The Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv is a troubling reminder of this growing threat since the outbreak of the civil war in Yemen in the previous decade. The militia, known as "Ansar Allah," has received increasing military and logistical support from Iran and Hezbollah, enabling it to seize vast areas in Yemen proper and amass a massive arsenal of arms. This has created a new regional threat comprised of ballistic missiles, remotely controlled vessels, and advanced explosive drones that can travel hundreds of miles.

Video: The drone strike in Tel Aviv

The pro-Iranian militia is controlled by an extremist group within the Zaidi sect in Yemen (a Shia faction), which sees itself as the successor of the Prophet Muhammad and destined to rule the entire world in the future. The group's leaders, from the al-Houthi family, studied in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon their return, they instilled hatred towards Israel and the U.S. in the population and spread anti-Semitic messages. The result was the marginalization and harassment of the Jewish community in Yemen, which has nearly disappeared.

While the U.S. and the UK occasionally strike tactical targets in Yemen, mainly in the port city of Al-Hodeidah, the airstrikes focus on launchers and rocket stockpiles. However, the leadership of the Houthis has not been harmed at all, and in the West (certainly in the U.S.), there is no rush to send ground forces to support the pro-Saudi government in southern Yemen. The term "governmental alternative," often touted as a magic solution to terrorist organizations, has not been effectively implemented.

It is likely that the Americans and the British will respond with some form of strike in Yemen to appease the Israeli side, and primarily to keep Jerusalem out of the equation. However, this strike, no matter how powerful, will not eliminate the Houthi threat, which has grown more confident since last October. In fact, the pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen network reported that they are threatening to attempt more launches towards Tel Aviv.

The Houthis' confidence is also reflected in their escalating threats towards Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. The militia leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, responded to the economic sanctions of the pro-Saudi government in southern Yemen by threatening to attack Riyadh's airport. This week, he also hinted that he could disrupt Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's flagship project, known as "Vision 2030." This means compromising the kingdom's security and thus harming the tourism sector - one of the royal family's central goals in recent years.

Amidst the failure that resulted in a civilian's death, Israel has an opportunity to fundamentally change its passive policy towards the Houthis, who have not been attacked even once in the seventh theater of war. Israel can also use this moment to strengthen its ties with Gulf governments – particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and even the pro-Saudi government in Aden, Yemen. A first step in this direction would be the obvious one – to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization. A move that, to the astonishment of many, has not yet been done in the Knesset, despite numerous launches towards the state.

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A rare drone attack jolted Moscow early Tuesday, causing only light damage but forcing evacuations as residential buildings were struck in the Russian capital for the first time in the war against Ukraine. The Kremlin, meanwhile, pursued its relentless bombardment of Kyiv with a third assault on the city in 24 hours.

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The Russian Defense Ministry said five drones were shot down in Moscow and the systems of three others were jammed, causing them to veer off course. President Vladimir Putin called it a "terrorist" act by Kyiv. "The Kyiv regime ... attempts to intimidate Russia, Russian citizens and strikes at civilian buildings," he said during a public event. "It is, of course, a clear indication of terrorist activity."

Ukrainian military analysts, though unable to confirm Kyiv had launched the drones against Moscow, said the attack may have involved UJ-22 drones, which are produced in Ukraine and have a maximum range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Ukraine made no direct comment on the attack, which would be one of its deepest and most daring strikes into Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago. Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Endowment said the Kremlin's policy is to play down the attacks, reflecting Putin's belief voiced more than once that the Russian people were patient enough to "understand everything and endure everything." Even so, Zhdanov told AP that "the myth has been dispelled" of the Russian capital's invulnerability.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday the US was still gathering information about the drone strike but reiterated that "as a general matter" the US administration does not support Ukraine using American weaponry in Russian territory. "We do not support the use of US-made equipment being used for attacks inside of Russia," she said. "We've been very clear about that, and we'll continue to do that. And we have been clear not just publicly but privately clear with the Ukrainians."

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Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least twelve people and striking a residential building in central Ukraine, officials said.

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Air raid sirens sounded around the capital in the first attack against the city in nearly two months and Ukraine's air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv, according to the Kyiv City Administration. There were no immediate reports of any missiles hitting targets in Kyiv but fragments from intercepted missiles or drones damaged power lines and a road in one neighborhood. No casualties were reported.

