Live blog: US attacks Yemen's Houthis again as Biden warns of more

Thursday, January 18, 2024

The United States has launched fresh strikes against Yemen's Houthis and President Joe Biden signalled they would keep going until the Iran-aligned group stops targeting ships in the Red Sea.

The latest US attacks hit two anti-ship missiles that the Houthis - who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza - were preparing to fire into the busy shipping corridor, the US military said.

US forces have launched several rounds of air strikes against the Houthis, since an initial barrage by the United States and Britain last Friday, adding to tensions in the Middle East.

Biden, who is seeking reelection in November, admitted that the Western strikes had not yet succeeded in preventing attacks by the Houthis on international shipping.

The White House announced the latest attacks minutes after Biden spoke.

More updates👇

1815 GMT — Talks without Palestine won't resolve Mideast conflict: Russia

Russia said that talks involving the US, Israel and Arab countries without Palestine will not help end the Israeli war on Gaza.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it is not possible for the US to "whisper and negotiate with someone, trying to decide for the Palestinians what Palestine will look like."

"The Palestinians themselves must decide. And what the US is doing now, trying to write everything out for them (Palestinians) and make it convenient for them (the US), is a manifestation of the same neocolonial practices," he added.

1854 GMT — Ireland slams Israel's Netanyahu for seeking to prolong Gaza war

Ireland sharply criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for seeking to prolong the war in Gaza.

"In my view it's absolutely unacceptable that the prime minister of Israel would say that this war could go until 2025," said Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.

"Too many innocent lives are being lost, too many children are losing their lives, and you cannot resolve a situation like this by military means alone," he stressed.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu and everybody needs to be focused on how you end this as quickly as possible now and also Hamas needs to stop firing the rockets, and declare a ceasefire, and lay down their arms," Martin told a joint news conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin after a meeting.

1730 GMT — Belgium urged to intervene in case against Israel at UN court

Belgian international law professors urged the country to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

An open letter by 19 professors was published in De Morgen newspaper that emphasized that Belgium, as a party to the Genocide Convention, has an obligation to act when a serious risk of genocide arises.

It said the convention not only prohibits genocide but obliges contracting countries to intervene.

1706 GMT — Iraq backs South Africa's ICJ genocide case against Israel over Gaza war

Iraq voiced support for South Africa’s genocide lawsuit at the International Court of Justice against Israel over its deadly offensive on Gaza.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with South African Finance Minister Enok Godongwana on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

During the meeting, Hussein hailed South Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause and commended its lawsuit at the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

1704 GMT — Strikes against Yemen's Houthis to continue: Biden

President Joe Biden said that US and British military strikes against Yemen's Houthis would continue, because the Iran-allied group were still attacking shipping in the Red Sea.

"When you say 'working, are they stopping the Houthi?' No. Are they going to continue? Yes," Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if the strikes were working.

1615 GMT — Israeli president: Normalisation with Saudi Arabia key to ending wars

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that normalising Israel’s relations with Saudi Arabia will be a key element to ending wars.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Herzog said Tel Aviv "lost trust in peace processes, because they see that terror is glorified by our neighbours."

"If you ask an average Israeli now about his or her mental state, nobody in his right mind is willing now to think about what will be the solution of the peace agreements," he added in statements cited by The Times of Israel newspaper.

He also demanded the return of hostages held in Gaza and guarantees for the safety of Israelis to end Tel Aviv's attacks on the Palestinian tiny enclave.

1628 GMT — No ties with Israel before Gaza ceasefire — Saudi envoy to US

Saudi Arabia is unable to pursue talks about a landmark deal to recognise Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, the kingdom's ambassador to the United States said.

"I think the most important thing to realise is the kingdom has not put normalisation at the heart of its policy. It's put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy," Princess Reema bint Bandar al Saud told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"The kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day ."

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, has never recognised Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw its Gulf neighbours Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Morocco establish formal ties with Israel.

1538 GMT — Another Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza, death toll rises to 119

Another Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, taking the toll to 119 since October 7, the government media office said.

A statement by the media office said Wael Abu Fannouna was killed in Gaza City, but did not provide any further details.

The death toll of Palestinian journalists from Israeli attacks in Gaza has surpassed the number of reporters killed around the world in 2021 and 2022.

1337 GMT — Gaza death toll from Israeli assaults tops 24,600

Palestinian health officials in Gaza said at least 24,620 people have been killed in the Israeli assault on tiny enclave that began on October 7.

A Health Ministry statement said 61,830 people have also been wounded in the Palestinian territory during the aggression.

