On October 16 US Central Command said that US Air Force and US Navy assets, including the B-2 Spirit long-range bomber, had struck five underground weapons facilities in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.
While not explicitly mentioned in the statement, it’s reasonable to assume the use of the B-2 in Yemen is also a signal to Iran, the weapons sponsor of the Houthis, that their underground nuclear facilities can be reached by the American military.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, on October 17, the IDF inadvertently took out Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a skirmish in the Gaza Strip. Israeli intel had a lead that he was in Rafah at the southern end of Gaza, but they weren’t sure exactly where he was. Sinwar and several other Hamas militants opened fire on the Israelis. The IDF troops returned fire using a tank and mortars, blowing the side out of the building Sinwar was hiding in.
Sinwar is the fourth member of Hamas leadership the IDF has assassinated since the October 7 attacks.
