Live blog: Houthis strike US vessel off Yemen; medicines and aid enter Gaza

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

2050 GMT — Yemen's Houthi group has targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles, which resulted in a "direct hit", the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement.

"The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian Sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people", Sarea added.

Earlier 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.

He said the Houthis would respond to new strikes on Yemen by the United States or Britain despite already facing multiple rounds of air strikes in response to their targeting of merchant vessels.

Earlier, a British maritime security agency reported drone strike on a vessel in Gulf of Aden.

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2117 GMT — Medicines for Israeli captives, aid for besieged Palestinians enter Gaza

Medicines for captives and humanitarian aid for besieged Gaza civilians have entered the blockaded enclave under a deal mediated by Doha and Paris, Qatar has announced.

"Over the past few hours, medicine and aid entered the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages," Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

A senior Hamas official said that for every box provided for the Israeli captives, 1,000 boxes of medicine would be sent in for Palestinians.

The agreement came more than 100 days into Israel's war on besieged Gaza that shows no sign of ending and which has sparked tensions across the Middle East, with a dizzying array of strikes and counterstrikes in recent days from northern Iraq to the Red Sea and from southern Lebanon to Pakistan.

Palestinian fighters are still putting up resistance across Gaza in the face of one of the deadliest and ruthless military invasions in recent history.

1836 GMT — Likelihood of war in Israel's north much higher now: army chief

Israel's army chief has said the likelihood of war breaking out on the country's northern border with Lebanon has become "much higher".

"I don't know when the war in the north is, I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past," Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said in a statement.

1849 GMT — Hamas not yet defeated: Netanyahu's aide

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser has said that Palestinian resistance group Hamas has not yet been defeated.

"It is still too early to talk about the next day after Hamas as the group has not yet been defeated," Tzachi Hanegbi told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee as cited by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

1824 GMT — Netanyahu orders inspection of medicine trucks headed to Gaza

An Israeli media outlet has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the army to inspect medicine trucks before they enter Gaza.

"Netanyahu directs the Israeli army to inspect the medicine trucks entering Gaza (including medications for detained Israelis and Palestinians)," according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

It said Netanyahu's decision came after facing criticism for his approval to allow the entry of medications into the region without inspection by Israel.

Israeli Army radio quoted the government's coordinator of operations in the Palestinian territories, Ghassan Alian, who said, "5 trucks loaded with medicines will undergo security inspection at the Kerem Shalom crossing before entering Gaza."

1606 GMT — Yemen's Houthis vow continued attacks after US 'terror' label

The US designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group will not affect their operations to prevent Israeli ships or ships heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Bab al Mandab Strait, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam has said.

The Biden administration returned the Houthis to a list of terrorist groups, US officials said, in the latest attempt by Washington to stem attacks by Houthi forces on international shipping in protest over Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

1701 GMT — Israel's attacks on Palestine put multilateral order at risk: Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said in a speech from Davos, Switzerland, that Israel’s attacks on Palestine are putting the multilateral order at risk.

"The current course of events won’t help the Palestinian or Israeli people," he said.

"What is at stake is the security of global supply chains, trade, prosperity, the stability of the entire Middle East and the continuity of the multilateral order," Sanchez said regarding the conflict, demanding an immediate ceasefire and a definitive two-state solution.

1523 GMT — Israeli strikes kill nine in occupied West Bank

Israeli strikes have killed nine people in the occupied West Bank, emergency services and the army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli strike killed four people inside Tulkarem refugee camp early in the morning.

A separate strike near Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus, killed five fighters with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, it said in a statement.

The group and the Israeli army said Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal, a Palestinian fighter, was among those killed.

1438 GMT — Hamas sets new conditions in 'medicine-for-aid' deal

A top Hamas official has announced new conditions for delivering medicines to hostages held by the group in Gaza, insisting trucks carrying the drugs must not be inspected by Israel.

Under a deal thrashed out by mediators Qatar and France on Tuesday, medicines along with humanitarian aid are to be supplied to civilians in Gaza in exchange for delivering drugs needed by hostages.

Forty-five hostages are expected to receive medication according to the agreement. Musa Abu Marzuk, a senior member of Hamas political bureau, revealed new conditions for the delivery of medicines to hostages.

"For every box of medicine that goes in for them, 1,000 boxes will go in for residents of Gaza," he said on X, formerly Twitter. Marzuk said the medicines would be supplied through a country Hamas trusts and not France.

1438 GMT — British Palestinians call on UK to facilitate Gaza ceasefire

The British Palestinian community has called upon the UK to “urgently exert its influence” to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire, saying it is a first step towards any solution to alleviate the suffering of all.

