Summary of the day so far
It’s 3:14am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and this blog is now closing. But first, here is a summary of the latest developments:
The UN security council has postponed a vote calling for a sustainable cessation of hostilities in Gaza to give more time to meet US objections to the wording of the draft resolution. The vote was due on Monday mid afternoon in New York but the US said it could not support a reference to a cessation of hostilities, but might accept suspension of hostilities.
The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, has announced the creation of a multinational operation in the Red Sea after a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis. Austin, on a trip to Bahrain after talks in Tel Aviv earlier on Monday, said countries participating in the US-led initiative include the UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
Yemen’s Houthis were behind two more attacks against commercial shipping in the Southern Red Sea, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Tuesday. Reuters news agency is reporting the cost of shipping goods to Israel by sea has risen in recent days as some container lines pull out while others impose new surcharges.
BP has halted all shipments of oil and gas through the Red Sea after a step-up in attacks on cargo ships by Houthi militants. The British oil company said it had paused shipping in the region indefinitely, citing a “deteriorating security situation” amid tensions in the Middle East. BP becomes the first oil company to directly halt its own shipping, after five big shipping firms stopped their vessels passing through the waters between Asia and Africa that connect Asia and Europe.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has held talks with Israeli officials including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence counterpart, Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv on Monday. The discussions focused on Israel shifting away from large-scale aerial and ground operations in the Gaza Strip to a new phrase in the war focused on the precise targeting of Hamas leaders, the US official said.
The US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was still not imposing a timetable despite international calls for a ceasefire. “This is Israel’s operation. I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms.”, Austin said.
Israeli forces have forced displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City to evacuate the facility and arrested medical staff, according to reports. Richard Sewell, the dean of the Anglican-run St George’s College in Jerusalem, said most of the hospital’s staff have been detained, while medical sources told Al Jazeera that the hospital is now out of service.
At least 19,453 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the latest tally by the territory’s health ministry on Monday. 52,286 people have been injured, it said. Meanwhile, four Palestinians have been killed on Monday in the Faraa refugee camp, south of the West Bank city of Tubas, in an Israeli military raid, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, has released a video of three elderly Israeli men being held hostage in Gaza. One man said he was being held in harsh conditions with other elderly hostages suffering chronic illnesses. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the video was “atrocious terror” that “shows the cruelty of Hamas against elderly civilians.”
The Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met the heads of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency on Monday to discuss a potential new deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to reports. But a Palestinian source familiar with the talks told the BBC that negotiations over a new temporary ceasefire “haven’t begun yet”.
The US has raised concerns with Israel after a mother and daughter were allegedly killed by an Israeli military sniper in a church compound in Gaza City, the White House said. The two women were killed inside the Holy Family parish in Gaza City on Saturday, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Most of Gaza’s Christian families have taken refuge in the compound since the start of the war. The most senior Catholic cleric in England said the shooting was a “cold–blooded killing” that did “nothing to further Israel’s right to defend itself”. The IDF has appeared to deny responsibility for the deaths.
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing a war crime by starving people in the Gaza Strip who continued to face relentless attacks in the war with Hamas militants. “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip,” HRW said in a report. “World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime.”
British foreign minister David Cameron will call for increased coordination between allies to address the “desperate” humanitarian situation in Gaza during a visit to Paris and Rome on Tuesday, his office said.
The UK Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has joined the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in calling for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, as the political rhetoric continued to shift away from unqualified support for Israel’s assault in line with moves from the US and others.
Updated
Yemen’s Houthis were behind two attacks against commercial shipping in the Southern Red Sea, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The chemical/oil tanker motor vessel SWAN ATLANTIC was attacked by a one-way attack drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen … At approximately the same time, the bulk cargo ship M/V CLARA reported an explosion in the water near their location.
This attack is separate from the attack on the M/V SWAN ATLANTIC
There were no injuries reported during either incident, CENTCOM said.
Earlier, the US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, announced the creation of a multinational operation in the Red Sea after a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency is reporting the cost of shipping goods to Israel by sea has risen in recent days as some container lines pull out while others impose new surcharges, adding to the country’s supply chain pressures amid its war in Gaza.
Israel, whose economy relies on seaborne trade, said in October it would provide compensation for ships damaged due to the war with Hamas, although it has not detailed whether it will cover additional shipping costs.
