KEY POINTS
- Blinken will return to the Middle East as Hamas studies a 3-stage truce proposal
- Iran's IRGC says it is not afraid of a confrontation with the US
- Desperate loved ones of hostages press for Gaza aid to stop until abductees freed
Tensions in the Middle East are prompting action from the international community even as global concern remains high about the raging war in Gaza that has now entered its 118th day.
U.S. forces on early Thursday carried out strikes "against an Iranian-backed Houthi UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVs," according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
- Protesters now in Ashdod port: Local media
- Houthis fire missile toward Red Sea: Arab media
- IDF withdraws 7th Engineering Brigade from Khan Yunis: Report
- Victims of Oct. 7 blame Iran for Hamas atrocities: Lawsuit
- Explosion near vessel off of Houthi-held Hodeidah: UKMTO
- Iran's IRGC has scaled back its senior leadership's presence in Syria: Report
- UNRWA may shut down by March if funding remains suspended
- Biden expected to announce executive order on Israeli settler violence in West Bank: Report
Amid global concern for the negative impact of the Yemeni Houthi rebel militia's continuing attacks against merchant shipping in the Red Sea, the European Union is considering launching its own maritime mission to help in efforts to defend commercial vessels in the area.
In Israel's chaotic northern border with Lebanon, another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, continues to cause mayhem as it claimed to attack seven Israel Defense Forces (IDF) assets in the last day.
Back in the distressed Gaza Strip, Israeli troops continue to comb the enclave for tunnel networks and Hamas infrastructure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains the war will continue until Hamas is eliminated.
There are calls for countries that cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to reverse their decision following allegations that some employees of the agency were directly involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from the U.S. and other allies to recognize a two-state solution that should address the violent history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that erupted on Oct. 7, when Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and dragged some 240 hostages into Gaza.
The live update has ended.
Norway 'reasonably optimistic' some countries will reverse UNRWA decision: FM
Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters Thursday he was "reasonably optimistic" that some countries that halted funding to UNRWA will resume their payments as many countries understand the "very, very serious consequences" of drying up the agency's funds.
"They're looking for a way out. And maybe if now UNRWA comes up quickly with a good response, which is accepted as serious, they will then happily restart," Eide said.
