Live blog: US warship ends mission, 'departs' Red Sea after Houthi attacks

Saturday, June 22, 2024

2155 GMT — The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier left the Red Sea after serving for months to thwart the Yemeni Houthis's attacks on commercial shipping, the Pentagon has said.

"The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) departed the US Central Command area of responsibility today and will remain briefly in the US European Command area of responsibility before returning home after more than seven months deployed in support of US regional deterrence and force protection efforts," spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Following the completion of a scheduled exercise in the Indo-Pacific, Ryder said the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group will arrive in the Red Sea to continue the mission.

The Eisenhower protected ships transiting the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb and the Gulf Aden during its deployment, he said, adding it also rescued "innocent mariners against the unlawful attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthis, and helped to deter further aggression.”

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2136 GMT — Palestine welcomes Cuba's move to intervene in genocide case

Palestine has welcomed Cuba's announcement to intervene in a "genocide" case brought by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

It also urged "more active participation" by other states in the court proceedings.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the decision "reflects Cuba's steadfast commitment to justice and the rule of international law, and confirms the deep solidarity and historical friendship between the two countries."

The Cuban Foreign Ministry noted that to support international efforts to put an end to the crime of genocide committed against the Palestinian people, it decided to join the case.

2135 GMT — Israeli army reservist killed in southern Gaza: Military

Another Israeli army reservist was in southern Gaza City, the military has said.

“Sergeant First Class (res.) Malkia Gross, 25, from the Armored Corps, was killed in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip,” it said.

The fatality brought the death toll for Israeli soldiers since Oct. 7 to 665, including 313 officers and soldiers who were killed in the ground offensive in Gaza since Oct. 27.

Data also indicated that 3,894 officers and soldiers have been injured since the start of the onslaught against Gaza, including 1,977 in ground battles.

1256 GMT — Another child dies of hunger in North Gaza hospital as Israeli blockade continues

Another child died of malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, raising the total this week to four amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on aid, the health centre's director announced.

"We lost a child in the hospital's nursery department in recent hours due to malnutrition," Hossam Abu Safiya said in a news conference held in northern Gaza.

"This is the fourth child to be killed in the hospital during the last week due to malnutrition," he added.

Abu Safiya said that over the past two weeks, the hospital had diagnosed over 250 children with symptoms of malnutrition, warning that Gaza "is confronting a genuine health crisis that initially affects children and could extend to adults."

He highlighted that recent premature births at the hospital have been attributed to maternal malnutrition.

1836 GMT — Hezbollah missiles hit homes in north Israel, fires erupt

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah group fired anti-tank missiles, striking two houses in the Metula area of northern Israel, causing fires in the area but no casualties are reported.

According to Israel’s Army Radio, two houses on the border with Metula were directly hit by anti-tank missiles, causing fires in the area.

The radio said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

1239 GMT — Gaza carnage recreated in Tokyo to call attention to Palestinians' plight

The streets of Tokyo saw the carnage from an apparent massacre, with the bodies of dozens of victims strewn across the ground, their bodies lying prone or twisted, many of them marked by the signs of blood.

But it was instead a “die-in,” a scene to evoke the suffering in the embattled enclave of Gaza, recreated half a world away to protest the plight of Palestinians in the face of a months-long Israeli assault.

Many videos and pictures of the event in Japan's capital were posted on X, showing groups of protesters lying on the ground, while others, some of them carrying Palestinian flags, encircled them.

1109 GMT — Tens of Palestinians killed in two Israeli attacks in Gaza

At least 42 were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza's Al-Tuffah and Al-Shati areas, Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of government media office told Reuters.

Medical sources also told Anadolu that the Israeli army targeted a house in the neighbourhood of Al-Tuffah in eastern Gaza City, killing 17 Palestinians and injuring several others.

They said that 24 more Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in an additional Israeli bombing of the Al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City.

The Israeli army bombed three residential buildings in the camp, Anadolu reported from the ground.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that more than 20 houses in the targeted area were completely or partially destroyed as a result of the Israeli bombing.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed to have bombed buildings used by Hamas as military headquarters in Gaza City without providing any evidence or further details.

0924 GMT — Death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza tops 37,500

At least 37,551 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said.

A ministry statement added that 85,911 other people have also been wounded in the onslaught, mostly women and children.

“Israeli attacks killed 101 people and injured 169 others in the last 24 hours alone,” the statement said.

0825 GMT — One Israeli killed by gunfire in occupied West Bank

An Israeli has been killed from wounds sustained when his car was shot at in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Israeli army said its forces are currently in the Qalqiliya area after confirming the death of an Israeli citizen shortly after he was shot in the area.

