Israel Financial News

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

Yemen on Saturday, answering a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including a missile strike this past week that set fire to a cargo vessel. According to U.S. officials, American and British fighter jets hit about 18 sites across multiple locations, targeting missiles, launchers, rockets, drones and unmanned surface and underwater vehicles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to provide early details of an ongoing military operation. This is the fourth time that the U.S. and British militaries have conducted a combined operation against the Houthis since Jan. 12. But the U.S. has also been carrying out almost daily strikes to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles and drones aimed at ships, as well as weapons that were prepared to launch.

Houthi sites in Yemen on Saturday, according to officials. As reported by Reuters, this marks the latest in a series of military operations against the Iran-backed group, which has been implicated in ongoing attacks on shipping in the region.

Also Read: OPEC+ to support Brent at $80/bbl; ONGC/Oil India placed well on dividend pay, valuations Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a March 19 expiry, last settled 0.05 per cent higher at ₹6,356 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,344 and ₹6,498 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,353 per barrel. -The Federal Reserve has held its policy rate steady in a 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent range since last July. Minutes of its meeting last month show most central bankers were worried about moving too quickly to ease policy.

town of Rafah, Palestinians cling to life amid the grinding war with Israel. A barefoot boy wears a pot on his head and beams a smile. A child lugs a jerry can half his size full of water. Men sit at half-empty tables selling canned goods. A tapestry of laundry hangs from every line.

Antony Blinken, while speaking at a news conference during a trip to Buenos Aires, said, “They're also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion, and in our judgment this only weakens, doesn't strengthen, Israel's security." The comments reversed the Trump administration's position that settlements did not violate international law. Israel on Thursday said that it plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday reaffirmed Washington's opposition to any reoccupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel as well as any reduction of the Palestinian territory's size. Blinken's remarks were in response to a plan for post-war Gaza put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which his country's army would have «indefinite freedom» to operate throughout the Gaza Strip once Hamas is defeated.

Investing.com-- Oil prices settled lower Friday, snapping a two-week win streak amid fresh concerns that higher for longer U.S. interest rate regime will stifle global growth and crude demand.  

Reuters, Israel aims to maintain security control over all land west of Jordan. This includes the occupied West Bank and Gaza - the territories where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state. Besides, Netanyahu's plan also suggested way to replace Hamas rule in Gaza while maintaining public order.

Israel-Hamas conflict could attack crowds at events in Canada.In a series of strategic intelligence briefs issued in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the analysts cautioned about mass violence spilling into this country.The Integrated Terrorist Assessment Centre (ITAC) predicted attacks could target protests, cultural centres, diplomatic posts “or other symbols of Israeli or Palestinian interests in Canada.”Such an attack would likely be carried out by a “radicalized lone actor” using readily available weapons, ITAC wrote in the briefs circulated last October and released to Global News.“It is possible that ideologically and religiously motivated violent extremists and lone actors may be triggered by events and mobilize to violence and conduct a mass casualty attack at large gatherings,” ITAC wrote in a brief on the Canadian implications of the conflict.ITAC is a federal government team, composed of members of the security and intelligence community, that assesses threats to Canada.In December 2023, police in Ottawa arrested a youth who has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack against the Jewish community.Additional charges filed on Feb.

Israel's military exports to India, its largest defence buyer, have not been affected by the war in Gaza, an Indian source and an Israeli source aware of the details said. India has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel over the last decade, including radars, surveillance and combat drones, and missiles. Israel launched its months-long military campaign after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

By Gerry Doyle

Gold prices on Friday were set for their first weekly gain in two, supported by a softer dollar and safe-haven buying, as investors awaited further clues on when the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to begin cutting its interest rates. FUNDAMENTALS

Oil prices fell on Friday after a U.S. Fed official said interest rate cuts should be delayed at least two more months. Brent crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $83.42 a barrel at 0212 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 25 cents, or 0.3%, lower at $78.36.

Joe Biden on Friday said that the majority of ‘overwhelming’ Palestinians are not Hamas and further alleged that they're also suffering as a result of Hamas' terrorism. In a post on X, Biden wrote, “I won't mince words.

Red Sea have delayed cargo and sent shipping costs higher, but soft demand and ample ship availability are muting the impact on inflation, analysts from Moody's Investor Service said on Thursday. Ships carrying everything from furniture and apparel to food and fuel are being diverted away from the nearby Suez Canal trade shortcut to the longer and more expensive route around Africa. Rerouting takes vessels and crew out of danger from drone and missile strikes by Iran-aligned Houthis supporting Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war rages.

Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the Houthis' targets have grown more random since their attacks began in November, endangering a vital waterway for cargo and energy shipments traveling from Asia and the Middle East onward to Europe. The attack Thursday in the Gulf of Aden saw two missiles fired at a Palau-flagged cargo ship named Islander, the U.S.

The Dubai-based budget carrier FlyDubai has seen record earnings of $572 million in 2023, boosted by carrying the most passengers ever across its network

After the Biden administration applied sanctions on four Israeli settlers for acting violently toward Palestinians and activists in the West Bank, online fundraisers sprang to their aid

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched attacks on both Israel and a ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden

United Airlines is gearing up to resume flights to Israel early next month