until victory, fully prepared to face the forces of arrogance and their tools in the region
Will not abandon the path of jihad, the path of the Qur'an, sacrifice, and victory.
…the following statement addressed to the Outlaw US Empire and its new president-elect, Donald Trump:
You know the Yemeni people from before, and you will know them more today. What you failed to achieve in your previous term, you will not achieve today.
The YAF operation against Israeli and the downing of the twelfth US MQ-9 Reaper drone this morning come the day after Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi, leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, delivered a speech reported in this Al Mayadeen article - here are some highlights (emphasis mine):
The Israeli enemy is committing genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip, targeting all [essential] aspects of life, and has carried out more than 30 massacres within a week.
The occupation is relying on a policy of starvation to subjugate the Palestinian people.
Our Mujahideen brothers in the Gaza Strip are steadfast, united, and resilient, causing significant losses to the enemy in terms of personnel and equipment.
The occupation is diversifying its crimes in the face of its failure, and this does not represent any victory, no matter how many buildings it destroys.
The occupation is committing daily crimes in Gaza, which should awaken the conscience of everyone who claims to belong to Islam or any religion.
The Arab position, for the most part, has not brought anything new, despite the ongoing crimes of the occupation, especially in the northern part of the Gaza Strip at present.
The current Arab position of most regimes is dangerous, and it is tragic to see them merely as spectators of this suffering.
Despite all the horrific crimes and violations of sacred sites committed by the occupation, these have not pushed some regimes to label it as a terrorist entity.
Just as the British sold illusions, delusions, and promises to the Arabs, the Americans are playing the same role.
British leaders used to tell those Arabs who stood with them and collaborated with them, “You are fools; your problem is that you believed our promises”.
The Zionist project targets the Islamic and Arab worlds, [their] land, honour, religion, and livelihood.
[Donald Trump] was keen to provide the Israeli enemy with specific accomplishments and boasted that he did what no previous US president had done.
US presidents have taken turns in serving the Israeli enemy and the Zionist project.
The criminal (Joe) Biden was keen, during his presidency, to provide all the support to the enemy, doing what no president before him had done.
[Arabs] must realize that they are of no value [to the Americans] and that [the Americans] see them as “dairy cattle”.
Hezbollah is another great model in jihad against the enemy, which thought it had solidified its control over Lebanon.
Hezbollah overcame all difficulties and achieved victories, standing as a pillar for the Palestinian people. It stood firmly against the enemy, which launched an aggression with full American [cooperation].
The enemy is suffering defeats and losses at the hands of Hezbollah's Mujahideen.
The Yemeni forces will continue to escalate with everything they have and will strive to achieve greater and stronger objectives.
A large turnout at the event tomorrow [Friday 8th November 2024] is of immense importance so that the Americans and all the tyrants of the world can hear [your voices] and affirm to our people that you are not deterred by any tyrant in this world.
Your participation tomorrow confirms that we will never retreat from our position in supporting the Palestinian people and standing by them, no matter what challenges we face.
Another Al Mayadeen article has quoted an interview of Al-Wahda newspaper with Muath Abu Shamala, Hamas' representative in Yemen. Here are some excerpts, with Muath Abu Shamala’s statements (all emphasis mine):
Here we are, more than a year later, as Hamas remains unbreakable, and despite the massive destruction in the heroic Gaza Strip, the enemy has been unable to retrieve its captives alive. All of this is an indication that the Resistance still possesses strength that the enemy has been unable to crush, and instead, it suffers daily losses.
This international silence convinces us that there is no such thing as international law or human rights law, and that this world is governed by the rule of the jungle, where the strongest survives. This drives us, as a nation, to cling to our sources of power and to produce our own weapons.
As for those who remain silent in this world, they are either supporters of this genocide and its proponents, or they are bowing to American and Western pressures.
