Blaming Iran

We’re told in a report from The Jerusalem Post that the US will hold Iran responsible for any further Houthi attacks:

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran will be held responsible and face "dire" consequences for any further attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

Trump posted this on X explaining his reasoning:

"Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!" Trump said on Truth Social.

The report then recapped the strikes over the weekend:

Overnight, US Central Command (CENTCOM) continued to carry out strikes on the Iran-backed terror group. The US agency announced via X overnight that attacks would continue.

There were deaths from the strikes:

The Houthis claimed 53 people have been killed as a result of the strikes, which began on Saturday.

White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said the US strikes "took out" several Houthi leaders. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the United States would conduct "unrelenting" strikes against the Houthis in Yemen until the terrorist group ceases their military actions targeting US assets and global shipping. 

These comments come as Iran has slowly distanced itself from its proxy, the Houthis, amidst US strikes in Yemen.

And it could explain why Iran went out of its way to say that the Houthis act on their own when they attack, something no one seriously believes. Trump could also be sending a message to Iran that any of their terrorist proxies actions will be used to attack them.

Trump made it very clear why the Houthis are considered a terrorist threat:

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump posted a backhanded threat to the Houthis and Iran on his platform Truth Social.  “Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our troops and allies. These relentless assaults have cost the US and world economy many billions of dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” the president stressed.

And he warned them using phrases he’s used before, but this time it appears he is going to act on them:

He later said that US forces would come for the Houthis.“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he wrote. To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American people, their president, who has received one of the largest mandates in presidential history, or worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

Harsh Conditions

As I predicted, the released hostages will start telling us what happened to them and one of them tells us how poorly he was treated as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

Recalling the experience, (Tal) Shoham said that as he went outside, he was met with “about 40 armed terrorists,” some of whom were filming him while others laughed.

Shoham refused to give in to the terrorists:

He recalled being driven into Gaza and hauled out of the trunk of the car he was transported in, at which point his captors told him to kneel. He refused.

“I said ‘I can’t control whether you kill me or not,’ and I raised by hands — but I refused to kneel,’” he told Fox, adding that he told his captors: “If you want to kill me, kill me, but you will not execute me like ISIS.”

He continued his defiance and even mocked the mobs yelling at him:

After refusing to kneel, Shoham said he was marched through the streets of Gaza to the jeers of watching crowds.

“I just waved and smiled,” he recalled. “I didn’t show fear.”

But he did have to cope with sad thoughts:

As he was taken hostage ahead of his family, Shoham said he spent his first 50 days in captivity not knowing whether his wife and children were alive or dead.

“Never in my life have I experienced suffering like this,” he said of the uncertainty, which was compounded by the intense loneliness he felt, as he was at that point being held alone. To survive, Shoham said, he had to “accept that my family was dead.”

Shoham tried to prepare himself for the unthinkable:

“I sat on the floor and imagined myself at their funeral. I stood in front of a grave — one large for my wife, and two small for my children — and I eulogized each of them,” he recalled. “I sobbed but didn’t let my captors see me cry. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, burying my family in my mind.”

He finally got some good news during the first hostage deal:

On his 50th day in captivity, however, Shoham received a letter from his wife informing him that she and their two children were alive, and being released from captivity.

He Was Malnourished

Shoham, like many of the hostages were not treated humanely:

Shoham, like many other released hostages, recounted that food was scarce throughout his captivity.

Shoham recounted that he wasn’t given much to eat at first:

When he was first captured, he was held in the home of a Gazan family, where for the first three days he received pita bread.

Then, he said, “food supplies dwindled.”

After that, he would receive as little as “three spoons of avocado and three dates” per day, “or half an orange from a tree in the yard.”

Obviously, that’s not enough to keep him or really anyone healthy:

He estimated that at that stage, he was getting just 300 calories a day — a fraction of the roughly 2,400 calories a man his age is supposed to consume on average.

His diet didn’t improve and the water he received had to be used for hygiene as well:

After moving him to the tunnel with three other hostages, Shoham’s captors would give him some 300 milliliters of water a day — for both drinking and washing — and plain rice.

After months of living like this took a serious toll on him:

The diet left him severely malnourished, he told Fox, and after months in which he was getting progressively more unwell, his captors finally brought a doctor to see him. By that point, he said, he had already developed a severe infection, and had internal bleeding in his legs.

He was eventually given some medical help:

“My legs turned blue, yellow, and purple with internal bleeding,” he said. The doctor gave him and the other hostages blood thinners to prevent clots, as well as seven days’ worth of vitamin supplements to combat the malnutrition.

“It tasted like dog food, but it dramatically improved our condition,” he said.

Despite the supplements, Shoham was severely underweight upon his release from Gaza.

It is no wonder he looked like death warmed over when he was released. Thankfully he was reunited with his family after coming home. This is yet another example of why people consider Hamas cruel animals and savages. We must also recall what they did on October 7th of 2023 as if we needed proof of what kind of people these terrorists are and why they should never be allowed to have any power at all, let alone in Gaza. When people say they want Palestine to be free, they should also add to that free from Hamas.