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Middle East crisis live: Houthis target ship carrying Russian oil after being ‘mistakenly linked to UK’ - report [1]

['Léonie Chao-Fong', 'Lili Bayer', 'Amy Sedghi', 'Reged Ahmad']

Date: 2024-01-12

From 14m ago 13.04 EST Houthis target ship carrying Russian oil after being 'mistakenly linked to UK' - report We reported earlier that the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a missile being fired towards a vessel in the Red Sea about 90 nautical miles south-east of Yemen’s port city of Aden. Reuters reported that the British maritime security firm Ambrey said: This was the second tanker mistakenly targeted by the Houthis whilst carrying Russian oil. “A Panama-flagged tanker sighted three skiffs while transiting eastbound through the International Recommended Transit Corridor,” Reuters reported that the Ambrey report said. It said the vessel reported a missile hitting the water. The firm assessed that the vessel was mistakenly targeted based on outdated publicly available information linking the vessel to the UK: This appeared to be five months old but was still listed as UK-affiliated on a public maritime database.



30m ago 12.48 EST Israeli hostages in Gaza to receive medicines in coming days, says Israeli PM's office Israel has negotiated a deal with Qatar that will allow the delivery of medicines to hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. The deal “will allow the entry of medicines for the hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza”, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Friday. The medications would be given to the hostages “in the next few days”, the office said. The announcement comes after a New York Times report said Qatar was engaged in high-level discussions with Hamas to deliver vital prescription medicines to Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. The talks on medical aid are separate from wider negotiations on another hostage release, the report said. Families of the hostages in Gaza, many of whom are elderly or suffer from health conditions that require regular medical care, have petitioned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit their relatives in order to deliver medicine and inspect their conditions. The Red Cross has said access has been denied by Hamas.

Updated at 12.51 EST

39m ago 12.39 EST Lauren Gambino A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers assailed Joe Biden for failing to seek congressional approval before authorizing military strikes against targets in Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi militants. “This is an unacceptable violation of the constitution,” said congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and the chair of the Progressive Caucus. Article 1 requires that military action be authorized by Congress. Biden, who served 36 years in the Senate, including as chair of the foreign relations committee, notified Congress but did not request its approval. Joe Biden at a campaign event in Pennsylvania last week. Biden notified Congress over the aistrikes but did not request its approval. Photograph: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Several lawmakers applauded the strikes, arguing they were necessary to deter Iran. In a statement, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, called Biden’s decision “overdue”. The United States and our allies must leave no room to doubt that the days of unanswered terrorist aggression are over Congressman Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, said he supported the decision to launch “targeted, proportional military strikes”, but called on the Biden administration to “continue its diplomatic efforts to avoid escalation to a broader regional war and continue to engage Congress on the details of its strategy and legal basis as required by law”. Yet many progressive – and a number of conservative – members were furious with the president for failing to seek approval from Congress. “Unacceptable,” wrote Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, called on Biden to engage with Congress “before continuing these airstrikes in Yemen”, writing: The United States cannot risk getting entangled into another decades-long conflict without congressional authorization. Ro Khanna, a California progressive who has led bipartisan efforts to reassert congressional authority over America’s foreign wars, said on X: The president needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another Middle East conflict.



44m ago 12.34 EST Houthis responsible for 'dragging Yemen into military confrontation', says Yemen's government The internationally recognised government of Yemen has said it holds the Iran-backed Houthi militant group “responsible for dragging the country into a military confrontation” in the Red Sea. In a statement, the Saudi-backed government said it is “following with great concern the military escalation in the country, particularly in the Red Sea, by the Houthi rebels.” It said the US-UK operation was a response to the “Houthi militias’ continued targeting and threatening the security and safety of international navigation in the Red Sea.” It said the Houthis are using “misleading claims that have no real connection to supporting our brothers and sisters in the occupied Palestinian territories”. The government said that the military escalation in the area “threatens the security and safety of international navigation.”



1h ago 12.13 EST UK reports missile fired towards vessel near Yemen The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a missile being fired towards a vessel in the Red Sea about 90 nautical miles south-east of Aden in Yemen. The missile landed between 400 and 500 metres away from the ship being followed by three craft, it said. The ship reported no injuries or damage and was proceeding to the next port of call, as vessels were advised to “transit with caution”. UKMTO WARNING 007/JAN/2024 UPDATE 001https://t.co/6a9TLpaLrg#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/eZIBRlsLSo — United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) January 12, 2024

Updated at 12.23 EST

1h ago 12.01 EST Nearly 24,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since war began, says Gaza ministry More than 151 Palestinians have been killed and 248 injured in Gaza in the previous 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry has said. It brings the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes since 7 October to at least 23,708, according to the latest figures by the ministry. More than 60,005 people have been wounded, it said. The health ministry in Gaza is run by Hamas, and it has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.



1h ago 11.53 EST The US is assessing the impact of airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen, the White House has said. The airstrikes were targeted at the Houthi’s ability to store, launch and guide missiles and drones, the White House’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, told MSNBC. He said: We’re still doing the assessment of the actual impacts on all these targets. That work is ongoing. So I think we’ll have a better sense of the specifics of the damage done here in the coming hours.

Updated at 12.17 EST

2h ago 10.56 EST Canada’s foreign and defence ministers, Mélanie Joly and Bill Blair, have issued a statement on the country’s involvement in strikes against Houthi targets: Canadian armed forces personnel deployed with US Central Command supported the precisely targeted strikes undertaken yesterday by the armed forces of the United States and United Kingdom, as did Australia, Bahrain and the Netherlands, against Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. These precision strikes are consistent with the UN charter and demonstrate the international community’s commitment to defending freedom of navigation and international commerce in the Red Sea.

Updated at 11.36 EST

2h ago 10.49 EST Germany says accusations against Israel 'unfounded', will speak as 'third party' in court case Germany rejects the accusations of genocide made against Israel before the international court of justice and will express its opinion as a third party, the German government has said. The Federal Government rejects the accusation of genocide made against Israel before the @CIJ_ICJ. It is unfounded. In the main hearing Germany will therefore express its position as a third party. We continue to support the work of the ICJ as we have for decades. https://t.co/09HGbJC0Lw — Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) January 12, 2024

Updated at 11.37 EST

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[1] Url: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jan/12/middle-east-crisis-live-updates-yemen-houthi-rebels-joe-biden-us-uk-airtstrikes-red-sea-crisis-israel-gaza-war

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