But in Uman, around 215 kilometers (134 miles) south of Kyiv, two cruise missiles hit a nine-story residential building, killing at least six people and wounding 17, according to Ukrainian national police. Three children were rescued from the rubble, police said.

"All the glass flew out, everything flew out, even the chandelier fell. Everything was covered in glass," resident Olha Turina told The Associated Press at the scene. "Then there was an explosion. ... We barely found our things and ran out."

Turina, whose husband is fighting on the front lines, said one of her child's classmates was missing. "I don't know where they are, I don't know if they are alive," she said. "I don't know why we have to go through all this. We never bothered anyone."

One of the people killed in the Uman attack was a 75-year-old who was in her apartment in a neighboring building and suffered internal bleeding from the shockwave of the blast, according to emergency personnel on the scene.

Three body bags lay next to the building as smoke continued to billow hours after the attack. Soldiers, civilians and emergency crews searched through the rubble outside for more victims, while residents dragged belongings out of the damaged building. One woman, crying in shock, was taken away by rescue crews for help.

A 31-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter were also killed in the eastern city of Dnipro in another attack, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said. Four people were also wounded, and a private home and business were damaged.

In Kyiv, the anti-aircraft system was activated, according to the Kyiv City Administration. Air raid sirens started at about 4 a.m., and the alert ended about two hours later. The attack was the first on the capital since March 9.

The missiles were fired from aircraft operating in the Caspian Sea region, according to Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Overall, he said, Ukraine intercepted 21 of 23 Kh-101 and Kh-555 type cruise missiles launched, as well as the two drones.

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The attacks came as NATO announced that its allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia's invasion and war, strengthening Kyiv's capabilities as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine's allies have sent "vast amounts of ammunition" and trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have also provided armored vehicles.

The overnight attacks and comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a "long and meaningful" phone call on Wednesday in their first known contact since Russia's full-scale invasion more than a year ago.

Though Zelenskyy said he was encouraged by Wednesday's call and Western officials welcomed Xi's move, it didn't appear to improve peace prospects.

Russia and Ukraine are far apart in their terms for peace, and Beijing – while looking to position itself as a global diplomatic power – has refused to criticize Moscow's invasion. The Chinese government sees Russia as a diplomatic ally in opposing U.S. influence in global affairs, and Xi visited Moscow last month.

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Israel is less than enthusiastic about the European Union's decision to send Deputy Secretary General and Iran talks coordinator Enrique Mora to attend the swearing-in of Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday.

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On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Hayat tweeted: "The decision of the European Union to send a senior representative to the swearing-in ceremony of the 'Butcher of Tehran' is puzzling and shows poor judgment."

Hayat said that an EU representative would be attending the ceremony just a "few days after Iran killed two civilians," in "an act of state terrorism against civilian shipping," referring to a drone attack on an Israeli-managed ship off the coast of Oman last week, in which one British citizens and one Romanian citizens were killed. Iran has denied responsibility for the attack, although the US and the UK both pin the blame on Tehran.

1/4 The decision of the European Union to send a senior representative to the swearing-in ceremony of the "Butcher of Tehran" is puzzling and shows poor judgment. pic.twitter.com/A1tmT4HjlN

— Lior Haiat (@LiorHaiat) August 2, 2021

According to Hayat, Raisi "has the blood of thousands of Iranian citizens on his hands," and the presence of an EU representative would give legitimacy to his presidency.

Earlier Monday, a spokesman for the Iranian parliament reported that 115 senior officials from 73 countries would be attending the swearing-in ceremony.

"Ten presidents, 20 parliament speakers, 11 foreign ministers, 10 other ministers, as well as representatives of presidents, vice presidents, and parliamentary delegations will all come," the spokesman said, adding that another 11 leaders of international and regional organizations, including the UN, OPEC, and the EU would also be in attendance.

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Outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in his last speech to his cabinet ministers on Monday night that Israel had indeed taken Iran's nuclear archive, as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in 2018.

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"The Israelis took out secrets out of the country and gave them to [then-US President] Trump. And President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal," Rouhani said.

At a widely-reported press conference in 2018, Netanyahu reported that the Mossad had completed a daring and complex operation in Tehran that had led to its seizure of 100,000 documents on the Iranian nuclear program.

Netanyahu said at the time that the documents in the archive pertained to Iran's activities prior to the 2015 JCPOA nuclear accord and shed light on what he called Iran's attempts to dupe the international community about its nuclear aspirations.

