Long-range American B-2 stealth bombers launched airstrikes early Thursday morning targeting underground bunkers used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said.

There are no previous reports of the B-2 Spirit being used in the strikes targeting the Houthis, who have been attacking ships for months in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Syria’s military said Israel carried out a strike early Thursday in the coastal city of Latakia, wounding two civilians and damaging a military post.

The military statement that was carried by state media did not give further details.

French President Emmanuel Macron has further strained tense relations with Israel with a comment referring o the creation of the Israeli state, a verbal jab that was rapidly denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as distorting history.

Macron has sought to take a more uncompromising stance on the conflicts in the Middle East after Israel launched an offensive in Lebanon, a former French protectorate.

By Jasmin Lilian Diab, Lebanese American University

The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah since September 2024, and Israel's bombing of civilian areas across Lebanon, have unleashed a profound humanitarian disaster.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday slammed French President Emmanuel Macron, calling him a "disgrace" after Israeli delegations were banned from exhibiting at the Euronaval defense show.

"Macron's actions are a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world, which he claims to uphold. The decision to discriminate against Israeli defense industries in France a second time - aids Israel's enemies during war," said Gallant in a post on X.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. government is considering sanctioning two ultranationalist Israeli Cabinet ministers.

Starmer said “we are looking at” imposing sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He said the pair had made “abhorrent” comments about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said they "will not hesitate to support" regional allies in the conflict against Israel.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ... will not hesitate to support the Islamic resistance decisively ... in bravely standing up against this fake regime (Israel)," the Guards said in a statement published by their official Sepah news agency.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday called for more pressure on Israel's backers to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

"The president... demanded more pressure on the supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) to stop the killings" in Gaza and Lebanon, Pezeshkian said during a phone call with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, according to a presidency statement.

Gulf leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gather with EU heads of state and government in Brussels Wednesday for a summit aimed at averting a "general conflagration" in the Middle East.

The 27-nation European Union is seeking to work more closely with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- in addressing conflicts in both the Middle East and Ukraine.

The Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran's missile barrage earlier this month, two U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The administration also believes that sending a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel and roughly 100 soldiers to operate it has eased some of Israel's concerns about possible Iranian retaliation and general security issues.