International health organizations condemn strike that killed 4 ambulance crew members
The World Health Organization and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued statements on social media denouncing the strike on an ambulance crew in Gaza on Wednesday.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that a driver, paramedic, first responder and volunteer photographer were killed in a strike in Deir al-Balah, which is the central area of Gaza. In a post on social media site X, the IFRC described the deaths as unacceptable and said health workers must never be targeted.
“We express our profound sadness & send our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones & stand in solidarity with our colleagues at @PalestineRCS,” the organization wrote. “Protection of patients and health care workers is not negotiable.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general at the WHO, said he was appalled by the reports.
“Violence and attacks on health and civilians must end,” Tedros wrote on X.
Sanders says U.S. is ‘complicit’ in Gaza deaths
Speaking on the Senate floor about his resolution to get a report on Israel’s military offensive and consequent humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the U.S. is “deeply complicit in what is going on in Gaza right now.”
“Those are our weapons that are killing men, women and children in huge numbers,” Sanders said.
85% of Gaza’s population is displaced, U.N. says
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on X that 85% of Gaza’s population — representing 1.9 million people — is “internally displaced.”
The office said U.N. facilities for displaced people have been the subject of 220 “incidents,” with over 300 people killed at the facilities.
In shelter where Hamas killed trapped Israelis: Smell of blood and a mother’s grief
Three months on, the scent of blood still hung in the air in the cramped concrete bomb shelter where rampaging Hamas fighters tossed grenades and opened fire to kill dozens of Israelis trapped inside.
Tali Kizhner knelt, caressing the foot of a bullet-and-shrapnel-scarred wall, now painted white to cover the bloodstains and scorch marks. One of the victims here was her 22-year-old son, Segev, who had sought safety after fleeing a music festival on the morning of Oct. 7.
“I wanted to know where his last moments were, whether there was anywhere to hide. What happened there. To feel it,” she said.
The blank white walls of bomb shelters on Road 232 through southern Israel have become a canvas of bereavement for family and friends of those killed inside. Inscriptions, drawings, prayers and poems commemorate the dead.
“This is where the dream of peace died,” reads one.
The tiny rooms, barely 60 square feet, provided scant protection from gunmen, who, under the cover of rocket barrages, burst into Israel, stormed nearby towns and villages and set up ambushes on roads.
Segev was among dozens of young Israelis who fled the Nova open-air music festival to a handful of nearby shelters, built to provide protection from incoming Gaza rockets.
Segev, several of his friends and around 20 more people were packed inside one of two shelters near the Re’im kibbutz, where some of the carnage was caught on camera.
A dashcam video showed gunmen tossing grenades inside, seven of which were tossed back out, and then shooting into the shelter. A separate video showed at least two bloodied men and a woman being taken out of the shelter as captives.
For four days afterward, Kizhner did not know her son’s fate, until the family was finally informed.
Seven people survived, including one of Segev’s wounded friends, who brought back the bloodied Star of David pendant his grandparents gave Segev on his bar mitzvah.
‘Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza,’ Netanyahu says
In a brief video statement in English today, Netanyahu said Israel plans to eliminate Hamas so it can be “demilitarized and deradicalized” but not reoccupied.
“Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law.”
His statement comes directly after a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the evening before Israel is set to defend itself against a genocide claim in the International Court of Justice.
An 84-page legal filing submitted by South Africa accused Israel of trying to destroy a substantial part of the Palestinian “national, racial and ethnic group” by killing, injuring and displacing Palestinian civilians and denying them food, water and other essentials.
International law experts told NBC News that the recent comments from senior right-wing members of Netanyahu’s government about permanently removing Palestinians from the strip, while it is not part of Israel’s official plans, could ultimately hurt its case.
Israel showing few signs of winding down war in Gaza as Hamas leader at large
BEIRUT — Israel is showing few signs of winding down the war against Hamas, as its leader is still at large.
