Summary
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said today that the country’s intense military operation in southern Gaza was nearing its end. However, Gallant noted that Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without continued military pressure. He accused the Islamist militant group of carrying out “psychological abuse”.
An anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants struck a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship about 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden, the US military confirmed. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.
The strike on the Gibraltar Eagle marks a widening of the theatre of war and raises questions about whether the US-UK naval alliance off Yemen will have to mount a further series of strikes, or even consider liaising actively with ground troops from the UN recognised Presidential Leadership Council – the Saudi-UAE backed coalition government based in Aden.
Hamas released a video announcing the death of two Israeli hostages and claimed that they had beenn killed by Israeli airstrikes. The two men are believed to be Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38. Israel says 132 hostages are still being held by the Islamist militant group and that 25 have died in captivity.
Two young French nationals were injured in Monday’s attack in Raanana, Israel, the French foreign ministry said in a statement, condemning the attack.
Updated
Analysis: strike against US cargo ship near Yemen represents a widening theatre of war
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour has more on the Gibraltar Eagle, the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship that was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants near Yemen:
The Houthis comparative success on Monday raises questions about whether the US-UK naval alliance off Yemen will have to mount a further series of strikes, or even consider liaising actively with ground troops from the UN recognised Presidential Leadership Council – the Saudi-UAE backed coalition government based in Aden.
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said the attacks on the Houthis mounted on Thursday night had been intended as “a single limited action” rather than a continuing series of attacks.
But Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, told MPs he hoped the Houthis would step back after the “necessary and proportionate response”, but added “the UK would not hesitate to protect our security and our interests”.
“We remain prepared to back our words with action,” he said.
Read more here:
Hamas: Two Israeli hostages killed in captivity
The Guardian’s Jason Burke and Ruth Michaelson have more on the video release by Hamas announcing the death of two Israeli hostages.
Hamas claims that two men, believed to be Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38, were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Israel says 132 hostages are still being held by the Islamist militant group and that 25 have died in captivity.
Read more here:
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said today that the country’s intense military operation in southern Gaza was nearing its end, Reuters reports.
However, Gallant noted that Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without continued military pressure.
Gallant said that, after the war, leadership in Gaza should be left to the Palestinians.
Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key developments from the past few hours:
The Yemeni Houthi movement will expand its targets to include US ships, according to an official from the Iran-allied group, who added that the US is “on the verge of losing its maritime security”.
The dry bulk vessel Gibraltar Eagle was hit by an “unidentified projectile” while sailing 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden and sustained limited damage to its cargo hold, the vessel’s US operator, Eagle Bulk Shipping, said.
An anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants struck a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship, the US military confirmed. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed what he called the “malign narrative” claiming airstrikes against Houthis were part of the Israel-Gaza war.
Palestinian militant group Hamas has aired a new video that purportedly showed the dead bodies of Israeli hostages Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky. The video showed a third Israeli hostage, Noa Argamani, saying the two were killed by “our own IDF strikes,” referring to the Israeli military.
Thanks for following the blog today. I’m handing over to my colleague Vivian Ho who will keep you updated.
The Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel left Turkey on Monday, the Turkish government said, after he was questioned by police over a message he displayed on his wrist during a match alluding to the passage of 100 days since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
“Sagiv Jehezkel, the Israeli footballer of Antalyaspor, left our country at 5:15 pm (1415 GMT),” the Turkish interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said on the social media platform X.
Turkish police had detained Jehezkel overnight and freed him on Monday.
The justice minister, Yilmaz Tunç, had said prosecutors were investigating Jehezkel on a charge of “inciting people to hatred and hostility” for displaying a note written on his bandaged wrist saying “100 days, 7.10”, alongside a Jewish Star of David emblem.
Updated
Two young French nationals were injured in Monday’s attack in Raanana, Israel, the French foreign ministry said in a statement, condemning the attack.
Hamas airs video claiming to show dead bodies of Israeli hostages
The Palestinian militant group Hamas has aired a new video that purportedly shows the dead bodies of Israeli hostages Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky.
The video showed a third Israeli hostage, Noa Argamani, saying the two were killed by “our own IDF strikes”, referring to the Israeli military.
Updated
Yemeni Houthis to target US ships
The Yemeni Houthi movement will expand its targets to include US ships, an official from the Iran-allied group told Al Jazeera on Monday.
Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesperson for the Houthis, said the United States was “on the verge of losing its maritime security”.
He said:
The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it; it is enough for it to be American.
Updated
Israel’s inflation rate has edged down more than expected to 3.0% in December from 3.3% in November, the Central Bureau of Statistics has said.
This is its lowest level in two years, which could support further central bank interest rate cuts.
Israel’s war against Hamas militants is weighing on economic growth and helping to bring down inflation, with the rate now within an official rate of 1-3% for the first time since December 2021.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images of the conflict coming out of Israel and Gaza:
The dry bulk vessel Gibraltar Eagle was hit by an “unidentified projectile” while sailing 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden and sustained limited damage to its cargo hold, the vessel’s US operator, Eagle Bulk Shipping, has said.
