With Trump’s Mideast Tour Completed, Israel Again Sets Military Into Motion Against Hamas and the Houthis

Now that President Trump’s “peace and prosperity” Mideast tour is over, Israel is refocusing military efforts to defeat its enemies, including plans to intensify its Gaza campaign as early as Sunday and, starting Friday, a sustained air strike campaign in Yemen targeting the Houthis. During his tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates this week, Mr. Trump and Arab leaders promoted the notion that Gulf prosperity will lead to Mideast stability and peace. Publicly, at least, the president even seemed to care more about the suffering in Gaza than the concerns of one of America’s closest allies, Israel. “We’re looking at Gaza,” Mr. Trump said at Abu Dhabi Friday. “And we gotta get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. There’s a lot of bad things going on.” Secretary Rubio called Prime Minister Netanyahu as well, to promote the renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Prior to the president’s trip, the Israel Defense Force beefed up reserve recruitment in preparation for what government officials said would be a major campaign to crush Hamas in Gaza. Unless an agreement to release hostages is reached quickly, Israel seems ready to launch its “Gideon Chariots,” a large ground campaign in Gaza. “IDF sources are saying that unless an agreement is signed in a few short days, the campaign will begin, and this time the army will remain in Gaza indefinitely,” Kann News’s military analyst, Roy Sharon, said Friday. Mr. Netanayhu’s war cabinet is scheduled to meet Sunday for what has long been seen in Israel as “post-Trump trip” decisions. Israeli officials are at Doha, where Mr. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steven Witkoff, is leading an effort to reach a temporary cease-fire in exchange for the release of a number of Israeli hostages. With Hamas demanding that Israel first commit to ending the war and with Mr. Netanyahu saying he’d only end the war after Hamas is decimated, a breakthrough is unlikely. While Mr. Trump was hobnobbing with Arab potentates this week, a West Bank Palestinian terrorist injured a pregnant Israeli woman, Tzeela Gez, as she rushed to a hospital to give birth. Her newborn baby boy was later saved, but Gez succumbed to her injuries. Her death shocked Israelis.Also during the president’s Mideast trip, the Houthis launched multiple missiles at Israeli cities, forcing citizens to run to shelters almost daily, often during sleeping hours. On Friday, as Mr. Trump was flying back home, IDF jets flew more than 1,200 miles to Yemen, striking two Hudeidah port installations.On the eve of his Mideast trip, Mr. Trump announced the suspension of America’s Yemen bombing campaign after the Iran-backed Houthis promised to refrain from attacking American ships in the Red Sea. They stressed, though, that attacks on ships they deem to assist Israel will not cease before the Gaza war ends. Following the Friday Yemen strike, Israeli officials said the campaign against the Houthis will now intensify. It could include hits on the terror group’s leaders, and perhaps their Iranian backers as well. “We are not willing to sit aside and allow the Houthis to harm us,” Mr. Netanayhu said as the IDF jets made their way back home.Future targets will include the entire Houthi military infrastructure, Mr. Netanyahu said, adding, “We also know that the Houthis are a symptom. Those who are behind them, who give them support, instructions, and the go-aheads, are in Iran.” After the start of the war initiated by Hamas with its attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel succeeded in killing leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. Now it is threatening to target the Houthi leaders as well. “What we did to Deif and the Sinwars in Gaza, Nasrallah at Beirut, and Haniyeh at Tehran, is what we will do to Abdel Malik al-Houthi in Yemen,” the defense minister, Israel Katz, said Friday. Using the plural “Sinwars” was perceived as an indication that Israel this week succeeded in killing Yahya’s brother, Mohammed Sinwar, who replaced his brother as Hamas military chief in Gaza after the elder Sinwar’s killing last October. Since Wednesday, when Mohammed Sinwar was targeted in an air strike on a Khan Yunis hospital, resulting in numerous casualties, there has been no hard confirmation of his death. Mohammed Sinwar is widely described by Israelis as the biggest stumbling block to a Gaza deal. Yet, even if that hard liner has now been eliminated, Mr. Witkoff is struggling to find a magic formula to bridge the adamantly opposed positions of Hamas and Israel. Failure will dash Mr. Trump’s hopes of calming the Mideast. Gaza seems very far from the Gulf’s gleaming towers.

With Trump’s Mideast Tour Completed, Israel Again Sets Military Into Motion Against Hamas and the Houthis

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