Video shows Israeli vehicle running over Palestinians shot in West Bank clash
Security video from the occupied West Bank shows an Israeli military vehicle running over the bodies of two Palestinians who appear to be dead.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the vehicle was dispatched to extricate forces caught under heavy fire in the town of Iktaba. According to the IDF, its team was conducting a counterterrorism operation and three “terrorists” were killed.
In their attempt to leave, the IDF vehicle unintentionally ran over their bodies, according to the statement. It also said the incident, which is not shown in its entirety, was under review.
The surveillance footage includes audio and images that viewers may find disturbing.
IDF claims 2 journalists killed on Sunday were terrorists
The Israeli military said in a statement today that the two journalists, Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya, killed Sunday in a targeted strike were terrorists, an allegation that has not been confirmed by NBC News.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, soldiers found documents identifying Thuraya as a Hamas squad commander and Dahdouh as a member of the Islamic Jihad’s electric engineering unit, as well as a deputy commander in a rocket unit. The IDF says that the men were operating a drone near Israeli soldiers, which prompted the strike.
The IDF released a document with an Al-Quds Brigades logo that it says is dated June 2022 and included Dahdouh’s name on a list under the title “electronic engineering,” according to an NBC News Arabic translation. The document requested that the names be approved with financial compensation but no additional information was provided.
The document has not been independently verified by NBC News.
The two journalists’ employer, Al Jazeera, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The IDF initially said that two people were in the same car as a terrorist. When asked by NBC News if the IDF had evidence to support its allegation that an individual in the vehicle was a terrorist, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the incident was “unfortunate” and an investigation was ongoing.
Dahdouh was the son of Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh and also worked for the organization. Al Jazeera also confirmed that Thuraya was a freelance drone operator who was part of a convoy of journalists on their way home from filming the aftermath of an airstrike when their vehicle was targeted by Israeli forces.
Four ambulance crew members and two others killed, Palestine Red Crescent reports
Four ambulance crew members and two others were killed in a strike in Deir al-Balah, the central area of Gaza, according to statements from the Palestine Red Crescent Society today.
The crew members were identified in a post on X as driver Yusuf Abu Ma’mar, paramedic Fadi Fuad Al-Maani, first responder Islam Abu Riyala, and volunteer photographer Fuad Abu Khamash. The two noncrew members killed were not identified.
A bloody and torn Red Crescent jacket that one of the crew members was purportedly wearing at the time of the strike was seen in a video clip posted by the organization. It’s unclear if the jacket was still on a body as there were no visible body parts apparent.
Another clip posted by the PCRS shows colleagues attempting to console an anguished crew member on the ground, screaming beside an ambulance.
Strike brings down building in central Gaza near Al-Aqsa Hospital
The military is now focusing major operations on the southern city of Khan Younis and built-up refugee camps in central Gaza that date back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent days in continuing strikes across the territory, including in areas of the far south where people have been told to seek refuge.
A heavy strike on today brought down a two-story building in the central town of Deir al-Balah, close to its main Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing at least six people, according to hospital officials. Footage from the scene showed people running toward the collapsed building, then pulling concrete blocks off people buried in the rubble.
Late yesterday, a strike in Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah hit a house, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 20 others, including women and children, health officials said. Associated Press reporters saw the dead and wounded being brought into nearby hospitals.
Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. jumped 360% after Oct. 7 Hamas attack, advocacy group says
The number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose sharply in the three months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to new data from the Anti-Defamation League, which tracked a total of 3,283 anti-Jewish incidents between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7 — a 360% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
The preliminary data compiled by the ADL, first reported by NBC News, shows there was an average of nearly 34 antisemitic incidents every day following the Oct. 7 assault, putting 2023 on track to be the highest year for antisemitic acts against Jewish people since the ADL began keeping track in the late 1970s, according to the organization.
The preliminary three-month tally was higher than the total number of antisemitic incidents recorded in any full year over the last decade, save for 2022, when the total number hit a high of 3,697. Todd Gutnick, a spokesman for the ADL, said the group will soon release data covering the first nine months of last year.