Between yesterday and today the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza has announced that in the last few days they performed some successful operation against the IDF, with:
the al-Qassam Brigades detonating an anti-personnel improvised explosive device against an Israeli infantry force after it had entered a building near Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza, killing and wounding its soldiers,
the al-Qassam Brigades detonating two Yasin 105 charges against an Israeli armoured personnel carrier and a D9 bulldozer, in the vicinity of the western roundabout of the al-Khazan neighbourhood in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza,
the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, targeting an Israeli Merkava 4 tank with a Shawaz charge, near the Khazandar station in north-western Gaza City,
the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, engaging the IDF and their vehicles in the al-Fakhoura area with anti-tank guided missiles and machine gun weapons,
the Abu Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades bombarding the Israeli Abu Mtaibaq military site, located in the easternmost part of the central district, with a rocket barrage,
the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades targeting the Netiv HaAsara settlement in the Gaza Envelope with a rocket salvo,
the al-Qassam Brigades liquidating a five-soldier Israeli infantry force, after engaging in point-blank confrontations with machine guns and hand grenades,
resistance fighters targeting an Israeli Merkava tank near the al-Yaman al-Saeed Hospital, in the center of Jabalia, with an al-Yassin 105 RPG.
No wonder the Israeli political analyst Ben Caspit, writing for Maariv, stated that Israel has “lost nearly two divisions” (usually consisting of between 10,000 to 25,000 soldiers) in over a year in a 7-front war and is “short of thousands of soldiers, even before accounting for the dead and wounded”, as reported in this Al Mayadeen article.
In light of all of this, it is worth reporting what Yoav Gallant, whom Benjamin Netanyahu sacked from his role as a Defense Minister few days ago, as I reported in the second half of this article, said to the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza, as reported by Israeli media (e.g. Channel 12) quoted by Al Mayadeen:
I can tell you what there was not, security considerations. Me and the IDF chief said there was no security reason for remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor.
…adding that the only reason the IDF has not been withdrawn yet is because “there is a desire to be there”, probably referring to Netanyahu’s “desire”, which is costing him dearly, as popular support for his coalition decline to only ~29%, as reported in another Al Mayadeen article, quoting a poll conducted by the Lazar Institute and published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv. According to this poll, Netanyahu's Likud Party would secure only 24 seats if elections were held today, whereas his coalition would secure just 49 seats, “compared to the opposition bloc's potential 61 seats – enough to form a majority in the 120-seat Knesset”, with the National Unity Party, led by former Security Minister Benny Gantz, securing 19 seats, and Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid party expected to gain 15 seats.
By the way, as reported by Richard Silverstein in his latest post on his Tikun Olam blog, quoting Israeli media, Netanyahu is “shipping” staff accused of criminal acts overseas, in order to cover his ass. I strongly recommend you read Richard Silverstein’s blog post, as it is very interesting and informative as always.
The MIGHTY USA who has been bombing Yemen for.................?
A tiny little country.
NEXT thing we know is that the US uses Nuclear weapons on Yemen. Big brave bullies.
I just did some Google searches. Israeli military units are smaller than US military units. So a "division" in the IDF is probably closer to a "brigade" in the US army. My guess is an IDF "division" is probably 6-10,000 men tops, probably the lower number. Which would make losing two of them about 12-15,000 men - and that probably counts the wounded, too.
Difficult to tell the ratio of wounded to killed, or what types of wounds are being suffered. Israel has very good battlefield evacuation capabilities - which is why you see medevac choppers in a lot of the Hamas videos shown by Jon Elmer on The Electronic Intifada live streams and they don't have to go far to reach a hospital - and that will improve soldier survivability, turning otherwise killed into wounded.
This article discusses it (beware: it's The Telegraph and uses Israeli sources, so take the numbers with a truckload of salt):
Blast injuries make Gaza war ‘worst in four decades’ for Israeli troops
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/idf-injuries-in-gaza-twice-as-high-as-israels-last-conflict/