“There must be immediate and unconditional restoration of water and electricity, as well as the rehabilitation of medical facilities. Lastly, but no less importantly, we call for the implementation of UK Family Reunion scheme for our beloved ones in Gaza,” the British Palestinian Family group said in a statement.

The group had also written a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in November, requesting a meeting to discuss the war on Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 24,000 Palestinians. There was, however, no response to the request.

1424 GMT — We want Gaza conflict to end as soon as possible: UK

The British foreign secretary has said they don't want the conflict in Gaza to go on "for a long moment," expressing the need for an "immediate humanitarian pause."

"We want this conflict to end as soon as possible. We don't want it to go on for a long moment, longer than necessary," David Cameron said in a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He asserted that the important question is whether there is some way of turning that pause into the sustainable ceasefire.

But for this, Cameron claimed, one would have to see the Hamas leadership leaving Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 24,000 people since the Oct. 7

1416 GMT — Blinken calls a pathway to a Palestinian state a necessity for Israeli security

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated the need for a "pathway to a Palestinian state" during a talk at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, saying Israel would not “get genuine security absent that."

If Israel can be brought into the fold of the Middle East, Blinken said, the region would be coming together to isolate Iran, which he called “the biggest concern in terms of security,” as well as its proxies.

The problem is getting from here to there, and of course, it requires very difficult, challenging decisions. It requires a mindset that is open to that perspective," Blinken said.

1351 GMT — Attacks on Israel will end if Gaza war stops: Iran

Iran's foreign minister has said that attacks against Israel and its interests by the "Axis of Resistance" will stop if the Gaza war ends, warning that the conflict could heighten tensions across the Middle East.

"An end to the genocide in Gaza will lead to an end of military actions and crises in the region," Amirabdollahian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The security of the Red Sea is tied to the developments in Gaza, and everyone will suffer if Israel's crimes in Gaza do not stop. All the (resistance) fronts will remain active."

1328 GMT — 35 Israeli troops injured in Gaza fighting in last 24 hours

The Israeli army has said that 35 of its soldiers have been injured in battles in Gaza in the last 24 hours.

Figures released by the army showed that 1,152 soldiers had been injured since Israel expanded its ground offensive in Gaza on Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, as many as 527 soldiers have been killed and 2,602 others injured since the outbreak of war on Oct.7.

1300 GMT — Gaza needs ‘civil government’: Italy

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said that Gaza needs a "civil government" and that all G7 countries are working towards a two-state solution to the conflict.

"I will reiterate to Israeli authorities that Italy aims at a ‘civil government’ in Palestine, to a two-state solution. The two people, two states is the only possible solution, albeit a difficult one," he told journalists at a press conference on the priorities of this year’s Italian presidency of the G7.

1243 GMT — UN warns of bleak post-war future for Palestinians in Gaza

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, has warned of the bleak future facing Gaza after Israel's war on the territory ends.

Following his fourth visit to the Palestinian territory since the war erupted on October 7, the UNRWA chief said many residents are no longer able to see "the future in Gaza".

"You have hundreds of thousands of people living now in the street, living in these plastic makeshift (tents), sleeping on the concrete," Lazzarini told journalists in Jerusalem.

The majority of Gaza's 2.4M residents have been forced from their homes, while Lazzarini said more than 60 percent of buildings are estimated to be damaged.

1208 GMT — Israeli army destroys cemetery, exhume decomposed corpses in Khan Younis city

The Israeli army's withdrawal from areas in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza has revealed the destruction of a cemetery in the city with many of its graves dug up by Israeli forces.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, the Israeli army early retreated hundreds of meters from areas around the Khan Younis Nasser Hospital, leaving behind heavily damaged buildings and infrastructure.

The Israeli army damaged the cemetery near the Nasser Hospital and exhumed some decomposed corpses while bulldozing areas in the cemetery, according to the correspondent.

1147 GMT — US' Blinken calls sufferings in Gaza 'gut-wrenching'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza after three months of Israeli attacks "gut-wrenching," adding that "there has to be another way" forward that addresses Israel's concerns.

"What we are seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching, and the suffering we're seeing among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart,” Blinken said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He described “the tragedy” in the besieged Gaza as "devastating" and added, "It also reinforces my conviction that there has to be and there is another way that answers Israel's most profound concerns and questions."

1109 GMT — Israeli army detains 45 more Palestinians in West Bank

The Israeli army has detained 45 more Palestinians, including minors and former prisoners, from various areas of the occupied West Bank.

According to a joint statement issued by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the new detentions brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since Oct. 7 to 6,025.

Some labourers from Gaza in the village of Azzun, near Qalqilya city of the occupied West Bank, were also among the people detained, the statement said.

Soldiers also beat and abused Palestinians, and conducted field interrogations, in addition to damaging their homes and other properties, it added.

In their annual report, both groups said the total number of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails at the end of December 2023 stood at 8,800 including 80 women.

