Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 115
EXPLAINER Iran denies involvement in drone attack that killed US troops and Israel continues to hamper delivery of aid to Gaza. Here’s how things stand on Monday, January 29, 2024: Latest developments Three United States troops were killed and dozens others injured in a drone strike on Sunday near a US military base close to the Jordan-Syria border. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of Iran-backed armed groups, has claimed responsibility. Only eight planned United Nations missions to northern Gaza have successfully gone ahead since the beginning of January. Some 29 aid convoys were denied permission by Israeli authorities, while other deliveries were impeded by “excessive delays”, the UN’s humanitarian agency in the occupied Palestinian territories said on Sunday. Complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination and hate in the US rose by about 180 percent in the first three months of Israel’s war on Gaza, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said on Monday. Hundreds of members of the Israeli settler community gathered for a convention in Jerusalem on Sunday calling for Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza. The so-called “Return to Gaza” conference called for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the enclave. Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Jerusalem convention, which was also attended by 11 ministers of Israel’s new right-wing coalition government and 15 Knesset members, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Human impact and fighting The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Sunday it has buried three people in the courtyard of the al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza as Israeli forces besiege the area. Israeli forces shot and killed a man in the town of al-Yamoun, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, early on Monday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. Israel’s war against Hamas could last “10 years, or even an entire generation”, Benny Gantz, a senior member of Netanyahu’s government, was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel citing an interview with Channel12. About 200 people, many of them journalists, took part in a vigil in Cape Town on Sunday evening to express solidarity with Palestinian journalists and remember media workers killed in Gaza since October 7, reported South African news outlet GroundUp. Diplomacy On Monday, Iran denied any involvement in the drone strike that killed three US soldiers near the Jordan-Syria border. During an event to honour Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused the International Court of Justice of twisting his words in its interim ruling ordering Israel to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. Japan announced on Sunday that it will suspend additional funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) while it awaits the outcome of the agency’s investigation into allegations that several of its staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel. Tokyo’s decision follows similar funding pauses by at least 10 Western countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the US. Jordan, Turkey, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Amnesty International have called on countries to reinstate funds for UNRWA. Adblock test (Why?)
Iranian FM in Pakistan to mend ties following mutual air strikes
Tehran and Islamabad have moved to de-escalate amid high concern that the Gaza war could spill out across region. Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Pakistan as the two countries seek to calm tensions, which have risen amid the conflict in Gaza. Hossein Amirabdollahian landed in Islamabad before dawn on Monday for “in-depth talks” with Pakistani counterpart, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Tehran and Islamabad are seeking to calm relations after carrying out tit-for-tat air strikes on each other’s territories earlier this month. The attacks, which each country claimed targeted terrorists in border regions and killed at least 11 people, came as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza escalated tension across the region. However, the elevated threat of a full-blown conflict appeared to send Islamabad and Tehran scrambling to pull back and rebuild diplomatic relations. The two ministers insisted following their meeting that close relations between Pakistan and Iran are an important source of stability for the region, and resolved to expand political and security cooperation. Both spoke of respect for one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The pair agreed to confront the “menace of terrorism” together, especially in the mountainous region on their shared border, which was the location of both air strikes. They also pledged to lift the regions economically. Iran’s Amirabdollahian added that “terrorists” in the border areas are supported by third countries. He did not offer any details on the claim. Western countries accuse Tehran of supporting several groups that they designate as terrorist. Iran’s foreign minister is also set to meet Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar during his visit. Amirabdollahian said that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Pakistan soon, adding that a date was yet be determined. Tit-for-tat Iran and Pakistan have long been wary of armed groups in their borderlands, and it is thought that internal political pressures, as well as the spillover of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, helped push them over the edge. Tension reached a nadir on January 17, when Iran struck a target in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. Tehran