For the second time this month, the Biden administration has used an emergency authority that allows it to bypass traditional congressional review for the sale of weapons to Israel.Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.
The Israeli military confirmed that reservists from at least two brigades will be sent home this week, though the IDF did not say whether the troop drawdown reflects a new stage of the war in Gaza.
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft strike group, deployed to the Mediterranean Sea by the Pentagon to deter attacks by Iran-backed groups, will be pulled in the coming days, according to an ABC News report.
The downing of the missiles came shortly after an attack on a vessel, and followed a warning from a top US commander that the Houthis' “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea were expected to continue.