Written by Emily Rose and Maya Gebeily
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT – Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, widening its standoff with Iran's allies in the region two days after killing Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a tense standoff in Lebanon.
The airstrike on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah was in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel in recent days, Israel said, amid fears that the Middle East war could spiral out of control and draw in Iran and Israel's main ally the United States.
The Houthi-run health department said at least four people died and 29 were injured.
The strikes come as Israel attacks other areas in Lebanon, where two weeks of bombings have killed dozens of senior Hezbollah leaders and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Israel on Sunday vowed to continue its attacks.
“It has lost its head, and we need to continue to hit Hezbollah hard,” said Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that Israeli strikes on Sunday killed 32 people in Ain Deleb in the south and 21 people in Baalbek-Hermel in the east and that 14 medics were killed in an airstrike two days ago.
Israeli warplanes hovered over Beirut throughout the night and for much of Sunday, with loud explosions echoing over the Lebanese capital.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire across the border since the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by an October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists. Yemen's Houthis launched an unprecedented attack on Israel at the time and disrupted shipping in the Red Sea.
Israel quickly intensified its attacks on Hezbollah two weeks ago with the aim of declaring that the northern areas are safe so that civilians can return to their homes, and the leadership of this group was killed. Israel's defense minister is now discussing expanding the offensive.
Nasrallah's death had a major impact on the group he had led for 32 years, followed by Hezbollah firing new rockets into Israel, and Iran said his death would be avenged.
The United States has called for a resolution to the conflict in Lebanon, but has also authorized its troops to strengthen in the region as a sign of growing unrest.
US President Joe Biden, asked if an endless war in the Middle East could be avoided, said “It should be.” He said he would be talking to Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu but did not elaborate.
US Senator Mark Kelly, who heads the Senate Armed Services subcommittee, said the bomb Israel used to kill Nasrallah was a 2,000 lb (900-kg) US-guided weapon.
In Iran, which helped create Hezbollah in the early 1980s, elites mourned the death of a member of the Revolutionary Guards who was killed along with Nasrallah, and Tehran called a UN Security Council meeting on Israel's actions.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was moved to a safe haven in Iran after Nasrallah's assassination, sources told Reuters.
DEATH OF LEBANESE
Nasrallah's body was found intact at the site of Friday's strike, a health and security source told Reuters on Sunday. Hezbollah has not said when his funeral will be held.
Nasrallah not only made Hezbollah the strongest domestic force in Lebanon during his 32 years as leader, but he helped turn it into the center of Iran's network of allied groups in the Arab world.
Supporters of this group and other Lebanese who praised their role in the fight against Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon for years, mourned him on Sunday.
“We have lost a leader who gave us all the strength and faith that we, this small country we love, can turn it into a paradise,” said Lebanese Christian woman Sophia Blanche Rouillard, carrying a black flag to work in Beirut.
Lebanon's Ministry of Health said more than 1,000 Lebanese had died and 6,000 were injured in the past two weeks, without specifying how many civilians. The government said a million people – a fifth of the population – had fled their homes.
In Beirut, some displaced families spent the night on the benches of Zaitunay Bay, a chain of restaurants and cafes in the eastern suburbs of Beirut. On Sunday morning, families with nothing but a bag of clothes rolled out their mats and went to bed and made tea.
“You cannot destroy us, no matter what you do, no matter how much you bomb, no matter how much you expel people – we will stay here. We will not leave. This is our country and we are staying,” said Francoise. Azori, a resident of Beirut running in the area.
The UN World Food Program began an emergency operation to provide food to those affected by the conflict.
ISRAEL MILITARY ACTION
On Sunday, the Israeli military said its air force had struck a number of targets in Lebanon, including explosives and weapons stores, while its navy said it had intercepted eight missiles coming from Lebanon and one in the Red Sea.
It said dozens of Israeli planes, including warplanes, had attacked power plants and the ports of Ras Issa and Hodeidah, accusing the Houthis of operating “under the direction and support of Iran” and collaborating with Iraqi forces.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Our message is clear – for us, no place is too far”.
Nasrallah's death capped a painful week for Hezbollah, which began with the bombing of thousands of communications devices used by its members. Israel was thought to have carried out the act but has not confirmed or denied it.
Hezbollah weapons have long been a point of contention in Lebanon, a country with a history of civil strife. Critics of Hezbollah in Lebanon say the group has dragged the country into conflict and undermined the regime.
However, Lebanon's top cleric, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, said Nasrallah's killing “opened a wound in the heart of the Lebanese”. Rai has previously voiced criticism of the Shi'ite Islamist Hezbollah, accusing it of dragging Lebanon into regional conflicts.