“The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the ADL. “It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”
Read the full story here.
Biden and Netanyahu have not had a phone call in 18 days
President Joe Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not spoken on the phone since Dec. 23, according to a log of readouts provided by the White House.
The cadence of calls has slowed down considerably since the initial weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, with the two leaders speaking every couple of days dwindling down to about once week through the beginning of December. On the day of their last call 18 days ago, the death of American hostage Judith Weinstein was announced.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu and the country’s war Cabinet yesterday during his visit to Israel.
Ahead of Hague hearings, Israeli and South African officials take aim at each other
Israeli and South African officials accused each other today, as the International Court of Justice is expected to start hearings tomorrow on a genocide allegation against Israel brought by South Africa.
During a news briefing, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy accused South Africa of advocating for the devil. He referred to the country by its capital city, Pretoria.
“Tomorrow, the State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel, as Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas Rapist Regime,” Levy said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also addressed the issue today during a eulogy for anti-apartheid activist Peter Sexford Magubane. He said he had hope for the future of the region but stated that Israel has committed crimes against the Palestinians.
“Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ,” he said. “As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will stand on the right side of history.”
Houthis’ attack on American ship was a ‘preliminary response’ after Dec. 31 deaths, group says
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said in a statement today that it attacked an American ship as part of a “preliminary response” to the U.S. shooting down three of its ships on Dec. 31, an incident that killed 10 people.
The Houthis “carried out a joint military operation with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones” against a U.S. ship it accused of providing support to Israel.
“The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from navigating in the Arabian and Red Seas until the aggression stops and the siege on our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip is lifted,” the statement said.
With the help of a British ship, a U.S. destroyer shot down a massive barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said earlier. It’s thought to be the group’s largest attack since the war began.
ICJ should consider destroyed buildings as ‘evidence of genocide’ in Gaza, U.N. special rapporteur says
When considering genocide accusations against Israel, the International Court of Justice should consider that more than half of the houses in Gaza have been destroyed, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to housing said on X today.
Balakrishnan Rajagopal said the U.N.’s top court “should consider this as evidence of genocide when coupled with public statements documented before it by South Africa.”
South Africa filed a case to be heard by a panel of 15 judges at the ICJ starting Thursday and Friday. Its 84-page legal filing accuses Israel of killing, injuring and displacing Palestinian civilians, and denying them food, water and other essentials since Oct. 7 in a way that’s “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
The ICJ case has huge significance politically, legally and in the court of public opinion. Its rulings are binding under international law, and both Israel and South Africa are party to its decisions — but some countries, including Russia and indeed the United States, have ignored or rejected them in the past.
Israel has vowed to fight back at the hearings. The country is still reeling from the Oct. 7 attack in which hundreds of civilians were killed, including 300 partygoers at the Nova music festival, and some 240 hostages were seized in an attack that also appeared to include dozens of instances of sexual violence, according to evidence reviewed by NBC News.
Grief for family members killed in southern Gaza
A woman cries over the bodies of family members at al Najar hospital in Rafah today, after they were killed during an Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza city yesterday.
Severe hunger aggravates charges of genocide, U.N. special rapporteur says
Almost half of the population of Gaza “experience severe hunger,” the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories said on X today.
Francesca Albanese added that in some areas 9 out of 10 families go 24 hours without food.
This aggravates charges of genocide, she added, apparently referring to a case filed at the International Court of Justice in the Hague by South Africa, which will begin on Thursday and Friday. Israel has vowed to fight back at the hearings.
South Africa’s 84-page legal filing accuses Israel of killing, injuring and displacing Palestinian civilians, and denying them food, water and other essentials since Oct.7 in a way that’s “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
Israel faces a genocide case, and comments on displacing Gazans could complicate its defense
Facing accusations of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel is preparing to defend itself this week at the United Nations’ top court in a high-profile legal battle that comes at a decisive time during its military campaign after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks.