On Tuesday, Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi is expected to receive the official blessing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the presence of a number of local dignitaries, as well as several foreign diplomats. On Thursday, Raisi is slated to be sworn in as president. Several dozen foreign envoys are expected to be present at the ceremony.

Once Raisi, considered one of Iran's more extremist public figures, becomes president, it is likely that it will be more difficult for Iran and western nations to hammer out a new nuclear accord. Ultimately, the decision about whether or not to rejoin a nuclear deal will fall to Khamenei, who has recently accused the US of being untrustworthy. Khamenei has also said that there is no point in Iran rejoining an agreement similar to the original 2015 JCPOA.

Meanwhile, as a number of western powers are accusing Iran of responsibility for a drone attack on an Israeli-operated ship in the Arabia Sea last week, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said Monday that Israel "sent people to our oil tankers to blow them up. 12 of our tankers have been bombed or damaged."

The New York Times recently ran a similar report that made similar allegations.

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Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Monday that Iran's alleged attack on a merchant ship in the Arabian Sea last week was "a stepping-up of the escalation" of hostilities by Iran, and called for international action.

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Gantz addressed Israel's parliament, the Knesset, and said the drone strike on the Mercer Street that left two crew members dead – one from the United Kingdom and one from Romania – was "in violation of international law and human morality." He charged that Iran was behind at least five attacks on international shipping in the last year.

The United States, Britain and Israel have blamed Iran for the fatal attack on the Israeli-linked oil tanker. Iran denies involvement.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran and its militia allies have used so-called "suicide" drones in attacks previously. The region has seen a rise in attacks on commercial vessels in the aftermath of the disintegration of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

"This is exactly the reason why we must act now against Iran, which is not only striving toward nuclear arms, but is also bringing about a dangerous arms race and intends to destabilize the Middle East with terrorist militias who are armed with hundreds of drones in Iran, Yemen, Iraq and other countries in the region," Gantz said.

"Drones have also attacked oil factories in Saudi Arabia. The latest attack on the oil tanker MV Mercer Street which left two dead in violation of international law is a step forward for them," Gantz said.

Gantz said that any future agreement between world powers and Iran to rein in its nuclear program must also address Iranian's "aggression in the region and harming both innocent people and to the global economy."

"This is not a future threat, rather a tangible and immediate danger," he said.

Gantz also said that the threat Iran posed would likely increase once Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi wassworn in on Aug. 5.

"Iran under the executioner Raisi, who takes office this week, will be more dangerous to the world, more destructive to the region and will strive to become an existential threat to Israel," he said.

"We will work to eliminate such a threat. Iran's aggression in the region in general and on the naval front in particular is intensifying: in the past year there have been no fewer than five attacks against international ships, some using aerial drones manufactured by the military industry," Gantz continued.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration was "confident that Iran carried out this attack."

"It follows a pattern of similar attacks by Iran, including past incidents with explosive drones," he told reporters at the State Department. "There is no justification for this attack on a peaceful vessel on a commercial mission, international waters rise action is a direct threat to freedom of navigation and commerce, took the lives of innocent sailors."

Blinken said the US was in close contact with the UK, Israel and Romania and "there will be a collective response." He did not elaborate on what that response might be.

Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS

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Saudi Arabia will take action to deter attacks on its oil facilities, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, following an attack on the heart of the industry this week by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

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Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, speaking at a news conference with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, also said Riyadh would continue to cooperate with Moscow in the OPEC+ framework to ensure oil prices that are fair for producers and consumers.

Oil prices spiked briefly following Sunday's missile and drone assault on the kingdom, including on an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, site of a refinery and the world's biggest offshore oil-loading facility.

Saudi authorities said they foiled the attack with no casualties or serious damage.

"The Kingdom will take the necessary deterrent measures to protect its national capabilities," the prince said.

He said international efforts to end the conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis for six years, must tackle the matter of "Iran providing Houthi militias with advanced weapons including ballistic missiles and armed drones."

Lavrov said that the conflict in Yemen needed to end and that different sides needed to sit down at the negotiating table.

Iran has in the past rejected accusations as has the group, which denies being a puppet of Tehran.

The United States under the administration of President Joe Biden has stepped up diplomacy to end the war but expressed alarm at "genuine security threats" to Saudi Arabia following Sunday's strikes.

