Israel's "Picture a Day" is a blog which presents historic images of Israel's past. The blog posts these pictures with as many identifying features as they can. At times, information is scarce, and photos posted in their "Picture a Day" blog receives additional information or confirmation of details which can update the permanent archive.
Islam is the enemy of the world.
DEBKA:
In a surprise step, Egyptian marine naval and marine forces Thursday morning, March 26, seized control of the strategic Bab El-Mandeb Straits to foil Tehrans plans to grab this important energy shipping gateway between the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal, Debkas military sources report from the Gulf. Egypt disguised the raid as a counter-piracy operation. It rounded off the Saudi-led air strikes launched the same morning against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. These operations signaled the start of a major Sunni Arab revolt against Irans approaching takeover of Yemen, through its Houthi proxy, and advances in other strategic positions in the Middle East, with Washingtons support.
Yemen Conflict Could Disrupt Major Oil Shipping Route; Insurers Pull Back
Conflict in Yemen risks spilling out into the busy sea lanes that pass it and potentially disrupt the narrow Bab el-Mandeb passage through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia.
Oil prices rose as much as 6 percent on Thursday after neighboring Saudi Arabia and its allies launched air strikes on Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting to oust Yemens president.
The development is a gamble by the worlds top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard.
The collapse of Yemen as a political reality and the power of the Houthis will enable Iran to expand its presence on both sides of the Bab el-Mandeb, in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea. Already discrete numbers of Iranian naval vessels regularly sail these waters, J. Peter Pham of U.S. think tank the Atlantic Council said.
Houthis attempting to control Yemens Bab El-Mandeb strait: source
Sanaa, Asharq Al-AwsatRecent advances by Yemens Houthi movement are part of an attempt to take control of the strategic Bab El-Mandeb strait off the Yemeni coast, military sources in the country said on Saturday.
This comes as three members of the group and three military personnel were killed on Friday evening as the armed Houthis attempted an attack on the Al-Khoukha military camp just south of the coastal city of Al-Hudaydah, close to the strategic waterway.
The Bab El-Mandeb, which connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea and Suez Canal, is one of the most important maritime corridors in the world, through which most of Yemens oil exports pass on their way to global markets.
Retired Yemeni brigadier-general Mohsen Khasrouf told Asharq Al-Awsat the group has its eyes firmly on the Bab El-Mandeb strait and that Friday nights attack represented the first step on the road to taking control of the waterway for the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Many in Yemen believe Saleh has been aiding the Houthis recent efforts to strengthen their hold over swaths of Yemen, which have seen them take control of the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country as well as military and government buildings and facilities.
Khasrouf said Saleh, a former army officer, still enjoyed great popularity within the Yemeni military, which he said the Houthis were now clearly attempting to control.
The Bab El-Mandeb strait is not just related to Yemens security but to the security of the whole region, Khasrouf said, adding that Iran was acting through the Houthis and attempting to gain control of the strait, which in addition to Iranian control of the strait of Hormuz, would give the Islamic Republic a strategic maritime advantage on the Arabian Peninsulas surrounding waterways.
In The Zion Muleteers of Gallipoli, the author Martin Sugarman, wrote, "In March 1915 the Zion Mule Corps became the first regular Jewish fighting force to take active part in a war since the defeat of the Bar Kochba Revolt 2000 years ago. Some of its men later formed the core of what was to become the modern Israeli army." The Jewish corps was formed in British-held Egypt and consisted of local Egyptian Jews, Jewish exile from Turkish-ruled Palestine, and British officers. Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson commanded the unit, officers included Zev Jabotinsky and Yosef Trumpledor who were expelled from Palestine. View more on the Jewish unit here.Thanks wtd.
Not really. Look up the Khazars, who had a great deal to do with stopping the initial Muslim expansion and preserving Constantinople for another 800 years.