1106 GMT — UN chief reiterates call for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 24,000 Palestinians and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

"The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed, bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid," Guterres said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"I repeat my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution," he said.

"This is the only way to stem the suffering and prevent a spillover that could send the entire region up in flames."

0920 GMT — Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks jumps to 24,448

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza since October has surged to 24,448, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave has said.

The ministry in a statement said 61,504 others were also injured, adding that Israeli forces committed 16 massacres across the coastal territory in the last 24 hours, leaving 163 people killed and 350 others wounded.

"Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads and rescuers can’t reach them," the ministry said.

0915 GMT — Four Palestinians killed in Israeli shelling in occupied West Bank camp

Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling in Tulkarm camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent has said in a statement.

0855 GMT — Hamas slams Germany over possible move to provide Israel with tank ammo

The Palestinian group Hamas has criticised Germany for reportedly considering sending thousands of tank shells to the Israeli army.

In a statement, Hamas said the delivery of this ammunition would turn Germany into a “direct partner in the war on our (Palestinian) people in Gaza."

"It seems Germany is reproducing its history full of sins against humanity, it is undeterred from the lessons of the recent past," the statement added.

On Tuesday, the German Der Speigel newspaper reported that Germany is considering the delivery of nearly 10,000 rounds of 120mm precision tank ammunition for the Israeli army.

0725 GMT — Qatar and France send medicine for hostages in Gaza

A shipment of medicine for dozens of hostages has been en route to Gaza after France and Qatar mediated the first agreement between Israel and Hamas since a weeklong cease-fire broke down in November.

The medicines will be shipped through Egypt and delivered to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will then hand them over to Hamas.

Qatar said the deal also includes the delivery of additional medicine and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave.

0420 GMT — Israeli police break up rally in Tel Aviv protesting war on Gaza

Israeli police have broken up a rally in Tel Aviv protesting the ongoing war on Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Haaretz daily reported that the police aggressively dispersed the rally under the claim that it "harms the feelings of the public."

Claiming the small gathering was "illegal," police officers were seen confiscating a banner saying "Stop the Massacre" in Gaza.

The Walla news website also reported that the Israeli police preemptively blocked an anti-war rally in Haifa, northern Israel that was set for Saturday.

0714 GMT — Israeli strike kills three Palestinians near Balata refugee camp

At least three Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car near the Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that it was able to reach the site after the Israeli forces withdrew from the area and recovered the body of a youth.

“Israeli forces reportedly hold the bodies of other young men along with the vehicle before withdrawing from the area,” the news agency said.

0420 GMT — Israeli attacks kill 13 Palestinians in Khan Younis

At least 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, a report has said.

Dozens of Palestinians were also injured in air and land attacks, said the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Israeli jets also targeted Palestinian homes west of Khan Younis with air strikes and artillery fire, it added.

Israel's bombardment of the surroundings of Nasser Hospital and Al Amal Hospital affiliated with the Palestine Red Crescent Society resulted in critical damage to the medical facilities.

0247 GMT — Preventing new forced displacement is 'absolute priority': Borrell

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said the absolute priority now is to prevent a "new de facto forced displacement" out of Gaza.

Noting that over 80 percent of the population has already been displaced within the besieged enclave, Borrell said "in humanitarian terms, the situation is horrific" in an op-ed published Monday in the French daily Le Monde.

"Now the absolute priority is to prevent a new de facto forced displacement out of Gaza, which is legally forbidden and morally unacceptable," he said.

Borrell said that preventing at all costs an extension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Lebanon, to alleviate the catastrophic situation in Gaza, and to pave the way for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the three priorities.

"While these three issues obviously have their own dynamics, in reality, they are totally intertwined," he added.

0040 GMT — US Senate rejects measure to force human rights report on Israel

The US Senate has rejected a resolution that would have forced the State Department to produce a report within 30 days examining whether Israel committed human rights violations in its invasion of Gaza.

As voting continued, 54 senators voted to set the resolution aside, thus meaning it cannot move ahead in the 100-member Senate.

The vote was forced by Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. While the measure was handily defeated, it reflected growing concern among some of President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats, especially on the left, over the supply of US weapons to Israel despite the war's steep toll on Palestinian civilians.

"We must ensure that US aid is being used in accordance with human rights and our own laws," Sanders said in a speech before the vote urging support for the resolution, lamenting what he described as the Senate's failure to consider any measure looking at the war's effect on civilians.

The White House had said it opposed the resolution, which could have paved the way toward the imposition of conditions on security assistance to Israel.

The United States gives Israel $3.8 billion in such assistance each year, ranging from fighter jets to powerful bombs. Biden has asked Congress to approve an additional $14 billion.

