CAIRO: The United States shot down four drones headed toward a US destroyer in the southern Red Sea and launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
“These attacks represent the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi militants since Oct. 17,” CENTCOM wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have disrupted world trade for weeks with attacks on ships passing through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea in what they say is a response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The US Naval Forces Central Command responded to distress calls from two ships under attack, CENTCOM said.
The Norwegian-flagged, -owned and -operated chemical/oil tanker Blaamanen reported a near miss in a Houthi drone attack, while a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker reported being hit by a one-way attack, CENTCOM wrote on X.
The Indian tanker was sailing in front of the Norwegian ship when it was hit by the drone, Blaamanen’s operator Hansa Tankers said in a statement on Sunday.
“Owing to the close vicinity our master alerted the US Navy which came to the scene, offering protection,” the company said.
The Norwegian tanker transporting non-flammable vegetable oil from Europe to India and its crew were safe and proceeded as planned, Hansa Tankers added.
Two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were also “fired into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen,” it said. “No ships reported being impacted by the ballistic missiles.”
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency earlier reported that an uncrewed aerial system had exploded near a vessel in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, 45 nautical miles southwest of Saleef, Yemen.
The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian three days ago, saying more than a dozen countries had agreed to participate in an effort that will involve joint patrols in Red Sea waters near Yemen.
The Sanaa-based group has obstructed their passage through the strait.
US shoots down 4 drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas
https://arab.news/wv8vx
US shoots down 4 drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas
- The Iran-aligned Houthis have disrupted world trade for weeks with attacks on ships passing through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait
Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with “terrorists” who threaten it had worn thin.
The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” against Iran.
In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting and a Hezbollah official told Reuters last week that the group did not intend to initiate attacks against Israel.
Gaza rescuers say 43 killed by Israeli forces
- Civil defense official says 26 people killed while gathered near aid distribution center
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution center, the latest in a string of deadly incidents targeting aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.
“Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid,” Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the civil defense agency in Gaza, told AFP.
UN warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ of escalating Sudan fighting
- The United Nations’ rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that escalating fighting in Sudan’s west and center risks aggravating harm to civilians and abuses
GENEVA: The United Nations’ rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that escalating fighting in Sudan’s west and center risks aggravating harm to civilians and abuses, more than two years into the country’s war.
Turk in a statement warned of “the disastrous consequences stemming from ongoing and escalating hostilities” in North Darfur and Kordofan states, “amid a pervasive culture of impunity for human rights violations.”
Gaza faces a manmade drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
- “Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva
- “We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten” said a father in Gaza
GENEVA: Gaza is facing a manmade drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations’ children agency said on Friday.
“Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40 percent of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
Israel is now channelling much of the aid into Gaza through a new US – and Israeli-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which uses private US security and logistics firms and operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces.
Israel has said it will continue to allow aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million people, while ensuring it doesn’t get to Hamas. Hamas denies seizing aid, saying Israel uses hunger as a weapon.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, called the current system for distributing aid “a disgrace & a stain on our collective consciousness,” in a post on X on Wednesday.
Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, displaced almost all the territory’s residents, and caused a severe hunger crisis.
The World Food Programme called on Wednesday for a big increase in food distribution in Gaza, saying that the 9,000 metric tons it had dispatched over the last four weeks inside Gaza represented a “tiny fraction” of what was needed.
“The fear of starvation and desperate need for food is causing large crowds to gather along well-known transport routes, hoping to intercept and access humanitarian supplies while in transit,” the WFP said in a statement.
“Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable,” it added.
Palestinians in Gaza have been closely following Israel’s air war with Iran, long a major supporter of Hamas.
“We are maybe happy to see Israel suffer from Iranian rockets, but at the end of the day, one more day in this war costs the lives of tens of innocent people,” said 47-year-old Shaban Abed, a father of five from northern Gaza.
“We just hope that a comprehensive solution could be reached to end the war in Gaza, too. We are being forgotten.”
Iran rejects any negotiation with US while Israeli attacks continue
- ‘The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations’
- ‘But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue’
TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any negotiations with the United States while Israel continues its attacks on Iran, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Friday.
“The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue,” said the chief diplomat, who was due in Geneva for talks with his European counterparts.