The army and police forces are investigating the circumstances of the incident, it added.

The Israeli army did not specify why the illegal settlers entered the Palestinian city.

0746 GMT — Cuba joins International Court case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza

Cuba has decided to join in South Africa’s case against Israel before the International Court of Justice.

According to Radio Havana Cuba, under its obligations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Cuba will exercise its right as a third state to present its interpretation of the convention, which it asserts Israel has flagrantly violated in Gaza.

The case seeks to halt the atrocities against the Palestinian people due to Israel's disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force in the illegally occupied Gaza territory.

Cuba stressed that Israel, shielded by United States complicity, has consistently ignored its obligations as an occupying power under the Geneva Convention.

2253 GMT — Hamas says open to any initiative that ends Israel's war in Gaza

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, has reiterated his group's openness toward any initiative that ends the Israeli genocidal war in besieged Gaza that meets the demands of the Palestinian resistance.

Haniyeh made the statement in a seminar in Beirut that discussed scenarios of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza.

The Hamas leader said the group is open to deal with "any document or initiative that ensures the foundations of the resistance's position in the ceasefire negotiations."

He reiterated Hamas' demands for a permanent ceasefire, full Israeli army withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction, the provision of relief and a prisoner swap.

2325 GMT — Houthi group showcases footage of attack drone boat

The Yemeni Houthi group has announced that it has a new attack drone boat, Toufan 1, with footage showing a test on a maritime target.

It was revealed in a video broadcast by the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel.

The domestically-made Toufan 1 boat carries a 150-kilogramme warhead and features high speeds of up to 64 nautical Kilometres per hour, along with "high manoeuvrability and stealth capabilities," according to the video that was broadcast on the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel.

The boat is specialised to target nearby stationary and moving maritime targets. The video shows the boat rapidly approaching a maritime target before destroying it.

2324 GMT — Hamas rejects Netanyahu's claims about civilian death ratio to fighters

Hamas has rejected a claim about the ratio of civilian deaths to fighters in besieged Gaza made by warmonger Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stressing it a "lie and a contempt for global public opinion."

The Palestinian resistance group said Netanyahu seeks to "cover up the enormity of what his army committed of unprecedented war crimes and genocide in our contemporary history" with his statement.

It added that daily reports by the Gaza Health Ministry and other rights groups "confirm that the vast majority of victims in Gaza are civilians, particularly children and women, who have perished in the brutal and indiscriminate bombardment" by the Israeli army.

In an interview with the Punchbowl news portal from the US, Netanyahu said, "The ratio of civilians to combatant casualties in Gaza is roughly one to one," and claimed it "is the lowest in modern urban warfare."

2030 GMT — Israeli troops abduct 19 Palestinians, including Hajj returnees

Israeli occupation forces have abducted 19 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank during pre-dawn incursions, official Palestinian news agency WAFA said, citing sources.

The Israeli forces abducted two Palestinians at the border with Jordan who were on their way back from Hajj, WAFA reported. Other abductions took place in Tulkarm, Nablus, Yatma, and Ramallah.

These abductions are done under no legal status, without the need of a search warrant and can be carried out whenever and wherever the Israeli military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

More than 9,500 Palestinians have been abducted and jailed by Israeli military since October last year, compared to 116 Israelis currently held in Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups.

1930 GMT — 76% of Gaza schools require reconstruction, rehabilitation: UNRWA

Over three-quarters of schools in besieged Gaza need to be rebuilt or restored, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said.

"In Gaza, over 76 percent of schools need reconstructing or require major rehabilitation to be functional again," UNRWA quoted a statement by the Global Education Cluster as saying.

UNRWA added that despite the ongoing war on Gaza, its teams "continue to reach children with play and learning activities," stressing that "education is a fundamental human right" and reiterating the need for a ceasefire in the enclave.

1919 GMT — Arab countries welcome Armenia's recognition of Palestine

Several Arab nations havd welcomed Armenia's decision to recognise Palestine as an independent country.

Qatar said the move by Armenia as "an important step to support the two-state solution and achieve peace and stability in the region."

Lebanon said that it reflects Armenia's "commitment to the international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty, and the right of peoples to self-determination."

Saudi Arabia hailed Armenia's decision as an "important step supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Jordan described it as a "significant step reflecting Yerevan's adherence to international law and resolutions."

Kuwait praised the move as a "positive leap towards fulfilling relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, enabling the Palestinian people to exercise self-determination."

For our live updates from Friday, June 21, 2024, click here.