Prince Faisal said the main priority remained an agreement for a permanent ceasefire for Yemen, which has proven elusive despite United Nations peace efforts and talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control northern Yemen.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from power in the capital Sanaa.

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Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, speaking on state TV, dismissed the US allegation as "pointless". A senior Revolutionary Guards commander warned that the Islamic Republic was ready for "full-fledged" war.

The attacks Saturday claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels resulted in "the temporary suspension of production operations" at the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field, Riyadh said.

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That led to the interruption of an estimated 5.7 million barrels in crude supplies, authorities said while pledging the kingdom's stockpiles would make up the difference.

While markets remain closed Sunday, the attack could shock world energy prices. They also increased overall tensions in the region amid an escalating crisis between the US and Iran over Tehran's unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

Late Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directly blamed Iran for the attack on Twitter, without offering evidence to support his claim. The US, Western nations, their Gulf Arab allies and UN experts say Iran supplies the Houthis with weapons and drones – a charge that Tehran denies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi dismissed Pompeo's remarks as "blind and futile comments."

"The Americans adopted the 'maximum pressure' policy against Iran, which, due to its failure, is leaning towards 'maximum lies,'" Mousavi said in a statement.

The attacks were the latest of many drone assaults on the kingdom's oil infrastructure in recent weeks, but easily the most damaging, resulting in "the temporary suspension of production operations," Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The fires "were controlled," the statement said, and no workers were injured.

The Iranian-backed Houthis, who hold Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and other territories in the Arab world's poorest country, took responsibility for the attacks in the war against a Saudi-led coalition that it has fought since 2015 to reinstate the internationally recognized Yemeni government. But the US blamed Iran, as stated, with Pompeo tweeting: "There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen."

"Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply," Pompeo said.

In a statement, the White House said, "The United States strongly condemns today's attack on critical energy infrastructure."

In a short address aired by the Houthi's al-Masirah satellite news channel, military spokesman Yahia Sarie said the rebels launched 10 drones after receiving "intelligence" support from those inside the kingdom. He warned that attacks by the rebels would only get worse if the war continues.

"The only option for the Saudi government is to stop attacking us," Sarie said.

Houthi rebels have been using drones in combat since the start of the Saudi-led war. The first appeared to be off-the-shelf, hobby-kit-style drones. Later, versions nearly identical to Iranian models turned up. Iran denies supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the UN, the West, and Gulf Arab nations say that Tehran does.

UN investigators said the Houthis' new UAV-X drone likely has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). That puts the far reaches of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in range.

The first word of Saturday's assault came in online videos of giant fires at the Abqaiq facility, some 330 kilometers (210 miles) northeast of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Machine gun fire could be heard in several clips alongside the day's first Muslim call to prayers, suggesting that security forces tried to bring down the drones just before dawn. In daylight, Saudi state television aired a segment with its local correspondent near a police checkpoint, a thick plume of smoke visible behind him.

US deputy press secretary Judd Deere said the attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis "only deepen conflict and mistrust." He added that the US government is "committed to ensuring global oil markets are stable and well supplied."

US President Donald Trump called Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to offer his support for the kingdom's defense, the White House said. The crown prince assured Trump that Saudi Arabia is "willing and able to confront and deal with this terrorist aggression," according to a news release from the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

The UN special envoy for Yemen said he was "extremely concerned" by the attacks.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths urged all parties to "prevent such further incidents, which pose a serious threat to regional security" and complicate the already fragile situation.

Saudi Aramco describes its Abqaiq oil processing facility in Buqayq as "the largest crude oil stabilization plant in the world."

The facility processes sour crude oil into sweet crude, then transports it onto transshipment points on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea or to refineries for local production. Estimates suggest it can process up to 7 million barrels of crude oil a day. By comparison, Saudi Arabia produced 9.65 million barrels of crude oil a day in July.

"This is one of the biggest central processing facilities in the world. The Iran conflict is going to be hitting the world in a new way," said Kevin Book, managing director, research at ClearView Energy Partners LLC.

The Khurais oil field is believed to produce over 1 million barrels of crude oil a day. It has estimated reserves of over 20 billion barrels of oil, according to Aramco.

The US Energy Department said the US "stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets" in the wake of the drone attack.