said it was a hideout for anti-Iran armed group Jaish al-Adl (the Army of Justice). Pakistan said two children were killed and three others were injured. Islamabad, in retaliation, recalled its ambassador from Tehran. Two days later it launched an air strike against what it alleges were hideouts of armed groups in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. Pakistan said it targeted Baloch groups with separatist aims, in an attack that killed at least nine people. The attacks sent concern spiking regarding a regional escalation of the Gaza war. Iran and Pakistan, however, quickly made a joint decision to de-escalate tensions and resume diplomatic links, with their respective ambassadors returning to their posts and Amirabdollahian’s visit arranged. During his trip, the Iranian official will also discuss Saturday’s killing of nine Pakistani labourers by gunmen in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, which Islamabad called “horrifying and despicable”. The families of the victims rallied on Sunday to demand their bodies be brought home. Pakistan has said that arrangements are being made with Iran’s help. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran executes four convicted of Israeli bomb plot
The defendants were accused of plotting a bomb attack on a factory making military equipment. Iran has executed four men it says were linked to an Israeli intelligence operation. The death sentences were carried out on Monday after the Supreme Court rejected appeals, according to Iranian state media. The quartet was accused of planning a bomb attack ordered by Israel’s Mossad agency. The men were convicted of illegally entering Iran from Iraq’s northern Kurdish region to attack a factory in the central city of Isfahan that produces equipment for the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics. The operation was planned for summer 2022 but was averted by Iranian intelligence. “The death sentence of four members of a group affiliated with the Zionist spy organisation … was carried out this morning,” the Iranian judiciary’s website Mizan Online reported. Iran and Israel are longtime foes. They’re currently locked in a row over Iran’s nuclear programme. Israel accuses Iran of backing armed groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, with which it is fighting. Iran says Israel has carried out a number of killings of Iranian officials and scientists, accusations that Tel Aviv neither confirms nor denies. Wave of executions Iran executes more people per year than any other country except China, according to Amnesty, and usually does so by hanging. In late December, it put to death three men and one woman convicted for alleged links to Mossad. Last week, Mohammed Ghobadlou, an Iranian man sentenced for his participation in antigovernment protests in late 2022 was executed. Critics said the defendant had suffered from mental health issues. “We are alarmed by reports of unfair trial proceedings in the case of Mr Ghobadlou, as well as in other cases, which fell far short of due process and fair trial standards required by international human rights law by which Iran is bound,” experts from UN’s human rights agency after the sentence was carried out. “We are dismayed by the unprecedented rise in executions in Iran and note that at least 834 people were executed in 2023, including 8 people associated with the nationwide protests,” the experts said. “We urge the Iranian government to stop this horrific wave of executions.” United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said last year that Iran had an “abominable” track record of executions, with an average of more than 10 people hanged each week. Adblock test (Why?)
Two brothers shot by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, white flag ignored
Khan Younis, Gaza – “Amal” in Arabic means hope, the kind of name given to a new neighbourhood to encourage people to move there and dream of their families growing up there. But last week, what weak glimmers of hope the Barbakh family had that they would make it out of al-Amal alive were quickly dashed when Israeli sniper fire took the lives of two of their sons. This photo taken by Ahmed Barbakh shows his two brothers shot on the street, Ramez was shot in the heart and fell on top of his 13-year-old brother who had been shot repeatedly. The white flag is visible where it fell from Nahedh’s hand [Courtesy of the Barbakh family] The two boys were waving a white flag. Orders to evacuate Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency has investigated the crime in which 13-year-old Nahedh and 20-year-old Ramez Barbakh were shot to death by sniper fire. On the morning of Wednesday, January 24, the Barbakhs were getting ready to leave al-Amal, west of Khan Younis, and move further south as they had been ordered to do by the leaflets dropping on their neighbourhood since the day before and by announcements by Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli army. “We didn’t know what to do,” the boys’ mother Islam told Al Jazeera. “In the beginning, we weren’t even sure about these evacuation orders because we hadn’t seen them ourselves. We were trying to lay low in our house and keep everybody safe. “But finally we realised that we would have to go and started trying to come up with a plan. My husband and sons thought maybe we could break a rear wall and go out that way, because we could hear that there was firing outside.” Eventually, though, the couple decided that the best way would be the most direct: they would walk out of their house with a white flag and make their way to al-Mawasi as directed. #عاجل 🔴🔴 الى سكان منطقة خان يونس في أحياء النصر، الأمل، مركز المدينة والمخيم (المعسكر) في بلوكات 107-112: من أجل سلامتكم