The courtroom charge is led by South Africa, a staunch Israel critic, which has filed a case to be heard at the U.N.’s International Court of Justice starting Thursday and Friday.
Its 84-page legal filing accuses Israel of acting since Oct. 7 — killing, injuring and displacing Palestinian civilians, and denying them food, water and other essentials — in a way that’s “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
The court, known as the ICJ, is composed of 15 judges, who will hear oral arguments from lawyers representing South Africa and Israel. The hearings will be streamed live on the court’s website, and the room itself has space for around 30 journalists to attend in person.
Read full story here.
Gaza integral to Palestinian statehood, Abbas tells Blinken
The Gaza Strip is integral to Palestinian statehood and an international peace conference needs to be convened to end the ongoing conflict, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a meeting earlier today.
At a meeting in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the pair discussed the situation on the ground in Gaza, efforts to stop the war and speeding up the delivery of aid into the enclave, a statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Information said.
Abbas also cautioned against suggestions from Israeli officials the Palestinians should leave their land in Gaza and the West Bank, the statement said. It added that he also called Gaza “an integral part of the Palestinian state” and stressed the need for convening “an international peace conference” to end the war.
Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority, which partially administers the West Bank. His Fatah movement is a rival of Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Saudi-Israel normalization not over despite Gaza war, Blinken says crown prince told him
TEL AVIV — Saudi Arabia’s defacto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, has told the U.S. that a deal to normalize relations with Israel is not over because of the war in Gaza, and the kingdom is prepared to move forward with plans to recognize Israel once the war is over if the Palestinians have a pathway for rights, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Blinken said that the crown prince, along with leaders he met with in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on his diplomatic tour, all want a durable peace for the entire region if the Palestinians can get a state, as the U.S. has also demanded since the Oslo Accords decades ago.
“They want a region that includes Israel. They’re prepared to do things, to make commitments, to give assurances for Israel’s security. But that also has to include the Palestinian piece,” Blinken said. “And then you have an integrated region, a peaceful region, a secure region with some outliers, like Iran and its proxies.”
When asked specifically whether he was saying that bin Salman told him normalization was not dead because of Oct. 7, Blinken replied, “That’s correct.”
“He and virtually every other leader I talk to supports moving forward with integration, normalization if you want to call it. But, of course, the conflict in Gaza needs to end,” Blinken said. “And there has to be a pathway for Palestinian rights.”
Before the Hamas attack on Israel, the Saudis, Israel and the Biden administration had been holding intensive talks on the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The prospect was a major topic of discussion among leaders of the three countries and their foreign ministers during meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. Israel saw major security, diplomatic and economic advantages from the prospect of Saudi recognition, anticipating the rest of the Arab world would follow.
It would be the final, most difficult piece of the Abraham Accords initiated by the Trump administration to get Arab countries to recognize Israel. In return, the Saudi crown prince was demanding U.S. security guarantees and a civilian nuclear reactor to diversify the Saudi oil-based economy. The nuclear and security agreement for Saudi Arabia would require Senate confirmation, something multiple U.S. officials say the Biden White House hoped to accomplish early this year before it became consumed in re-election politics. U.S officials acknowledged they would have to overcome some criticism, chiefly from Senate critics of Saudi Arabia because of human rights violations, most notably the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Blinken met with the Saudi leader Monday evening at his winter retreat in Al Ula, a picturesque ancient town in Northwest Saudi Arabia that is along the historic spice route going back more than two thousand years. The crown prince is developing the area into a modern resort.
U.N. Security Council to vote on a resolution demanding Houthi rebels stop attacks on Red Sea shipping
The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote today on a resolution that would condemn and demand an immediate halt to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea area.
The U.S. draft resolution, obtained late yesterday by The Associated Press, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce “and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”
The Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014, have said they launched the attacks with the aim of ending Israel’s devastating air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution would demand the immediate release of the first ship the Houthis attacked, the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated cargo ship with links to an Israeli company that it seized Nov. 19 along with its crew.
