The U.S. Navy on Sunday destroyed three boats belonging to the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists, averting another attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea.
“Helicopters from nearby US warships responded to a distress call – and, after being fired upon, sank three boats “in self-defence”,” the BBC reported Sunday afternoon. The terrorist “crews were killed and the fourth boat fled the area.”
Since Islamic terrorist group Hamas’ October 7 massacre, the Yemen-based Houthi jihadis have carried out several attacks on commercial ships in the international waters, including the hijacking of a cargo vessel and a drone strike on an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean.
The Houthis, whom President Joe Biden removed from the terrorism list in 2021, have also targeted U.S. naval ships on several occasions. Earlier this month, they fired ballistic missiles at the USS Carney.
The Associated Press reported the foiled Houthi attack:
The U.S. military said Sunday that its forces opened fire on Houthi rebels after they attacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing several of them in an escalation of the maritime conflict linked to the war in Gaza.In a series of statements, the U.S. Central Command said the crew of the USS Gravely destroyer first shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired at the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou late Saturday, after the vessel reported getting hit by a missile earlier that evening as it sailed through the Southern Red Sea.Four small boats then attacked the same cargo ship with small arms fire early Sunday and rebels tried to board the vessel, the U.S. Navy said.Next, the USS Gravely and helicopters from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier responded to the Maersk Hangzhou’s distress call and issued verbal warnings to the attackers, who responded by firing on the helicopters.“The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense,” sinking three of the four boats and killing the people on board while the fourth boat fled the area, the U.S. Central Command said. No damage to U.S. personnel or equipment was reported.
The Yemen-based Houthis are wreaking havoc in the region since President Biden removed their terrorist designation in an apparent bid to appease Iran, reversing a decision taken by the Trump White House.
The Houthis, formally known as ‘Ansar Allah’ (or the Followers of Allah in Arabic), proclaim their true intentions in the official slogan: “Allah is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory for Islam.”
After nine weeks of ground offensive, the IDF special forces are sweeping though the terrorist stronghold of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. The remnants of Hamas’ terrorist leadership, including its Gaza-based chief Yahya Sinwar, are believed to be hiding there in subterranean bunkers and fortified tunnel systems built at the cost of billions of dollars, mostly diverted from Western humanitarian aid.
“The IDF announced Sunday afternoon that soldiers from the Maglan Unit of the Commando Brigade are continuing to operate in the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Israeli news website Arutz Sheva reported. “Following precise intelligence, Maglan Unit soldiers conducted a targeted raid on terrorist infrastructure used for shooting at IDF soldiers, embedded within a civilian building in Khan Yunis. The building serves as an education office, community center, and a school.”
Israeli soldiers, mopping the areas freed from Hamas-control, discovered explosives hidden inside a Gaza kindergarten. “During searches of residences used for terrorist activity on the outskirts of Shati [northern Gaza], IDF troops encountered a kindergarten where terrorist infrastructure – including explosive devices – had been assembled in anticipation of the troops’ activity,” the IDF said in press release on Sunday. “The soldiers neutralized the explosive devices.”
The IDF continues to destroy Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure spread across Gaza “Israel said it made progress in destroying Hamas infrastructure, including a tunnel complex in the basement of one of the houses of the Hamas leader for Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza City,” the British newspaper Telegraph reported Sunday. “Troops also raided the Hamas military intelligence headquarters and an Islamic Jihad command centre in Khan Younis, and destroyed targets including a weapons foundry, a military statement said.”
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported the military’s ongoing operation:
Israeli security forces conducted a counter-terror raid in the West Bank’s Nur al-Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarm, uncovering and destroying explosives under and on the sides of the roads, as well arresting five wanted men.Terrorists shot and threw explosives at the Israeli security forces, who first responded with live fire. An IDF drone then hit the targets, according to the statement several of the gunmen were wounded.The statement concluded that more than 2,550 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, about 1,300 of whom are affiliated with Hamas.
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