A former US army officer has claimed that Yemen, with the help of Russian satellite technology, failed Israeli forces to attempt to infiltrate the country and killed 70 of their personnel.

In an interview with Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, retired US Colonel Douglas Macgregor alleged that around 70 Israeli special forces, along with an undisclosed number of American mercenaries, infiltrated Yemen. But he claimed that they were tracked by Russian satellites, which then provided the intelligence to Iranian forces.

The Houthis in Yemen, whom Macgregor described as “tough hombres on the battlefield” then set up an ambush and killed the entire infiltration team.

The former US colonel noted that footage of the dead operatives shows they were mostly Israeli, with some American mercenaries as well, and possibly even some British contractors.

“Persistence surveillance today changes everything in warfare,” he said and added that it makes it impossible for forces to infiltrate into regions without being discovered.

He was of the view that it was a “wake-up call” for Israel and the US. The retired US colonel called for disrupting space-based reconnaissance and intelligence

Last week, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that the group was bound to respond to Israel’s killing of its top military commander, saying his death and that of the Hamas leader “crossed” red lines.

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“The enemy, and those who are behind the enemy, must await our inevitable response,” he said in a speech broadcast at the funeral of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.

“You do not know what red lines you crossed,” he said, addressing Israel after separate strikes in Beirut and Tehran killed Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, describing the latter’s killing as a “dangerous assassination”.

In reaction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was prepared for any “aggression” following threats of retaliation for the killings of Haniyeh and Shukr.