Protests break out in Ramallah over Blinken visit
Palestinians protest a visit by Blinken in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank today, during a tour aimed at calming tensions in the region.
Iraq seeks quick exit of U.S. forces but no deadline set, PM says
Iraq wants a quick and orderly negotiated exit of U.S-led military forces from its soil but has not set a deadline, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said, describing their presence as destabilizing amid regional spillover from the Gaza war.
Long-standing calls by mostly Shia Muslim factions, many close to Iran, for the U.S-led coalition’s departure have gained steam after a series of U.S. strikes on Iran-linked militant groups that are also part of Iraq’s formal security forces.
Those strikes, which came in response to dozens of drone and missile attacks on U.S. forces since Israel launched its Gaza campaign, have raised fears that Iraq could once again become a theater for regional conflict.
“There is a need to reorganize this relationship so that it is not a target or justification for any party, internal or foreign, to tamper with stability in Iraq and the region,” Sudani told Reuters in an interview in Baghdad yesterday.
The Pentagon on Monday said it had no plans to withdraw U.S. troops, which are in Iraq at the invitation of its government.
Giving the first details of his thinking about the future of the coalition since his Jan. 5 announcement that Iraq would begin the process of closing it down, Sudani said the exit should be negotiated under “a process of understanding and dialogue”.
“Let’s agree on a time frame (for the coalition’s exit) that is, honestly, quick, so that they don’t remain long and the attacks keep happening,” he said, noting that only an end to Israel’s war on Gaza would stop the risk of regional escalation.
“This (end of the Gaza war) is the only solution. Otherwise, we will see more expansion of the arena of conflict in a sensitive region for the world that holds much of its energy supply,” Sudani said.
A U.S. withdrawal would likely increase concern in Washington about the influence of arch foe Iran over Iraq’s ruling elite. Iran-backed Shia groups gained strength in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Blinken en route to Bahrain after meeting with Abbas
TEL AVIV — Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the Palestinian president in the occupied West Bank this morning and is now on his way to Bahrain for an unscheduled addition to his Middle East tour.
In a release, the State Department said Blinken discussed with Mahmoud Abbas ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm in Gaza and increase the delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the enclave in their meeting earlier today.
Blinken reaffirmed that Washington supports “tangible steps” toward the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel, the release said.
Blinken will meet with the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, next. Bahrain is an Arab ally of Washington and host to a major U.S. naval base.
Blinken is scheduled to be back in Tel Aviv tonight as his trip continues. It had previously been expected he would be visiting Egypt before returning to Washington.
More food aid needed in Gaza, WHO warns, amid looming famine risk
There is an urgent need for more food aid in Gaza, particularly in the north, according to Sean Casey, a WHO emergency medical teams coordinator.
“The food situation in the north is absolutely horrific, there’s almost no food available,” he told journalists in Geneva via video from southern Gaza.
The risk of famine in Gaza is also increasing daily, in large part because of the restricted humanitarian access, according to a United Nations report.
Doctors Without Borders condemns death of Gaza staffer’s 5-year-old daughter
Doctors Without Borders has condemned the death of a staff member’s 5-year-old daughter in what it said was a strike on its shelter in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday.
MSF said that more than 100 MSF staff and their family members were seeking safety in the shelter at the time of the incident.
The child was critically injured after MSF said a “suspected tank shell” broke through the wall of the shelter. She underwent surgery but died of her injuries yesterday, it added. Three other people received minor injuries during the strike, according to MSF. The humanitarian group said it notified the Israeli forces that the shelter was housing MSF staff and their families ahead of the incident.
NBC News could not independently verify the details of the strike.
“In response to Hamas’ barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities,” the Israeli army said when asked about the incident.
“In stark contrast to Hamas’ intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” the IDF added.
