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Houthis Say Group Downed US Drone In Northwest Yemen As US Strikes Continue

Al Masirah, a Houthi-affiliated outlet, says the US launched a series of strikes on several locations in the country. Yemen’s Houthis have said they shot down a US drone that was carrying out an attack on the northwestern Hajjah governorate whilst the Al Masriah news outlet has reported that United States air strikes targeted at least three areas across the country. In a statement on Tuesday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group’s “air defence shot down a hostile American MQ-9 Reaper drone while it was carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Hajjah Governorate”. Saree claimed that this is the seventh US drone that the group has downed so far this month, and the 22nd since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began 18 months ago. Al Masirah, a Houthi-affiliated outlet, said a series of strikes on Tuesday night targeted Kamran Island in the Red Sea, two air strikes hit the Al Salif district in western Yemen, and four air strikes were reported in the Al-Saleem district in the Saada province in the north of the country. The US has been carrying out near-daily, deadly air attacks against what it claims are Houthi targets in Yemen, killing more than 200 people – including women and children – since March. The administration of US President Donald Trump has warned that its military campaign will continue until the Yemeni group halts all firings against vessels in the Red Sea,  a major conduit for international trade. The Houthis have rejected the US assault, stressing that they are targeting ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and will stop when Israel ends its punishing war on the enclave. The latest attack comes just days after 12 people were killed in air strikes conducted by the US on Yemen’s capital Sanaa. Last week, the US launched 13 strikes on Hodeidah’s port and airport. It was three days after its deadliest attack to date targeted the Ras Isa port, also in Hodeidah, killing at least 80 people and wounding more than 150 others. Since November 2023, the Houthis have reportedly launched more than 100 attacks on vessels they say are linked to Israel, in response to Israel’s war on Gaza. The group halted attacks on shipping lanes during a two-month ceasefire in Gaza earlier this year. But they pledged to resume strikes after Israel renewed its assault on the besieged enclave last month. Houthi attacks have paralysed shipping through the Suez Canal, a vital waterway through which approximately 12 percent of global shipping traffic normally passes, forcing many companies to resort to costly alternative routes around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Netanyahus Survival Tactics Tested Amid Israel Shin Bet Heads Accusations

PM Netanyahu sparks political turmoil with Shin Bet dismissal as Israel grapples with war and divided public opinion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a knack for survival. The country’s longest serving leader – he has been in power for 18 years over three nonconsecutive periods – has seen off many rivals and outlasted several enemies. The latest fight is with Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet. Netanyahu fired Bar last month due to what he called a breakdown in trust, but the Supreme Court has suspended the dismissal, pending an investigation. In the meantime, there have been protests against Netanyahu – the prime minister is used to those – and now an affidavit filed by Bar on Monday, in which he lobs several accusations against the Israeli leader. They include demands from Netanyahu that Bar place his loyalty to him above that of the Supreme Court’s rulings if the two ever clash and that he spy on Netanyahu’s opponents. It all comes as the Shin Bet investigates financial ties between Netanyahu’s office and Qatar. Netanyahu has denied Bar’s claims, calling his affidavit a “false” one that would be “disproved in detail soon”. The response follows the Netanyahu playbook when facing opposition – a denial of any accusations made against him, a shifting of the blame and pushing a problem to the future if possible. The legal cases Netanyahu faces – he is on trial for corruption – are a case in point. The prime minister has been able to drag the court process out for years and most recently has used Israel’s war on Gaza to delay his court appearances. “There is scandal fatigue in the Israeli public,” Israeli political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg told Al Jazeera. Flaschenberg added that Israeli society’s increased polarisation means another scandal will hardly shift where people stand on the divisive Netanyahu. “People who are against Netanyahu and against the government see this as another evidence of the corruption, the deterioration of democratic space and the end of Israeli democracy,” he said. “And people from the pro-Netanyahu camp see this as Bar trying to generate a coup against Netanyahu and his right-wing government.” This polarisation has been aided by the fact the Israeli political opposition is fractured. Opposition figure Benny Gantz was once the challenger to the throne but has been criticised for failing to take strong stances on complicated issues, and there is growing support for him to be replaced as the head of the National Unity political alliance. “Many Israelis think [the current situation is] an emergency but they don’t really have the tools to change it, and there’s no powerful opposition in the parliament that can do anything about it,” said Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst on Israel with the International Crisis Group. The war in Gaza itself is a testament to Netanyahu’s survival skills. Despite being blamed by many Israelis for failing to prevent the October 7, 2023, attacks against Israel, among the deadliest in the country’s history, and unable to free the remaining captives held in Gaza or fully defeat Hamas, Netanyahu remains in power. That is even as the war grows increasingly unpopular in Israel with 100,000 reservists failing to respond to their call-ups, according to the Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine. And yet Netanyahu is arguably in a stronger position politically than he was at the start of the war, expanding Israeli-occupied territory in Lebanon and Syria, all while seeing the administration of ally President Donald Trump take power in the United States. Netanyahu’s governing coalition may have lost some figures over time, including former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, but it has become more solidified by shifting further to the right. “His coalition is very much solid and intact,” Zonszein said. “Throughout the last year and a half, he’s only stabilised his coalition further.” Netanyahu has increasingly leaned on the ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties like those led by two of the most far-right ministers in his government – Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. While analysts said a shift rightwards has upset many Israelis, there seems to be little chance of change at the moment. “It would take a very radical step to actually remove Netanyahu from power,” Zonszein said. “It’s like a grinding, deteriorating situation in which more allegations and evidence come to light,” Zonszein said, speaking of the scandals Netanyahu has faced. “But it doesn’t mean it’s going to change anything on the ground.” A sort of lethargy may have started to set in in some quarters of Israeli society as Netanyahu holds onto power. His coalition has enough seats in parliament to continue, and its members have their own reasons for wanting to avoid it breaking up. That means the only way Netanyahu is likely to be removed from power is through elections – the next of which does not need to happen until October 27, 2026. In theory, the attorney general could determine Netanyahu is unfit to serve, but analysts said that would prove contentious and unlikely to happen. Failing that, the only way Netanyahu might be removed from power would be through elections. A poll this month from Israel’s Channel 12 showed that the right-wing former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s new party would win a majority if elections were held today. But that alone is not enough to calm the worries of some people in Israel. “Some Israelis are concerned that there won’t be a free and fair election next year,” Zonszein said. Flaschenberg said he feared the police could be used by Netanyahu and his allies to suppress voting. There are, however, some possible moves for the Israeli public to play. Flaschenberg said public strikes have been effective in the past. In mid-2023, a public strike prevented Netanyahu from firing Gallant although another attempt at a strike in late 2024 failed because of a lack of clear demands. And the furore over the attempted firing of Bar is unlikely to change things. For the pressure to manifest into something tangible against Netanyahu, a number of factors would have to come to fruition. “If this legal security situation with Ronen Bar and with the Shin Bet will intensify and at the same time the refusal wave that we are seeing or the wave of protests of people from the army against the war, this might shake things up and maybe change course,” Flaschenberg said. “So I’m not entirely hopeless about what could develop in the next few months,” he said, before adding: “[But] I’m relatively hopeless.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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He Gave Us Strength: Gaza Christians Remember Calls With Pope Francis

Gaza’s Christians mourn Pope Francis as a defender of peace and a source of strength during the horror of war. Gaza City, Palestine – For 72-year-old Kamal Anton, Pope Francis was a source of comfort and support. Kamal has had to shelter since the start of the war in the same Catholic church compound in Gaza City – the Holy Family Church – that his wife and daughter were shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in. That was in December 2023, two months after the start of Israel’s war. Anton and the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza have often felt abandoned in the 18 months of conflict, in which more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, with hope of an end to the war still feeling remote. But the late pope, who died aged 88 in the Vatican City on Monday after a battle with illness, was in constant contact with Gaza’s small Christian community. Before his illness, he held calls every evening with those sheltering at the church, and continued to reach out, on a less regular basis, even after he fell ill. Kamal remembered his most recent call on Saturday, just two days before his death. Pope Francis was greeting the members of the church for Easter. “During his call, he prayed for peace and resilience for us in Gaza,” Kamal said. “He never forgot the word ‘peace’ in any of his calls with us throughout the war. His support included all of us – Christians and Muslims alike. He prayed daily for our safety.” A deep sense of grief and sorrow permeates the Holy Family Church, where approximately 550 displaced Palestinian Christians continue to seek shelter. Israel has attacked the church and its neighbouring school several times during the war, including a July 2024 attack in which four people were killed. Another church, St Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church, has also been bombed. But the Holy Family Church is still a refuge. People gather inside the church every day, piano music accompanies hymns during prayer, and people greet Father Gabriel Romanelli. He’s the parish priest, an Argentinian who came to Gaza to lead the church 15 years ago. After the death of the pope, those in the church have largely dressed in black, the colour of mourning. The loss of the leader of their church was a solemn enough event, but Palestinian Christians know they have also lost one of their greatest defenders – a world leader who has long backed the Palestinian cause, and has earned the anger of Israel on a number of occasions for his defence of Palestinians. In his final public speech delivered on his behalf on Easter, Francis called for peace in Gaza and urged the warring sides to “agree to a