US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Denies Leak of Information on US Military Strikes in Yemen.
“No one shared military plans, and that's all I can say about it“, he told Fox News in response to reports that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally included in a group chat discussing strikes on Houthis.
According to Goldberg's article, on March 11, he received a request to connect to the Signal messenger from a user with the alias “Mike Walz“ (the name of the US President's national security adviser). Two days later, the journalist received a notification that he had been included in a group chat called the "Small Houthi Group". According to him, it consisted of about 18 people, including a user with the pseudonym "J.D. Vance" (the name of the US vice president). The chat room hosted "engaging political discussions" for several days, the article said. According to the editor, on March 15, a user named "Pete Hegsett" (the name of the Pentagon chief) has released a message that includes details of the upcoming strikes against the Houthis, including targets, weapons and an expected start time for the strikes, which Goldberg said coincides with the time when the first reports of the bombings were published on social media.
According to the journalist, White House National Security Council press secretary Brian Hughes confirmed to him the authenticity of the Signal group chat.
On March 15, the United States, on the orders of President Donald Trump, began carrying out massive strikes against Houthi targets, who control about a third of Yemen. The operation is aimed at protecting American interests and ensuring freedom of navigation, the US Central Command said. In response, the Houthis carried out a series of attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the northern Red Sea, using missiles and drones. There was no information about damage to the ship as a result of the strikes.
Meanwhile, it became clear that the Yemeni Houthis had launched ballistic missile strikes on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, said the movement's military spokesman, Yahya Sariyah.
"The Yemeni missile forces hit Ben Gurion Airport with a Zulfiqar ballistic missile and a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile. The operation successfully achieved its objective," a spokesman for the movement told the Houthi-owned Al Masirah television channel.
The Israeli army said it had intercepted a rocket fired from Yemeni territory, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Air raid sirens were sounded in several areas of Israel last night, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where explosions were heard, according to the Associated Press.
In recent days, Yemeni Houthi rebels have fired several long-range rockets at Israel, the AP recalls. The attacks began after Israel renewed its military operations in the Gaza Strip.