Israel’s defence minister called on Britain to designate the Houthi rebels and their Iranian backers as terrorist organisations.
Yoav Gallant said the international community should ban both the Yemeni rebels and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran to cut off support and funding.
“I think the international community should designate the Houthis and IRGC as terrorist organisations,” he told The Telegraph in a briefing. “Because that’s what they are.”
It comes after Britain and the US struck Houthi targets in Yemen in Western airstrikes in retaliation for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, who are trained and funded by the IRGC, the Iranian regime’s military wing, declared war on Israel after the October 7 attacks.
Yesterday they published videos of training exercises including storming Israeli settlements, much like Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis have in the past been accused of training child soldiers and using civilians as human shields against airstrikes.
Mr Gallant, a prominent figure in Israel’s controversial war in Gaza, also told The Telegraph that patience is running out with Iran, which backs a number of anti-Western proxies in the Middle East including Hamas and Hezbollah.
He warned Iran was using its proxies to distract Israel and the world from its main focus – developing nuclear weapons.
“All these attacks, from the Houthis to Hezbollah and the militias in Iraq and Syria; They are second priority. Iran’s first priority is to develop nuclear weapons. Of course we won’t let them. They are the head of the octopus and the international community must address the Iranian threat,” he said.
The UK and US have launched attacks against the Houthi rebels in Yemen in response to more than 29 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. And Israel could soon launch its own attacks, according to Mr Gallant.
“The Houthis have fired over 110 drones, cruise and ballistic missiles at civilian areas in Eilat in southern Israel. Our missile defence systems, such as the Arrow, have thwarted the threats so far but we reserve the right to do what needs to be done with the Houthis when the time is right,” he said.
Mr Gallant denied that Israeli forces were winding down operations inside Gaza, despite an IDF spokesman telling US media that the war had entered a new phase.
“We have destroyed 17 out of 24 Hamas battalions all over Gaza,” he revealed.
“I wouldn’t say we are in a low intensity phase – we are still hitting them hard. Our tactics in northern Gaza are changing. And our goal is simple; to destroy Hamas and make sure they can’t threaten us again. It will take time but we are getting there.”
It came as White House officials are reportedly losing patience with Israel amid the spiralling civilian death toll in Gaza.
US officials briefed the media about “immense frustration” in the Biden administration as Israel repeatedly ignores US requests to take caution in Gaza
“At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has been in close contact with US officials about the war, told Axios. “They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again.”
In a speech to mark 100 days of war, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Saturday evening: “No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else.”
He was partly referring to the UN court hearings, in which Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel strenuously denies this.
Mr Gallant said troops inside Gaza would not stop until they find the Hamas leader Yaya Sinwar, thought to be in the tunnel system underneath Khan Younis, where Israeli soldiers are now focussing their energy.
“We will get to Yahya Sinwar. It’s just a matter of time,” he said. “And we will continue to get to Hamas leaders no matter where they are.”
It is thought that Mr Sinwar has surrounded himself with some of the remaining Israeli hostages to create a “human shield”.
Israel has already assassinated a number of senior Hamas commanders, most recently the terror group’s deputy political leader Saleh Arouri in an airstrike in Beirut.
“We are hitting Hezbollah and Hamas wherever they are, whether it be Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and additional arenas,” he insisted.
The Israeli government is under increasing pressure from the public to get the 136 remaining hostages freed. Rallies are becoming more frequent and larger, drawing more than 100,000 on Saturday, with some calling for elections to replace Mr Netanyahu.
The government insists that only increased military pressure on Hamas will free the hostages, an argument many families disagree with.
“We are doing everything to get the hostages back – the hostages are a top priority for us,” Gallant insisted.
On Israel’s northern border, Hezbollah has intensified its daily attacks. A 76-year-old Israeli woman and her son were killed in an anti-tank missile attack in their home in Kfar Yuval on Sunday. Five other civilians and nine soldiers have been killed by Hezbollah since the terror group launched its attacks on October 8.
Some 80,000 Israeli civilians have been evacuated from their homes along the border, causing huge frustration and anger among the internally displaced. But Gallant says he has a message for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah: “Israel is ready, for both the diplomatic and military options. We will enable our citizens – 80,000 people living as refugees in their own country, to return to the northern border securely.”
The defence minister has previously threatened Hezbollah with sending Lebanon back to the Stone Age if it continues its daily assaults. So far, diplomatic efforts led by the US to decrease the conflict have failed.
While neither the US nor Iran seem to be interested in an all-out regional war, the blood spilled between Israel and Hezbollah could very likely force them to do just that.
Source » yahoo