News Digest — 9/26/25
Dozens Of Houthi Terrorists Estimated Dead In Strikes On Yemen
Dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft, directed by IDF Intelligence, conducted strikes on Thursday (25th) against targets belonging to the Houthi regime’s security and intelligence establishments in the Sanaa area deep in Yemen.
Among the targets struck were the Houthi General Staff Command Headquarters, compounds of the terrorist regime’s security and intelligence apparatus, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters, and military camps where weapons and military operatives of the Houthi terrorist regime were identified in the Sanaa area.
According to the IDF, the strikes were carried out in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians, including the launching of UAVs and surface-to-surface missiles toward Israeli territory.
“The security and intelligence apparatus is one of the internal security mechanisms of the Houthi terrorist regime; it takes part in terrorist activities and directly contributes to military actions against the state of Israel that undermine stability in the Middle East. The security and intelligence apparatus is also involved in repressing regime opponents through the use of political prisons and torture,” the military stated.
It further stated that “the military camps that were struck are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to store weapons and to plan and execute terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. The Houthi terrorist regime operates under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies. The regime exploits the maritime domain to project force and carry out terror activity against the global shipping and trade routes.”
This was the 15th time the IDF struck targets in Yemen. A total of approximately 20 aircraft dropped over 65 munitions, the most used so far, on seven targets, 2,200 km away from Israel, including five occupied command centers and two weapons warehouses.
Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strike, stating: “We have just delivered a powerful strike against multiple terror targets belonging to the Houthi terror organization in Sanaa as part of operation ‘Package Delivered.’ The IDF struck several military camps, including a Houthi General Staff camp, eliminated dozens of Houthi terrorists, and destroyed UAV and weapons stockpiles. As I promised yesterday, whoever harms us will be struck sevenfold.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strike in Yemen from the “Wing of Zion” state aircraft while enroute to New York. He subsequently received continuous updates from the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief of Staff, and his Military Secretary.
Dozens of people were wounded shortly before the end of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, when a Houthi UAV struck a tourist center near the Hayam Mall in Eilat.
Three of the victims were severely wounded and were airlifted from Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat to Soroka Medical Campus in Beersheba.
The UAV struck near the Club Hotel in the center of town. MDA reported casualties in the hotel lobby and the nearby restaurant.
Houthis Preparing Oct. 7-Style Raid On Israel From Neighboring Countries, Officials Say
Israel intelligence officials say the Houthis in Yemen are training terrorists to carry out a large-scale attack modeled on Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault, raising concerns the Iran-backed group could open a new front against Israel.
According to Israeli assessments, the Houthis are running a program in Yemen called “Al-Asqa Storm,” designed to prepare thousands or even tens of thousands of terrorists for a mass infiltration into Israel. The plan, officials say, envisions attackers crossing into Israel from Jordan, Syria or both, with the goal of mass killings and advancing toward Jerusalem. “This is an idea beyond anything they have attempted before,” an Israeli military official said.
Israeli defense officials say the Houthis have made significant advances in recent months, including the local production of long-range drones and precision missiles with Iranian expertise and local engineers. They have also built underground facilities for manufacturing and storage.
Officials say the Houthis are adopting Iran’s model of independent weapons production to reduce reliance on outside supply. The strategy, also seen in Syria with attempted Iranian missile factories for Hezbollah, that Israel later destroyed, allows for the development of precision weapons and low-flying explosive drones that are harder to detect and intercept.
The intelligence assessments were made public a day after a Houthi drone hit the Israeli city of Eilat. In response, the Air Force carried out its largest strike in Yemen to date, dropping more than 65 munitions on seven targets in Sanaa.
Despite the attack, Israeli officials said the broader challenge remains. “The more we hit their ports and stop weapons from Iran, the more they expand independent production,” one Israeli official said.
Israeli intelligence believes the Houthis’ chief of staff and defense minister survived a strike on a cabinet meeting in Sanaa last month, while more junior ministers and the Yemeni prime minister were killed.
Officials say the strike still disrupted Houthi rule, killing dozens of officers and exposing vulnerabilities in the group’s leadership.
Military intelligence, known as Aman, has established two new units under MG.Shlomi Binder to focus exclusively on the Houthis. Dozens of analysts are now working to identify command hubs and weapons production sites for future targeting.
Israeli officials say the Houthis remain a unique danger because they are the only government in the world that has explicitly declared Israel’s destruction as part of its doctrine.
The Israeli military warns the group could become an existential threat if its weapons production continues unchecked. “We do not want to reach a point where the Houthis have thousands of precision missiles similar to our earlier assessment that Iran would reach 9,000 by 2027,” one officer said.
Officials said Israel will continue striking Houthi targets proactively, even if the group announces a cease-fire linked to developments in Gaza.
Netanyahu Strengthens Ties With Serbia and Paraguay In New York Meetings
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday (25th) with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vudic, in New York.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister discussed with President Vudic the ways to extend the cooperation between Israel and Serbia, particularly in the fields of security and trade.
“PM Netanyahu expressed his gratitude to President Vudic for his unwavering support of Israel’s efforts to free all of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including Alon Ohel, who holds Serbian citizenship,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The Prime Minister shared with the President of Serbia the details of his conversation with Alon’s parents, following the dissemination by Hamas of a video that shows their son in the terror organization’s brutal captivity,” it added.
