IRI and Hezbollah escalate strikes on Israel; US targets Houthi positions in Yemen
Shafaq News/ The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) and Hezbollah in Lebanon launched a series of drone and missile attacks on Israeli positions in southern and northern Israel. Meanwhile, US forces carried out precision strikes on Houthi weapon facilities in Yemen, citing regional security concerns.
IRI
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced early Thursday that it had targeted a "vital" location in Eilat, southern Israel, using drones.
In a statement, the group said, "Continuing our resistance against the occupation and in support of our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against civilians—children, women, and the elderly—our fighters attacked a vital target in the occupied Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) with drones at dawn on Thursday, October 17, 2024."
"The Islamic Resistance affirms the continuation of operations to strike at enemy strongholds with increasing intensity."
This latest attack follows another drone strike claimed by the group on a target in northern Israel just a day earlier.
IRI has repeatedly launched attacks on key Israeli sites in recent months, positioning their strikes as retaliation for the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza.
Hezbollah in Lebanon
Hezbollah announced late Wednesday that it launched a rocket attack on a settlement in the Upper Galilee, continuing its military campaign against Israel.
Hezbollah fighters also claimed to have struck a second Merkava tank in Labbouneh Heights with a guided missile, reportedly destroying the vehicle and inflicting casualties.
In separate incidents, Hezbollah targeted the Dalton artillery bunker and Yiftah barracks with missile barrages, according to statements from the group.
Israeli media reported that 10 rockets were fired toward Kiryat Shmona, a settlement near the Lebanese border.
Later in the night, the number of Israeli soldiers killed on the northern border rose to four, according to Israeli media.
Yemen
The United States military has conducted airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, in a series of precision strikes aimed at degrading the Houthis' military capabilities.
US Air Force B-2 bombers carried out "precision strikes" against five underground weapons storage facilities located in Houthi-controlled areas. These facilities reportedly housed weapon components used in attacks targeting civilian and military vessels in the region.
"This was a unique demonstration of the United States' ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified," Austin said, emphasizing the strategic reach of US global strike capabilities.
Austin added that the Houthi missile and drone attacks have disrupted international trade routes and that these strikes were aimed at "degrading the Houthis' capability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend US forces and personnel in one of the world’s most critical waterways."
The US Central Command stated that a preliminary damage assessment indicated no civilian casualties.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on ships in the Red Sea since the onset of the Gaza conflict, framing their operations as a show of support for Palestinians under Israeli bombardment.
Casualties in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen
Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 42,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women, in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health. Around 100,000 people have been injured.
In Gaza, Israeli attacks have caused widespread destruction. According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Palestinian government, as of October 13, more than half of Gaza’s homes have been damaged or destroyed. 80 percent of commercial facilities and 87 percent of school buildings have also been affected, and 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functional.
In the occupied West Bank, the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health show that 1,139 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, with at least 8,700 injured.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have killed 2,367 people and wounded 11,088, mostly civilians. The ongoing aggression has displaced around 1.5 million people from southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley.
In Yemen, Houthi media reports the Israeli strikes last September had killed four people and wounded 33 others.
In Israel, official figures report that 1,139 people have been killed, and at least 8,730 have been injured. However, Israel has maintained a media blockade on detailed reports of its losses.
