US-Israel-Iran War Live News Updates: Houthis Attack Israel; 3,500 US Marines Arrive In Middle East

The Pentagon is gearing up for weeks of ground operations in Iran, with thousands of American soldiers and Marines arriving in the Middle East. This move signals a potential escalation of the war, should President Donald Trump decide to take further action. The plans include raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, but stop short of a full-scale invasion, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

More than two dozen US troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base in the past week, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to comment publicly. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base Friday, injuring at least 15 troops, five of them seriously.

The base, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital Riyadh, was attacked twice earlier in the week, including a strike that wounded 14 US troops, according to the people briefed on the matter. More than 300 US service members have been wounded in the war. At least 13 have been reported killed.

(Source: AP)
 

Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. In Lebanon, where Israel has started an invasion in the south while targeting the Hezbollah militant group, officials said that more than 1,100 people in the country have been killed since the start of the war.

In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died. In Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in the occupied West Bank.
 

The Houthis' latest involvement would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that arrived in Croatia on Saturday for maintenance. Sending it to the Red Sea could draw attacks similar to those on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in 2025.

The Houthis have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis on behalf of Yemen's exiled government in 2015, and they now have an uneasy ceasefire.
 

Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television station that they launched missiles toward “sensitive Israeli military sites” in the south. If the Houthis increase attacks on commercial shipping, as they have in the past, it would further push up oil prices and destabilize “all of maritime security,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The impact would not be limited to the energy market.”

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that American and Israeli universities in the Middle East region could be considered legitimate targets in retaliation for the US and Israeli strikes on Iranian academic institutions and heritage infrastructure.

(Source: ANI)
 

The war has threatened global supplies of oil and natural gas, sparked fertiliser shortages and disrupted air travel. Iran's grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices. The Houthis' entry could further hurt global shipping if they again target vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12 per cent of the world's trade typically passes.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming two missile launches at Israel.

About 2,500 US Marines arrived in the region. And Pakistan's government said that regional powers plan to meet on Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting.