Houthi military says US ship in Red Sea also targeted after Israeli strikes on oil facilities and power station in Yemen
Israeli forces have said they intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen targeting the southern city of Eilat, in retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
Meanwhile, forest fires engulfed parts of northern Israel after a barrage of rocket fire from Lebanon.
Continue reading...Three reported killed and 87 wounded after oil depot and electrical installations hit
Powerful airstrikes rocked the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah a day after Israeli officials vowed revenge for a drone that struck Tel Aviv.
Airstrikes hit a refinery and electricity infrastructure, sparking a huge blaze. The Almasirah television channel, run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, reported late on Saturday that three people had been killed and 87 wounded in the strikes on the oil facilities.
Continue reading...One dead and at least 10 injured, with human error blamed for allowing drone to escape multilayered air defences
An Iranian-made drone sent by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one person and wounding at least 10.
The hit in Israel’s biggest city was startling, because the drone appeared to have crossed much of the country through the multilayered air defences that have intercepted almost all Houthi drones and rockets since the Gaza war began.
Continue reading...The strike on Tutor from Yemeni militants left the vessel unable to manoeuvre, while one crew member remains missing
The crew of a Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemen’s Houthi militants has been evacuated, and the abandoned ship is drifting in the Red Sea, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
One crew member from Tutor, the Liberia-flagged coal carrier, remains missing, officials in the Philippines said, after an attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Wednesday caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room, leaving the vessel unable to manoeuvre.
Continue reading...Aid group workers also taken as UN says it is trying to secure access to its personnel and clarify the situation around the detentions
Yemen’s Houthis have detained 11 Yemeni employees of UN agencies under unclear circumstances, authorities say, as the militia group faces increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a US-led coalition.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said 11 UN staffers had been taken.
Continue reading...Rebel group says strikes, aimed at underground facilities and missile launchers, killed and wounded civilians
A joint US and UK air raid on Houthi missile launchers in Yemen has killed 16 people and injured more than 40, according to the Houthi health ministry.
There is no independent way of confirming the death toll, but if accurate it would represent the single largest loss of life since the US and UK started their campaign to degrade the Houthi military in January.
Continue reading...Saudis are keen to end their engagement in Yemen and US needs Saudi support to end Gaza conflict
US determination to keep Saudi Arabia engaged in a peace process with Israel has led Washington to give Riyadh an informal green light to try to revive a peace deal with the Houthis, the Yemen-based rebels who have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November.
The proposed Yemen UN roadmap for peace was agreed in outline in early December but progress was immediately frozen as the Houthis escalated their campaign of attacks in the Red Sea in what they billed as an act of solidarity with Palestine.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Middle East crisis here
Three people have been killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, including two members of Hezbollah, AFP reports, citing statements from the militant group and official media.
Hezbollah released statements mourning the deaths of two fighters from the villages of Kafr Kila and Khiam, saying they had been “martyred on the road to Jerusalem”.
Continue reading...Calls during Yemen briefing come as missile believed to have been launched by Houthis strikes a vessel off Aden
The US and UK have called for a UN maritime inspectorate to do more to prevent Iranian missiles reaching Houthi-controlled ports in the west of Yemen.
The calls during a UN security council briefing on the crisis in Yemen came as a missile believed to have been launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia struck a vessel off the southern city of Aden – but caused no damage – and US forces fired missiles on to Hodeidah international airport.
Guardian Newsroom: The unfolding crisis in the Middle East
Continue reading...All parties ‘continuing to work in negotiations’, says Qatar; US president says he has heavy heart after learning of death of Itay Chen. This live blog is closed
A spokesperson for Yemen’s internationally recognised government told Reuters earlier that airstrikes that hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen were carried out by the UK and the US.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said that earlier reports that Britain was involved in carrying out the airstrikes were incorrect.
Continue reading...Yemeni group earlier warned it would escalate operations during Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza
The US said it carried out six strikes in self-defence against Houthi targets on Monday afternoon and evening, hours after the rebel group warned it would escalate attacks during Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it destroyed an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles belonging to the Houthis – but on Tuesday reports emerged of drones being shot down by an Italian warship in the Red Sea.
Continue reading...Calls for closer collaboration made after multiple Houthi drone strikes on ships in Red Sea over weekend
Western efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea will fail unless the US and its allies build stronger intelligence and military relations with the UN-recognised government in Yemen, politicians and experts are warning.