عليكم الانتقال فورًا إلى المنطقة الإنسانية في المواصي عن طريق شارع البحر pic.twitter.com/K4MtDeKMSR — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 24, 2024 Translation: #URGENT to the residents of Khan Younis in the neighbourhoods of al-Nasser, al-Amal, town centre and the camp, in blocks 107-112: For your own safety, you must move immediately to the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi via the coastal road. “I called Nahedh over,” said Mohamed-Adel, their father. “I gave him a white cloth to wave above his head as a white flag. I thought, there’s no way anybody would want to hurt a child or would be scared of a child.” As the rest of the family was bundling together the last of their belongings that they thought they could take with them, Nahedh took a few cautious steps out of the front door, waving his white flag overhead and walking cautiously out to the corner so he could look at the main road to see which way his family should go. ‘They just lay there all day’ According to what the family told Al Jazeera, as Nahedh took a few steps out of the door, he was shot in the legs and fell to the ground. His father called to him from within the house’s doorway, coaxing his little boy to get up just a little bit and try to get back into the house. When Nahedh got up to try to make it back into the house, he was shot twice more, in the back and in the head. His brother Ahmed, 18, told Al Jazeera that the shooting was coming from the direction of al-Katiba about 400 metres [1,312 feet] away, an area where Sanad was able to confirm Israeli military activity on the day in question. Islam was paralysed with shock when she saw her children shot in the street [Courtesy of the Barbakh family] Seeing what had happened to his little brother, Ramez ran out of the house to try to pull him out of harm’s way. He was shot in the heart and fell on his stricken brother, white flag and all. Islam was unable to comprehend what had befallen her family, paralysed with anguish as she looked out of her window at her two sons lying crumpled on the road. “I kept hoping that they were still alive, that there was some breath in them,” she said. “I couldn’t think of anything other than ‘I want my children, I want my children.’ “I’m not sure how I stayed inside the house, but all I remember is screaming out of the window at anyone I saw on the other side of the street, asking them to help, to do anything. “They didn’t do anything, they couldn’t. Whenever I called out to someone, my husband and sons would shush me any way they could. They were there to kill people,” she continued. The family could not approach the bodies of Nahedh and Ramez and eventually had to flee the neighbourhood without knowing what became of them. “They were just there, in the street, all day,” said Islam. “When we left we couldn’t remove their bodies nor could we even stop to check on them. There was constant shooting.” Mohamed-Adel Barbakh talking to Al Jazeera [Courtesy Barbakh family] Only one photo survives of that crime. It was snapped by Ahmed, the boys’ brother, who told Al Jazeera he “took a photo of my murdered brothers so I never forget them, and to document this crime that was committed, the crime of shooting a child who is carrying a white flag and then shooting his brother who rushes out to save him”. What the investigation revealed The Sanad investigation pinpointed the exact location where Ramez and Nahedh were targeted by Israeli snipers, near the Harun ar-Rashid school in al-Amal, also known as “Block 109” on the map the Israeli army released of Gaza. According to the testimonies,
Israel, genocide and whether the ICJ matters
[unable to retrieve full-text content] International Court of Justice orders Israel to avoid genocidal acts, provide humanitarian aid — but will it be enough?
Iran denies involvement in drone attack that killed 3 US troops in Jordan
Tehran says it has ‘no connection’ to attack on logistics support base near Jordan-Syria border. Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US military personnel and injured dozens of others, state media has reported. US President Joe Biden and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron have blamed Iran-backed groups for Sunday’s attack near the border with Syria. “As we have clearly stated before, the resistance groups in the region are responding [to] the war crimes and genocide of the child-killing Zionist regime and… they do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani was quoted saying by IRNA on Monday. “These groups decide and act based on their own principles and priorities as well as the interests of their country and people.” Kanaani said claims of Iranian involvement were motivated by “specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region” and were “influenced by third parties, including the child-killing Zionist regime”. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also said in a statement carried by IRNA that Tehran had “no connection and had nothing to do” with the attack, which it blamed on “conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region”. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of Iran-backed armed groups, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The drone strike on Tower 22, a logistics support base, marked the first loss of American life by enemy fire since the start of the war in Gaza. Biden, who has staunchly backed Israel’s war in Gaza, condemned the “despicable and wholly unjust attack” and has vowed to hold all those responsible “to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing”. Washington has accused Iranian-backed groups of carrying out dozens of attacks on US military installations in Iraq and Syria since the start of the war. Adblock test (Why?)
