Houthi official confirms meeting with Palestinian terror groups in Beirut

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels discussed “expanding confrontations and encircling” Israel in a meeting in Lebanon with Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, a Houthi official tells AFP.

Houthi attacks on Red Sea ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war have disrupted global trade, actions the rebels say are in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Representatives from Hamas, whose devastating October 7 onslaught on Israel triggered the war, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine met last week with the Houthis in Beirut, the official says on condition of anonymity.

Palestinian sources told AFP earlier that the meeting had taken place, with one of them saying the representatives discussed “mechanisms to coordinate their actions of resistance” for the “next stage” of the war in Gaza, now in its sixth month.

Another Palestinian source, also requesting anonymity to share details of the meeting, tells AFP that those present discussed the “complementary role of Ansar Allah [the Houthis] alongside Palestinian factions, especially in the event of an Israeli offensive on Rafah.”

Most of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have sought refuge in Rafah, on the coastal territory’s southern border with Egypt, the last major urban area spared an Israeli ground offensive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday he had approved the military’s plan for a ground operation in the city, without providing a timeline.