Yemen’s ambassador to the UK has warned the Houthis have to be confronted and driven away from Red Sea ports such as Hodeidah. Similar calls were made by members of the Yemeni government coalition when they visited London last month.
Continue reading...HMS Richmond destroyed two targets with Sea Ceptor missiles, defence secretary Grant Shapps said
A Royal Navy frigate used its missiles to shoot down two attack drones as the US and its allies came under sustained Houthi attack in the Red Sea in the early hours of Saturday.
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, announced HMS Richmond’s role in destroying the targets in a post on X.
Continue reading...Iran-backed group is attempting to strike ships it claims have links to Israel, in solidarity with Gaza
Houthi forces in Yemen claim to have launched one of their largest attacks on US shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they sent 37 drones to hit US navy war ships and a commercial ship.
The US Central Command said it had stopped the attack, which it attributed to Iranian-backed Houthi forces. The US spoke of only shooting down 15, not 37, drones.
Continue reading...Incident marks first fatalities of commercial shipping crew since militants began launching strikes off Yemen last year
Three sailors have died and others have been injured after a Houthi missile attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, US officials have said – the first fatalities of crew of commercial shipping since the Houthis began launching strikes at ships in waters off Yemen last year.
The officials told US news agencies that the crew of the MV True Confidence had abandoned ship after the attack, which was claimed by the Houthis.
Continue reading...Leaking fuel and thousands of tonnes of fertiliser could harm marine ecosystems and affect coastal fishing communities
The sinking of a bulk carrier off the coast of Yemen after a Houthi missile attack poses grave environmental risks as thousands of tonnes of fertiliser threaten to spill into the Red Sea, officials and experts have warned.
Leaking fuel and the chemical pollutant could harm marine life, including coral reefs, and affect coastal communities that rely on fishing for their livelihoods, they said.
Continue reading...Destroyer Caio Duilio, part of the EU shipping protection force, took out weapon when it came within four miles of the vessel
An Italian warship participating in the EU naval protection force in the Red Sea was forced to shoot down a Houthi missile on Saturday in a rare engagement by the country’s navy, which has largely avoided direct action since the second world war.
The incident came as Houthi officials vowed to continue to attack British ships after the UK-owned Rubymar sank on Saturday having taken on water for a fortnight after being hit by one of the group’s missiles.
Continue reading...Senior Hamas official says if Israel accepts demand for military withdrawal from Gaza and increase in aid, it would pave way for agreement. This live blog is closed
Born a month into Israel’s war in Gaza, infant twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza were buried on Sunday, the youngest of 14 members of the same family whom Gaza health authorities say were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight.
Reuters reports:
Their mother, Rania Abu Anza, held one of the twins, its tiny body wrapped in a white shroud, to her cheek and stroked its head during the funeral on Sunday. A mourner held the second baby close by, pale blue pyjamas visible beneath a shroud.
“My heart is gone,” wept Abu Anza, whose husband was also killed, as mourners comforted her. She resisted when asked to release the body of one of the babies ahead of burial. “Leave her with me,” she said.
Severe malnutrition can be deadly or leave young children with permanent cognitive & physical damage.
For children in Gaza, every minute counts in safely accessing nutrition, water, medical care & protection from bullets & bombs. This requires a humanitarian ceasefire NOW.
Continue reading...Officials say a British-registered cargo ship hit in a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea. This blog is now closed.
The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.
The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.
Continue reading...White House says US ‘urgently seeking’ information after more than 100 Palestinians killed when Israeli soldiers open fire near aid trucks
The families of people being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are on the third day of their march from the site of the Nova music festival, which was attacked on 7 October, to Jerusalem. On this day they are expected to be joined by war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and the marchers will be carrying. 134 stretchers, intended to symbolise the 134 hostages that Israel believes are still in captivity.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said the country is “shocked” by the deaths in Gaza yesterday, and called again for an end to the fighting. They said:
China is shocked by this incident and strongly condemns it. We express our grief for the victims and our sympathies for the injured. China urges the relevant parties, especially Israel, to cease fire and end the fighting immediately, earnestly protect civilians’ safety, ensure that humanitarian aid can enter, and avoid an even more serious humanitarian disaster.
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