Australia’s pro-Palestinian activists to continue targeting Israeli ships
Melbourne, Australia – Ports have emerged as the centre of pro-Palestine rallies in Australia as protesters target Israeli ships, and vessels alleged to have links with the country. Last week, dozens of people attempted to stop the ZIM Ganges container ship from reaching the Port of Melbourne, with police eventually deploying pepper spray to break up the blockade against a backdrop of shipping containers and cranes, the familiar symbols of a global industrialised world. Dozens were arrested after the picket blocked access to the wharf and forced the Victorian International Container Terminal (VICT) to close. Voluntary legal observers (MALS) who were accompanying the protesters say they were met by about 200 police, some of whom were on horseback. Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak of the community organisation Free Palestine Melbourne was at the blockade, which lasted for four days. “I have family in Gaza and they have nowhere to go in the bombarded prison it has become,” she said. Sofia Sabbagh, a prolific Melbourne-based Palestinian artist, was also there for the final showdown. “They circled us forming lines, intimidating us,” she told Al Jazeera, saying the group complied with a request to move on to avoid arrest. The legal observers say the crowd was not threatening and people were just chanting. “Once we were on public property, police pushed us away from our medical supplies and gear, pulling one person out of a wheelchair and pushing over a lot of other people, pepper spraying over 20 people,” Sabbagh added. “I was traumatised seeing a person being dragged out of their wheelchair.” Victoria Police said the use of pepper spray was in response to the “dynamic nature” of the blockade and the threat of “aggressive” protesters. After the dozen or so arrests, the exhausted enclave of activists descended onto Sandridge Beach. There, Declan Furber Gillick, a representative from the revolutionary group the Black People’s Union gave an impassioned final speech calling for the continued disruption of the military-industrial complex through the use of “peaceful, people-powered, revolutionary tactics” before the group disbanded and went home. The blockade was established at the port on the afternoon of January 19, a few hours before the ZIM Ganges, which sails under the Portuguese flag, was scheduled to dock in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city. Police deployed pepper spray against the people blockading the port [Leo Mace/Al Jazeera] ZIM shipping was founded in 1945 as part of Israel’s quest for statehood, initially helping Holocaust survivors travel to the new state of Israel. Currently Israel’s 10th-largest shipping company, ZIM has drawn protests since Chief Executive Eli Glickman promised to fulfil all of Israel’s needs after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and Israel’s declaration of war on Gaza. Port Melbourne handles about 8,850 containers a day and is Australia’s largest commercial port. The protests had “effectively halted operations” for almost four days, VICT said in a press release after the police ended the picket. Tradition of radical action The ragtag gang of activists worked in shifts, blocking six consecutive shifts of port workers from entering the terminal and forcing the ZIM Ganges to anchor in the bay until it was finally able to enter the port at about midnight on January 21. The blockade was originally organised by a group called Unionists for Palestine (U4P) but, as the days went by, attracted wider interest. By January 20, it had become a broad coalition of Palestinian, First Nations and antiwar groups. U4P member Fiona Healey said the picket was aimed at disrupting the company’s supply chain as it continued to “support and supply an apartheid regime”. This was reiterated by fellow community organiser John Smith. “We targeted the port of Melbourne in solidarity with Palestinians call to disrupt all companies complicit with the ongoing genocide in Gaza – and that includes ZIM shipping,” Smith said. Maritime Union Australia (MUA) members, such as dock workers, were advised not to cross the picket due to health and safety concerns. Many dock workers, who would have been escorted onto the terminal by police, refused to cross the picket line. An online fundraiser raised more than 25,000 Australian dollars ($16,469) for the workers, who were initially not paid for the days they did not work, but the money was redirected to Gaza relief efforts after the union secured pay for the dock workers. Ben Hjorth from U4P told Al Jazeera that the movement was linked to a broader “anti-war” cause within the Australian trade union movement. ZIM’s chief executive promised the company would do all it could to support Israel after the war on Gaza began [Briana Charles/Al Jazeera] He referenced Nelson Mandela’s 1990 speech in Melbourne, thanking Australian workers for leading the world in boycotting ships to apartheid-era South Africa. Hjorth cited those radical but successful MUA industrial actions as a source of inspiration, adding: “Sometimes you have to break the law to change it.” VICT Chief Executive Bruno Porchietto told Australian media outlet Channel 7 that the four-day picket had probably cost the port about “50,000 containers”, and Victoria “millions of dollars”. But the state’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, downplayed the blockade’s financial impact, saying the brief protest would only “minimally affect” the economy in the long run. As the ZIM Ganges finally came into the dock, some protesters were following it online through the vesselfinder.com tracking site. They say the ship disabled its GPS tracking as it came into port, noting the two tug boats accompanying it did not, leaving a gap where the ZIM Ganges was. “This is highly unusual behaviour,” said U4P’s Hjorth. Under Australian maritime law, ships can only disable their GPS tracking for safety and security reasons. Since the protests, other ships have been able to dock in Melbourne without disruption. But the threat of action remains. Hjorth said the group aims to disrupt Israeli supply chains until there is a “permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation”. On Monday, the ZIM Ganges was due to arrive in Sydney, where protesters held
China’s property giant Evergrande ordered to liquidate as debt talks fail
Hong Kong court orders developer to wind up after finding company has no viable restructuring plan. China’s troubled real-estate giant the Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate, a move likely to deal a new blow to confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. A Hong Kong court made the ruling on Monday after the company failed to convince a judge it had a workable plan to restructure some $300bn in debts. “It would be a situation where the court says enough is enough,” Judge Linda Chan said. “I consider that it is appropriate for the court to make a winding up order against the company, and I so order.” The ruling follows 18 months of legal wrangling after creditor Top Shine, in 2022, filed a petition to wind up the developer in a bid to recoup its losses. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, had been granted a brief reprieve in December after arguing it needed time to refine its restructuring plan. Chan said the court had in December “made it very clear it expected to see a fully formulated and viable proposal”. Evergrande’s lawyer Jose-Antonio Maurellet defended the revised plan and denied that the developer had acted in bad faith. Evergrande’s default on repayments to international investors in 2021, after Beijing began cracking down on excessive borrowing for real estate, sent shockwaves through China’s property sector, which accounts for an estimated 15-30 percent of the economy. More than 50 Chinese real-estate developers have defaulted or missed payments during the past three years, according to credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P). Hong Kong-listed shares in Evergrande plunged by more than 20 percent following the ruling on Monday, before the city’s stock exchange halted trading in the stock. The move is the latest in a series of warning signs for China’s $18 trillion economy, whose post-COVID recovery is facing challenges ranging from crackdowns on private industry to a declining population and an exodus of foreign capital. China’s official gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2 percent last year was the worst performance in decades, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. After Monday’s ruling in Hong Kong, the fate of Evergrande’s asset sheet is uncertain. While China signed an agreement with Hong Kong to recognise insolvency and restructuring proceedings in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen, it is unclear whether mainland courts would sanction liquidators seizing the developer’s assets in the country. Hong Kong’s common law system, adopted during the British colonial era, is distinct from China’s Communist Party-controlled courts. Chinese mainland courts have so far only recognised one liquidation order granted in Hong Kong. In 2022, a Shenzhen court ordered the recognition of liquidators for paper manufacturing firm Samson Paper. Adblock test (Why?)