0033 GMT — Palestinian envoy says there is no way ICJ would rule in favour of Israel

The Palestinian ambassador to Britain has said "there is no way" that the International Court of Justice [ICJ] would rule in favour of Israel, and for the first time in history, the "genocide" has been recorded and transmitted live by the people who were executed.

Husam Zomlot's remarks came during a news conference in London on the ongoing Israeli attacks and genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel before the ICJ in the Hague in the Netherlands.

Touching on the Israeli attacks, Zomlot said the destruction of Gaza is a "deliberate genocide and ethnic cleansing...deliberate in its intent and execution."

"Despite this unprecedented manmade humanitarian disaster, we see no serious efforts by the most important international actors to bring about an immediate, sustainable, com prehensive and permanent cease-fire," he noted.

"Without that immediate ceasefire, we see no hope of addressing the apocalyptic situation," he said, asserting that all those who want to discuss other issues are missing the point.

"This remains our top priority," he stressed, adding that in addition, there also has to be "massive international humanitarian efforts" to address Gaza's acute needs.

2230 GMT — Israel confirms Gaza aid deal as concerns grow of widening war

Israel has pummelled Gaza and confirmed reaching a deal with Hamas resistance group to deliver medicines to captives and desperately needed aid to civilians in the war-torn Palestinian territory following Qatari mediation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed the deal and said: "The medicines will be forwarded by Qatari representatives in Gaza to their final destination."

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza since a cross-fence attack by Hamas on October 7 which Tel Aviv says killed more than 1,100 people.

Israel has so far killed at least 24,285 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded 61,154, Palestinian health authorities say.

According to the UN, 85 percent of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.

2156 GMT — Jordan says economy hit by Israel's war on Gaza

Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh has said the Gaza war's negative impact on the country's aid-dependent economy had put the brakes on a promising performance last year that had seen a surge in tourism revenues and higher growth.

"Last year (2023) before October 7 economically was an extremely, extremely promising year," Khasawneh said.

Khasawneh said disruptions to Red Sea shipping on the main East-West route caused by Houthi attacks was the latest hit alongside the plunge in tourism that had prior to the October 7 blitz by Hamas on Israel seen a boom that outstripped levels nearly five years ago

"Tourism took a major hit and other sectors are still suffering," Khasawneh said in Davos, according to state media.

2246 GMT — France's Macron says 'priority is ceasefire' in besieged Gaza

French president has said that a ceasefire in besieged Gaza is "a priority."

"All lives matter," the president reiterated, but blamed the Palestinian resistance group Hamas for the current situation in the region.

He recalled that France has delivered humanitarian aid to those in need in Gaza but stressed that the "priority is a ceasefire."

After 100 days of Israel's brutal war on the blockaded enclave, "targeted operations" by Israel's defence forces must be combined with respect for humanitarian law, said Macron, who also noted the importance of preventing the war from spreading in the entire region.

"France is attached to peace and stability in Lebanon," the president said.

2200 GMT — US to relist Yemen's Houthis as specially designated global terrorists: reports

The Biden administration is expected to soon announce plans to redesignate Iran-allied Houthi group in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, AP and Reuters news agencies reported.

The decision comes as the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The group says it has attacked Israel-linked or Israel-bound ships in response to Israel's harsh siege and brutal invasion of Gaza.

The administration is expected to make the announcement on Wednesday, a US official said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both foreign terrorist organisations and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021.

In its waning days, the Trump administration designated the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization over the strong objections of human rights and humanitarian aid groups.

The foreign terrorist designation barred Americans and people and organisations subject to US jurisdiction from providing "material support" to the Houthis, which the groups said would result in an even greater humanitarian catastrophe than what was already happening in Yemen.

2015 GMT — Bernie Sanders forces US senators into test vote on military aid to Israel

In a notable test, Senator Bernie Sanders is forcing colleagues to vote on record whether to investigate human rights abuses in Israel's brutal war on besieged Gaza, a step toward potentially limiting US military aid to Israel.

The Senate vote, a first of its kind tapping into a decades-old law, would require the US State Department to, within 30 days, produce a report on whether Israel's war in Gaza is violating human rights and international accords. If so, US military aid to Israel, long assured without question, could be quickly halted.

While the Senate is unlikely to approve the measure, the vote by senators will begin to reveal the depth of unease among US lawmakers over Israel's prosecution of the war.

"What Israel does not have a right to do — using military assistance from the United States — does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people," Sanders told the Associated Press during an interview on Monday ahead of the vote. "And in my view, that’s what has been happening."

Heading toward the vote, Sanders said senators are nervous because what he's trying to do is unprecedented in procedure and essentially practice.

"The Congress has always been supportive of Israel in general, and this begins to question the nature of the military campaign," Sanders said. "And I think that makes some other people quite nervous."

For our live updates from Tuesday, January 16, click here.