U.K. condemns ‘largest’ Houthi attack in the Red Sea
The U.K. defense minister said a British naval ship, along with the U.S. warships, repelled what he said was the largest attack yet by the Iranian-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said multiple attack drones fired by the militants were destroyed with guns and sea viper missiles, and there were no injuries or damage to the ship.
He called Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “completely unacceptable” and said the militants will bear the consequences if they don’t stop.
“We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy,” Shapps said.
U.S. Central Command has also confirmed that American forces, with the help of a British destroyer, shot down 21 munitions fired by the Houthis.
It was the 27th attack by Houthis on the trade route since Nov. 19, according to NBC News’ accounts.
Israeli military says it struck more than 150 targets in Gaza
The Israeli military said this morning it had hit approximately 150 sites in Gaza over the last 24 hours.
In an operational update, the IDF said it ground troops directed aircraft to strike “several terrorists” in the Maghazi area in central Gaza, and uncovered more than 15 underground tunnel shafts in the area.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, in the south, the IDF said its ground troops directed its aircraft to strike and eliminate “more than 10 terrorists.”
NBC News could not verify the IDF’s claims or the nature of the targets hit.
Blinken visits West Bank for talks with Abbas
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the occupied West Bank for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
It’s part of Blinken’s fourth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and after his talks with Israeli leaders yesterday. In a news conference, Blinken said the daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly on children, is “far too high.”
In an exclusive interview with NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Blinken also said Washington has been urging Israel to do “everything possible” to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, and that he was optimistic that Hamas “can and will” resume negotiations on hostage releases even after the targeted killing of one of its leaders and two Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon.
U.S. and U.K. shoot down huge Houthi attack in Red Sea
U.S. Central Command confirmed tonight that U.S. forces, with the help of a British destroyer, shot down 21 munitions fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen.
Central Command said the attack, one of the largest since the Houthis began targeting international containerships in response to Israel’s incursions into Gaza in the fall, led to the launching and firing of 18 weaponized drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship ballistic missile toward shipping lanes where dozens of merchant ships were at sea.
It wasn’t clear whether there was a target more specific than merchant ships using the waterway, which is crucial to global trade. No injuries or damaged vessels were reported.
Central Command credited a “combined effort” that included F/A-18s from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, as well as contributions from the U.S. and Royal Navy destroyers USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason and HMS Diamond.
It was the 27th attack by Houthis on the trade route since Nov. 19, according to NBC News’ accounts. Two U.S. defense officials said the U.S. has prepared a plan with options for how it should respond.
The Houthis are one of a number of Iran-backed militant groups in the region that threaten to expand Israel’s war with Hamas militants into a broader Middle East fight that would pit forces backed by Iran against Israel and its U.S. support.
U.S. diplomats have said they don’t want to see the scenario play out.
Multiple Israeli military operations fuel anger among Palestinians in small West Bank city
TULKAREM, occupied West Bank — On the outskirts of Tulkarem, a small Palestinian city in the northwest of the West Bank, hundreds took to the streets yesterday.
Local leaders, residents, and members of the area’s militant groups marched in a funeral procession for three young men, shot dead Monday in a night-time raid carried out by the Israeli security forces. Masked militants fired semi-automatic weapons into the air as others carried the bodies of the dead to a nearby cemetery.
Tulkarem has long been home to large contingent of Palestinian hard-liners, and the last several months have seen militant groups there only growing in popularity. Since the Hamas attacks Oct. 7, there’s been an uptick of Israeli military activity in and around Tulkarem; the Israeli forces have carried out at least seven major operations in the area, according to local Palestinian officials.
The Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, a poor neighborhood outside the city center, has been the focus of much of Israel’s recent military activity in the area — where many residents have been detained, killed or have had homes damaged.
“The people are angry — for losing their children, for losing their homes,” Suleiman al-Zuhairi, a Nur Shams official, told NBC News. “The camp is a very hard place to live in and what we see from the Israeli action is that they are trying to create an enemy in every house. … Nobody knows why all the people have to be punished.”
Catch up with NBC News’ latest coverage of the war