ceasefire, release the hostages, and provide aid to a starving people longing for a peaceful future”. Father Romanelli told Al Jazeera that the loss of Pope Francis was a tragedy for Christians around the world, and particularly in Gaza. He recalled that Saturday phone call with the pope. “He said he was praying for us, supporting us, and thanked us for our prayers,” Romanelli said. “People at the church waited for his call daily. He would speak to the children and reassure them. He was deeply human and incredibly supportive, especially during the war.” Kamal noted that support from Pope Francis was also material, in the form of aid arriving in Gaza until Israel blocked all entry of goods into Gaza in March, just before it unilaterally broke a ceasefire. “Everyone in Gaza knows how much the Vatican supported us,” Kamal said. “We always shared that aid with our Muslim neighbours too.” Kamal’s fellow Palestinian Christian, 74-year-old Maher Terzi, is also in mourning. Maher, who has been displaced since the first week of the war, had just sat in the mourning hall when he spoke to Al Jazeera. “He gave us strength,” Maher said. “He told us not to be afraid, that he was with us and would never abandon us, no matter what.” “He encouraged us to hold on to our land, and promised to help us rebuild our destroyed homes,” Maher added. “His death is a catastrophe and a shock for us during such a difficult time.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Israeli Attacks Kill 32 In Gaza, Destroy Bulldozers For Recovering The Dead

UNRWA says Gaza has become ‘a land of desperation’ as Israel continues to pound the strip and block humanitarian aid. Israeli forces have killed at least 32 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, including 11 people who burned to death inside their home in Khan Younis, and carried out air strikes that destroyed equipment used to retrieve the dead from under rubble. Seven members of a family were also killed on Tuesday by an air raid on the home where they were sheltering in western Gaza City. Three civilians, including two girls, were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of people in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Later, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that the Israeli military shelled the ICU at Al-Durra Children’s Hospital in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City at around midnight. An Israeli air strike also targeted solar panels at the facility, the ministry said in a post on Telegram. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned that more than two million people – mostly women and children – were being collectively punished. “Gaza has become a land of desperation,” he said on X. Nearly 3,000 trucks of UNRWA supplies and humanitarian aid remained stuck outside Gaza, unable to enter while food and medicine inside the strip are quickly running out. “Hunger is spreading,” Lazzarini warned. “Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip – a weapon of war.” The UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, warned that withholding humanitarian aid constitutes a war crime. “This action would further aggravate conditions of life calculated to destroy the Palestinian population of Gaza.” Hamas slammed Israel’s ongoing blockade, which began on March 2. “The Gaza Strip is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” the group said in a statement, citing severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine. It added that the siege as well as daily attacks on shelters, hospitals and residential areas amount to a “premeditated crime” by the Israeli leadership. Hamas also blamed the situation on a “political, moral, and humanitarian failure” on the part of the international community and called on the UN and other institutions to pressure Israel to lift the blockade on aid. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said: “The situation is unfolding rapidly here on the ground. What we are seeing is truly extraordinary in terms of very huge momentum of air strikes and artillery bombardments that have been seen over the course of the past 24 hours.” “What we understand is that the Israeli military has launched huge and heavy waves of air strikes with the latest targeting a group of Palestinians – three were confirmed killed in the strike, including two girls under the age of 14,” he added. “It has been quite obvious that these attacks are focused on eradicating entire families (as in Khan Younis attack) – we’re talking about four generations being wiped out – and also a more systematic escalation has been taking place on targeting heavy machinery that has been allowed to enter Gaza during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal,” Abu Azzoum said. Gaza’s Civil Defence said Israel also targeted bulldozers used in humanitarian operations, including rubble removal and the recovery of bodies. Nine bulldozers brought into Gaza from Egypt during a six-week ceasefire that Israel ended on March 18 were destroyed in Israeli attacks on the Jabalia al-Nazlh municipality garage in northern Gaza, according to Civil Defence official Mohammed el-Mougher. “An agreement had previously been reached with the Egyptian-Qatari committee regarding the location of the bulldozers’ shelters,” he said, noting that their coordinates had been shared with Israel. “The targeting of municipal headquarters by Israeli occupation aircraft and the bombing of heavy equipment designated for rescue and rubble removal, including bulldozers and other machinery, is a criminal continuation of the war of extermination,” the group added in a statement. The Israeli army claimed heavy equipment destroyed in overnight attacks on Gaza was used “for terror purposes”. Thirty rights groups including Oxfam, Medical Aid for Palestinians and ActionAid issued a statement saying Israel has intensified its violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank despite the UN General Assembly having demanded in September an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months. World leaders must act urgently to “uphold their legal and moral responsibilities”, the statement said. Follow Al Jazeera English:...