North Korea’s Kim ‘guided’ submarine-launched cruise missile test: KCNA
Second test of weapon in days as North Korea accelerates efforts to modernise its navy. North Korean state media say the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the launch of two submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM), the second test of the weapon within days. The newly-developed Pulhwasal-3-31 missiles “flew in the sky above the East Sea … to hit the island target”, the KCNA news agency reported on Monday, adding that Kim “guided” the launch. It shared photos of Kim at an undisclosed location pointing at a missile in the sky and laughing with members of the military. In other images, huge clouds of white smoke obscured the actual launch platform. South Korea’s military announced on Sunday that multiple missiles had been launched from waters near the North Korean port of Sinpo, where Pyongyang operates a shipyard that manufactures naval assets including submarines. It did not go into further detail. The Pulhwasal-3-31 is a new generation of nuclear-capable cruise missile that Pyongyang first tested last Wednesday, as it seeks to enhance the weapons capability of the country’s navy. The testing of cruise missiles, which are jet-propelled and fly at lower altitudes, is not banned under United Nations sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme that outlaw ballistic missile testing. KCNA said the SLCMs were in the air for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds – approximately two hours – but did not say how far they flew. North Korea’s exact sea-based launch capabilities remain unclear, and previous tests have been carried out from older vessels, including from a submerged platform, rather than an actual submarine. Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over Sunday’s test, according to KCNA, noting North Korea’s determination to build a “powerful naval force”. The North Korean leader separately inspected “the building of a nuclear submarine” and discussed issues related to the construction of other new warships, the report added without giving details. “They will focus on improving naval power in the East Sea and test weapons systems that can be mounted on submarines, with the first attempt being this strategic cruise missile,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies told the AFP news agency. “In the future, it will lead to the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nuclear-powered submarines, which will have a much higher impact than SLCMs,” he added. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chatting with military officials at the submarine-launched cruise missile test [KCNA via Reuters] Proven SLBM capability would take North Korea’s arsenal to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean Peninsula and a second-strike capability in the event of an attack. Choi Il, a retired South Korean Navy submarine captain, said once a nuclear-tipped SLCM becomes operational, it will pose a “new threat” to South Korea. “North Korea will be equipped with a two-track nuclear attack means, with the capabilities of mass destruction of a SLBM and precision strike of a SLCM,” he said. In recent months, North Korea has tested a variety of weapons, including ballistic missile systems under development and an underwater drone. Last September, Kim launched the country’s first nuclear attack submarine, which analysts said was probably designed to carry ballistic and cruise missiles and appeared to be modified from an existing diesel-powered submarine. KCNA said the submarine marked the beginning of a new chapter for North Korea’s navy. Adblock test (Why?)
UK says it thwarted Houthis’ drone attack in the Red Sea
UK says Houthis attacked British military vessel in the Red Sea resulting in no damage and no injuries. A UK vessel shot down a Houthi drone in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has said, as tensions in the Middle East soar amid the ongoing war in Gaza. “Yesterday HMS Diamond successfully repelled a drone attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea,” read a statement from the ministry published on Sunday on X. “Diamond destroyed a drone targeting her, with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew,” it added. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis. The Yemen-based group previously pledged to target Israel-linked vessels in the region as part of an effort to pressure the country’s government to end its bombardment of Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid supplies into the coastal Palestinian enclave. Gaza has been under heavy bombardment by Israeli forces since October 7, when Hamas fighters stormed communities in southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people and taking about 240 others captive, according to Israeli officials. At least 26,400 people in Gaza have been killed in the Israeli assault since, according to Palestinian authorities in the territory. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have caused major disruption to global commerce as the area is a key artery for maritime trade. Some of the world’s largest shipping companies have suspended operations in the region, instead sending their cargo vessels on a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, slowing trade between Asia and Europe. In response to the Houthi strikes on dozens of commercial vessels, the UK and United States launched multiple air raids targeting Houthi military positions, including missile depots and launcher sites, in Yemen. The US also re-designated the Houthis as a “terrorist” organisation. US President Joe Biden had delisted the group in 2021. The Houthis responded to the strikes by expanding the threat to any US and UK-linked vessels in the region. The Houthi have seized large swathes of northern Yemen since launching an offensive against the government in 2014. The war forced internationally recognised Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his cabinet to relocate to the southern port city of Aden, while it also triggered a brutal air bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia. A truce has been in place since April 2022 as talks progressed between the Houthis and Riyadh over a permanent ceasefire. Adblock test (Why?)