In a statement on Saturday night, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry directed department leadership to work with the International Energy Agency on available options for collective global action if needed. Nations of the 30-member IEA seek to respond to disruptions in the oil supply and advocate for energy policy.

The US strategic oil reserves holds 630 million barrels.

There was no immediate impact on global oil prices as markets were closed for the weekend. Benchmark Brent crude had been trading at just above $60 a barrel.

While Saudi Arabia has taken steps to protect itself and its oil infrastructure, analysts had warned that Abqaiq remained vulnerable. The Rapidan Energy Group, a Washington-based advisory group, warned in May that "a successful attack could lead to a monthslong disruption of most Saudi production and nearly all spare production." It called Abqaiq, close to the eastern Saudi city of Dammam, "the most important oil facility in the world."

In a report published Saturday, Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, noted that although Aramco officials have indicated that exports will resume in the next few days, "there is nothing to suggest that this is a one-off event and that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels will forgo further strikes on Saudi sites."

The war in Yemen has become the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The violence has pushed the country to the brink of famine and killed more than 90,000 people since 2015, according to the US-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which tracks the conflict.

The rebels have flown drones into the radar arrays of Saudi Arabia's Patriot missile batteries, according to Conflict Armament Research, disabling them and allowing the Houthis to fire ballistic missiles into the kingdom unchallenged. The Houthis launched drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia's crucial East-West Pipeline in May. In August, Houthi drones struck Saudi Arabia's Shaybah oil field.

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"I heard today the remarks of the Iranian foreign minister, who accused Israel of violating international law. This is the foreign minister of a country that sends armed UAVs against Israel and missiles at Saudi Arabia.

"I also heard his moderate remarks and there is a tremendous gap between his words and the actions of the Revolutionary Guards, which are moving an army against Israel with the avowed goal of destroying the State of Israel," Netanyahu said at an Independence Day toast to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and the General Staff Forum.

Zarif said in a U.S. television interview that further Israeli sorties in Syria would have "consequences." But he deemed major escalation as unlikely.

"I do not believe that we are headed towards regional war but I do believe that unfortunately, Israel has continued its violations with international law, hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the U.S. support and trying to find smokescreens to hide behind," Zarif told CBS News.

"The easiest answer would be to stop – to stop these acts of aggression, to stop these incursions."

Netanyahu said Sunday, "I am not impressed by words. I rely on this forum and on the Israel Defense Forces, which are prepared for any possibility and any scenario."

Although Israel and Iran appeared on Sunday to be playing down the possibility of clashes in Syria spilling over into a war, hostilities between the two countries have been running high ever since Feb. 10, when Israel said an armed Iranian drone launched from the T4 base in Syria had penetrated its territory. Israel downed the drone and, during a reprisal raid, lost an F-16 jet to Syrian ground fire.

On April 9, an airstrike on the T4 base killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members. Tehran blamed Israel and vowed unspecified retaliation, drawing Israeli counterthreats to broaden attacks on Iranian military assets in Syria.

Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Russia have been reinforcing Damascus against the seven-year Syrian rebellion. The Israelis worry that Iran's garrison will remain, linking with Hezbollah to form a broad Syrian-Lebanese front against them.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman reiterated his government's policy of preventing Iranian entrenchment in Syria.

"No matter the price, we will not allow a noose to form around us," Lieberman told Israel Radio in an interview.

But asked if that meant war was imminent, he said: "I hope not. I think that our primary role is to prevent war, and that requires concrete, real deterrence as well as readiness to act."

Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz suggested that world powers might intervene to curb Iranian activity in Syria.

Israel is "not interested" in escalation, Katz told the Ynet news site. But Israeli power-projection, he said, "can challenge the Iranians, can clarify to the Russians, who seek stability, that it is worth it for them to apply their influence, and the same goes for the United States, for France and all the others."

The Syria faceoff comes as the Trump administration mulls reimposing economic sanctions against Tehran by May 12, a move that could deal a blow to an international 2015 deal under which the Iranians capped their nuclear projects.

Zarif said Iran might respond to any unraveling of the deal by "resuming at a much greater speed our nuclear activities."

Israel has savaged the deal and encouraged a U.S. review, but Katz appeared to acknowledge the outcome could be costly.

"The United States is changing policy. Israel is determined to prevent this [Iranian nuclear] red line, a crossing of this red line," he said.

"These are testing times for us. I hope that we won't pay prices."

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