Israel confident Deif is finished, Blinken says ceasefire is near

Israeli warplanes struck Yemen for the first time on Saturday, retaliating against the Houthi stronghold, just days after the Iran-backed group attacked the former U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv in a drone strike that killed one man and wounded seven.

Saturday’s military operation targeted the city of al-Hudaydah in western Yemen, The Times of Israel reported. The bombs destroyed fuel depots and oil refineries.

The Israeli military confirmed the retaliatory strikes and said they were in response to the hundreds of attacks the Houthis have launched against Israel in recent months. The group has joined Iran’s efforts to punish Israel for its war in Gaza.

According to earlier reports, the US and Britain also sent fighter jets as part of the mission. However, the Times of Israel reported that the attacks were carried out exclusively by Israeli jets.

The retaliation came as some U.S. politicians, including Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, began calling on President Biden’s administration to reverse its February 2021 removal of the group from the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Torres wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that, in light of the attack in Tel Aviv, she “strongly” urged him to “reconsider redesignating the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.”

Meanwhile, Israeli military officials said there was “mounting” evidence that the heavy airstrike on Gaza last weekend did indeed kill Mohammed Deif, the man believed to be the mastermind of the October 7 terrorist attacks on the Jewish state that marked the start of the nine-month-long offensive.

“Signs are mounting that Muhammad Deif has been successfully eliminated,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told the Times of Israel.

Hagari said Hamas was hiding what happened to Deif on July 13, when IDF forces dropped five 2,000-pound bombs in the al-Mawasi area, killing Hamas commander Rafa’a Salameh.

Hagari claimed that Salameh and Deif were “next to each other” at the time of the bombings last week and confirmed that Salameh was “definitely eliminated” in the attack.

News of Deif’s probable death came immediately after the Israeli army attacked a building on Saturday linked to a company allegedly funding the terror group’s atrocities.

The building, located in a designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, was bombed on Friday, the Times of Israel reported.

According to the Israeli military, the store has been used since the beginning of the war to securely store Hamas ammunition and to funnel funds to the terrorists.

In other developments, nearly 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombings on Saturday, while peace talks continue to make slow progress.

However, Blinken said he believed a ceasefire agreement was imminent.

“I believe we are within the 10-yard line and moving toward the finish line of reaching an agreement that will lead to a ceasefire, bring the hostages home, and put us on a better path to building lasting peace and stability,” Blinken said Friday, adding that some outstanding issues still need to be resolved.

In a related development, the U.S. Capitol Police said it was increasing security across Washington, DC, in preparation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress scheduled for Wednesday.

Police expect to have to deal with large groups of protesters during Netanyahu’s stay in the capital.

With post wires