“At least 172 people were killed and 326 others injured in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said.

The ministry said its medics had recorded more than 8,000 cases of Hepatitis C among displaced Palestinians due to crowdedness in refugee camps and lack of personal hygiene.

1415 — Israeli academic doubts army will investigate use of controversial Hannibal Protocol

An Israeli academic has cast doubts on any government move to investigate the use of Hannibal Protocol, which recommends killing captors even if it risks the lives of Israeli hostages, during a Hamas attack on October 7.

"There is absolutely nothing [in the code] to allow someone to kill an Israeli citizen, in uniform or not,” Asa Kasher, a philosopher who wrote the army’s code of conduct, told Haaretz newspaper.

According to Israeli media, the Hannibal Protocol is a military directive applied by the Israeli army that governs how field units respond when a soldier is captured by hostile forces.

It stated that the protocol was drafted in 1986 and was cancelled in 2016 by a decision of the then-Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot, who currently serves as a minister in the Military Ministerial Council.

1445 GMT — Israeli army says 28 more soldiers injured in Gaza fighting

The Israeli army said that 28 soldiers had been injured in Gaza in the last 24 hours.

Figures released by the army showed that 1,178 soldiers had been injured since Israel expanded its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27.

According to the figures, 529 soldiers have been killed and 2,630 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

1308 GMT — EU lawmakers stop short of seeking unconditional Gaza ceasefire

The European Parliament stopped short of calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, saying this should happen only if hostages held in the besieged Palestinian enclave were released and Palestinian resistance group Hamas dismantled.

Three groups of EU lawmakers - the socialists, centrists and greens - had sought a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire and the restart of efforts towards a political solution.

1245 GMT — Gaza war to slow Middle East economies: Qatar

The war in Gaza will hit economies across the Middle East if it is not resolved and the conflict urgently needs a non-military solution, Qatar's finance minister told Reuters.

Qatar, whose mediators are involved in talks on the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, has also helped mediate in several regional conflicts including in Afghanistan.

"The solution is really to look for a permanent solution for the main issue in the Middle East which is the Palestinian problem ... This cannot be fixed by military actions," Qatar's Finance Minister Ali Al Kuwari said in Davos.

1136 GMT — Israel sounds sirens in Eilat, target of past Houthi launches

The Israeli military sounded sirens in the southern port city of Eilat and a local radio station said an explosion had been heard as the result of the interception of an incoming aerial threat.

Eilat, on the Red Sea, has been the target of past long-distance launches by Iranian-aligned Yemeni Houthis, in solidarity with Gaza which is under ongoing brutal assault by Israel.

1006 GMT — Palestinian killed in Israeli military raid in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, according to local medics.

A 27-year-old was shot in the chest when Israeli forces raided the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

Thursday’s fatality came one day after five Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the same refugee camp on Wednesday.

According to witnesses, Israeli military bulldozers destroyed several shops, vehicles and roads in the camp.

1050 GMT — World-famous actors read out genocide accusations against Israel on camera

Videos of world-renowned actors reading aloud the accusations against Israel regarding the alleged genocide in Gaza, during the initial hearing of the case filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have garnered thousands of views on social media platforms.

Actors of the TV series "Crown," Khalid Abdalla and Tobias Menzies, and the actors of the TV series "Game of Thrones," Charles Dance, Carice van Houten and Lena Headey were among the 29 actors featured in videos published on YouTube channel "The Palestine Festival of Literature."

The videos were also watched hundreds of thousands of times on X.

0950 GMT — Israel should allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes, Jordan minister says

Israel should allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

The Israeli assault launched in October 7 has displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million.

0824 GMT — Several Palestinians injured in Israeli army raids in occupied West Bank

The army stormed the cities of Ramallah, Al Bireh, Tulkarm, Hebron and Nablus, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Israeli army also raided Palestinian homes in the Al Amari refugee camp, arresting several people.

Clashes also broke out in the city of Qalqilya during which the Israeli army used live bullets, according to witnesses.

0806 GMT — Dozens more killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Israeli strikes have killed dozens more people overnight, the health ministry in Gaza said, including in the territory's south where Israel has intensified its military offensive.

The renewed strikes came as medicine for hostages held by the fighters and fresh aid for civilians entered the Palestinian territory under a newly brokered deal.

The ministry said 93 people had been killed, including 16 in a single strike on a house in the southern city of Rafah, where many people have fled.

"The strike left 16 killed, among them women and children, and 20 injured," the ministry said.

0742 GMT — Israeli party pushes for overthrow of government over handling of Gaza hostages

The Israeli left-wing Labor Party said that it will present a proposal to the Knesset to withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government due to its failure to release hostages held in Gaza.

"There is no confidence in a government that does not prioritise the return of its hostages," the party said in a statement on X.

Withdrawing confidence requires at least 61 lawmakers to vote in favour of the proposal. The government led by Netanyahu has a majority of 64 seats, making it difficult for the proposal to pass.

0706 GMT — UAE pledges $10M for ailing health sector in Gaza

“The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) pledged a contribution of around AED 37 million (US $10 million) in support of the healthcare sector in Gaza,” Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

These funds “aimed at providing essential medical supplies to people in Gaza, especially children gravely impacted by the dire conditions pervasive now in Gaza,” it said.

“The pledge came as part of a Letter of Intent signed between MBRGI and the World Health Organization, aimed at supporting humanitarian efforts and providing life-saving emergency healthcare response in the Gaza Strip,” the news agency added.

0417 GMT — Netanyahu rejects Gaza captives release deal — local media

The Israeli government prepared a proposal to initiate new negotiations with the Palestinian group Hamas for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the offer, according to local media.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that unnamed Israeli ministers outlined the general framework of a deal in recent days aimed at securing the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Negotiations were expected to proceed through an unnamed mediator, but Netanyahu reportedly rejected the move.

The decision to reject the proposal, as indicated by the channel, was made without coordinating with war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

0151 GMT — US fires wave of missiles on Yemen as Gaza's toll rises

The US military has fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-run sites, US officials said, marking the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israel's war on Gaza continues to spill over in the Middle East.

The strikes come after a one-way attack drone was launched from a Houthi-run area in Yemen and struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

On Wednesday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera TV the group would keep up its attacks on Red Sea shipping following a US decision to put the group back on a list of "terrorist" entities.

"We will not give up targeting Israeli ships or ships heading towards ports in occupied Palestine... in support of the Palestinian people," he told the Qatar-based broadcaster.

0054 GMT — Houthis vow to continue targeting Israel-linked ships

US and UK forces launched a fourth round of strikes in four areas of Yemen, the Houthi group has said, pledging to continue its strikes on Israel-linked shipping.

"The American-British aggression targeted the governorates of: Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, Dhamar, Al-Bayda and Saada," the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV said, referring to the port of Hudaida, the city of Taez and elsewhere.

"We will continue to target Israeli ships heading to the ports of occupied Palestine, no matter how the American-British aggression tries to prevent us from doing so."

0012 GMT — Gaza collects more bodies as Israel pummels besieged enclave

Israeli bombardment on the southern, central and northern Gaza has killed several Palestinian civilians and wounded many others, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

"The occupation warplanes carried out sporadic strikes on Khan Younis, in the southern Strip, especially in the vicinities of Qizan an Najja and Batn al Sameen areas, as well as shelled a new residential square in the centre of the city," it said.

"In Rafah City, in the south, the Israeli jets targeted a group of civilians, resulting in the killing of two civilians and the wounding of others," WAFA reported.

Rescue teams and ambulance crews also recovered several bodies and wounded people from the rubble of the El Hout family home in Shaboura refugee camp, south of the city of Rafah, which was targeted by the Israeli strikes, the news agency reported.

2330 GMT — UK urges Iran to stop arming Houthis

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and urged Tehran to stop backing the Houthi group in Yemen.

"Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea," Cameron, attending the World Economic Forum, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others' sovereignty. I made this clear to FM @Amirabdolahian."

The UK last week joined the United States in attacking Yemen.

The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with Gaza, where Israel has for more than three months ravaged infrastructure, uprooted 90 percent of the population and killed more than 24,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Houthi group has vowed more attacks on what it says are Israel-linked ships or ships "heading towards ports in Israel-occupied Palestine."

2314 GMT — US confirms Houthis hit its ship in Gulf of Aden

The US military has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi group targeted a US-owned carrier ship in the Gulf of Aden with a drone.

"At approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time) Jan. 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS (unmanned aircraft system) was launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden," the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

The Marshall Islands-flagged M/V Genco Picardy is a US-owned and operated bulk carrier ship.

"There were no injuries and some damage reported. M/V Genco Picardy is seaworthy and continuing underway," said the military.

The Houthis say their attacks aim to pressure Israel to halt its onslaught on Gaza, which has killed at least 24,400 people since the October 7 blitz by Hamas in southern Israel.

For our live updates from Wednesday, January 17, click here.