Separately, Netanyahu met with the President of Paraguay, Santiago Pena.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the two discussed the expansion of cooperation between Israel and Paraguay in a variety of fields – security, technology, energy, and more.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Pena for his unwavering support of Israel and his firm stance against anti-Semitism and against terror, which was expressed also in Paraguay’s designations of the IRGC, Hezbollah, and Hamas as terror organizations,” the statement read.
“The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for Paraguay’s staunch opposition to anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and other international bodies.”
During his visit to the US, Netanyahu will address the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday (26th), and will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday (29th).
Netanyahu will speak at the UN on Friday (26th) at 9:00 a.m., New York time. In his speech, he is expected to respond to the countries that recognized a Palestinian state and denounce their decision. Netanyahu will also explain Israel’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Why Did Netanyahu’s Plane Take A Detour En Route To The UN?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official plane, Wing of Zion, took off early Thursday (25th) from Israel on its way to the UN General Assembly in New York to participate in the world leaders’ annual General Debate – but its flight path has drawn particular attention.
Unlike the usual route that passes over many countries in central and northern Europe, the plane adhered to the most southern course possible.
According to the flight tracking data, the plane passed solely through the airspace of Greece and Italy then continued westward toward the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar – without crossing any other foreign territory. This constituted an unusual step that pointed to the delicate political and legal situation of the prime minister.
The plane did not pass through countries that have not explicitly rejected the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu, possibly over concern that central European states might take action against Netanyahu following recent calls to enforce those international warrants.
Aviation experts noted that such a course is particularly unusual since it extends the flight by about 373 miles and creates operational constraints, but in this case the security and legal considerations appear to outweigh other concerns.
As it entered the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, Wing of Zion continued directly west toward the east coast of the United States, where it landed ahead of his scheduled speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Hamas Is Being Smashed In Gaza City – Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp
The Israeli offensive engulfing Gaza City has hurled Hamas into panic mode. The IDF is conducting the most intensive operations of this two-year campaign, building intensity by the day. Military facilities including fighting positions, command centers and observation posts located in civilian buildings, including tower blocks, have been struck and destroyed.
In line with their obligations under the laws of war, the IDF have repeatedly dropped leaflets warning Gazan civilians to leave the city and opened up corridors to allow them to move safely to the south. Current estimates suggest around 550,000 have departed so far and more are on the way out.
Already reeling from the assault on its sponsors in Iran, Hamas had been hoping for at least a pause in hostilities with the latest stalling tactics from its negotiating team in Qatar. But that evaporated with the IDF strike on Doha which demonstrated that the Hamas leadership was safe nowhere.
So, at Hamas’ moment of maximum stress, British Prime Minister Starmer rode to its rescue with his formal recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state, a move that Hamas leaders characterized as “victory.” Hamas is obviously not interested in a two-state solution, any more than its fellow jihadists in the PLO and Palestinian Authority are: they want only the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Israel’s erstwhile allies have not shot their bolt. Recognition was their doomsday weapon. By publicly rewarding the butchers of Oct. 7, they have denied themselves even the small amount of influence they might have had over the progress of this war or the future of the Middle East.
Paradoxically, the appeasement of global jihadists by opposing Jerusalem’s defensive war in Gaza will make Britain even more dependent on Israel. Weakness of this type only ever provokes further violence and the threat to the UK will consequently increase. I know from my own experience how much Israel has assisted Britain and many other countries in combating terrorism, and the need for that will now be ever greater.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, COBRA. (Telegraph-UK)
Today’s West Is The Product Of A Far Bloodier History Than Anything Israelis Have Done In Gaza – Walter Russell Mead
• The outrage against Israel, fanned by a resourceful and utterly dishonest propaganda machine that often mixes fake news and biased reports to exaggerate and fabricate stories of Israeli cruelty, benefits from a global double standard. The atrocities and horrors of the Sudanese civil war dwarf anything happening in Gaza, and the world yawns.
• But Western leaders who flaunt their self-perceived moral purity as they condemn Israel forget the foundations on which they stand. Today’s liberal, rules-based Western order is the product of a far bloodier history than anything Israelis have done or even could do in Gaza.
• The liberal world order is grounded on the Allied victory in World War II. The Allies, like the Israelis, weren’t the aggressors in that war, but in their effort to extirpate the scourges of Nazi nihilism and Japanese Militarism, they killed as many as three million German and another one million Japanese civilians. More than 11 million Germans were forced from their long-term homes in Poland and Czechoslovakia after the guns fell silent, often in winter amid terrible shortages of food, medicine and safe water.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and British Labour leader Clement Attlee scoffed at suggestions that the Allies provide humanitarian aid to enemy civilians, while the war continued. Allied demands for unconditional surrender were issued in the full knowledge that they would likely prolong the war and increase civilian suffering.
• But in FDR’s view, the Germans had been willing to venture another world war because the first one had ended without any serious fighting inside Germany itself. Real peace could come only if the Germans and the Japanese had the spirit of resistance beaten out of them.
• Western leaders who insist that Israel’s actions are historically unprecedented and morally unjustifiable betray an ignorance of history and unseriousness of purpose that raise fundamental questions about their fitness for the offices they hold.
The writer, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, is Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida.
(wsj.com)