Eagle Bulk said in a statement:
As a result of the impact, the vessel suffered limited damage to a cargo hold but is stable and is heading out of the area.
All seafarers onboard the vessel are confirmed to be uninjured. The vessel is carrying a cargo of steel products.
Updated
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed what he called the “malign narrative” claiming airstrikes against Houthis were part of the Israel-Gaza war, writes the Guardian’s political correspondent Andrew Sparrow.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Sunak prefaced his views by noting that the Houthis attacked British and American warships on 9 January, after other attacks on commercial shipping. It was “the biggest attack on the Royal Navy for decades”, he said.
He said the UK, with the US, retaliated in self-defence, and to uphold freedom of navigation, as Britain has always done.
He said the initial assessment was that all 13 targets of the airstrike were successfully hit. And there was no evidence of civilian casualties, he said. Great care was taken to avoid them, he said.
He said that in protecting international shipping, the UK was upholding international law.
The Houthis’ attack on international shipping, has put innocent lives at risk. They have held one crew hostage for almost two months and they are causing growing economic disruption. Global commerce cannot operate under such conditions. Containers and tankers are having to take a 5,000-mile detour around the Cape of Good Hope.
This was pushing up prices, and reducing consumers’ access to vital goods, he said.
He said people should not accept the “malign narrative” that this was about Israel and Gaza. It was not, he said; it was about protecting shipping.
Updated
The cost of Indian exports has more than doubled due to the Yemeni Houthi militia’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea, industry officials have said.
About 80% of India’s goods trade with Europe, estimated at nearly $14bn a month, normally passes via the Red Sea, according to government estimates.
Exporters said 95% of vessels had rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, adding 4,000 to 6,000 nautical miles and 14-20 days to journeys from India since Houthi militants began attacking shipping in November.
Updated
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is giving a statement in the House of Commons on the air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
You can follow live updates on our politics blog here:
Updated
US military says anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthis hit container ship
The US military has posted some more detail about the ship struck near Yemen on social media.
An anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi militants struck a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and operated container ship on Monday.
The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.
On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has… pic.twitter.com/gixEMaUiVT
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
Updated
US-owned ship struck by missile fired from Yemen, say private security firms
A missile fired from Yemen struck a US-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, private security firms have told the Associated Press.
Ambrey and Dryad Global identified the vessel as the Eagle Gibraltar, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier. The ship is owned by Eagle Bulk, a Stamford, Connecticut-based firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The firm did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Updated
An explosion has been heard near Yemen’s Hodeidah airport, according to claims from residents reported by Reuters.
Summary
A fresh attack on a ship passing through the Gulf of Aden is being investigated by United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). It posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had received reports of an “incident” 95 nautical miles south-east of Aden, Yemen. It said: “Master reports port side of vessel hit from above by a missile. Authorities are investigating.”
Two Palestinians carried out coordinated car-rammings in central Israel on Monday, killing a woman and injuring 12 other people, police and medical officials said, as tensions soared over the more than three-month-old war in the Gaza Strip. Police described the incident in Raanana, north of Tel Aviv, as a terrorist attack and said two suspects were under arrest. The two are from the same family in Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, and entered Israel illegally, police said.
Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease, the heads of three major UN agencies have warned. Authorities in the territory reported that the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 24,000, AP reported. While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery had been hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continued fighting throughout the territory – with Israel being a deciding factor in all of this.
A total of 24,100 Palestinians have been killed and 60,834 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday. It said 132 Palestinians were killed and 252 injured in the past 24 hours.
A new round of negotiations to obtain the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas has made incremental progress, sources close to the talks say, signalling the end to months of deadlock and raising hopes among relatives as the war passes its 100th day. New details emerged in recent days of a deal to allow medicine – such as vital prescription drugs – to reach the hostages, along with an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israeli forces killed five militants who were trying to “locate weapons” in northern Gaza and killed another two who had been loading weapons on to a vehicle in the territory’s south, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). It said in an operational update that it had also raided a Hamas “command centre” in Khan Younis, confiscating dozens of weapons as well as diving gear belonging to Hamas’s naval forces.
A video journalist from the Cairo-based television channel Al Ghad was killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a strike that the channel blamed on the Israeli army. In a post on X, the station said it was announcing “with a heavy heart” that Yazan al-Zwaidi was “murdered by Israeli fire”, Agence France-Presse reports.
The White House has said “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli leaders again vowed to press ahead with their offensive against Hamas. The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war on Sunday, Associated Press reports. The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby, told the US network CBS that the US had been speaking to Israel “about a transition to low-intensity operations” in Gaza.
The US cannot call for restraint while supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday, while calling for a diplomatic solution to the war in the strip. Hossein Amirabdollahian, in a televised joint press conference with his Indian counterpart in Tehran, called on US officials “not to tie the security and national interests of the US to the fate of Israel’s prime minister who is falling”.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called for a larger, more authoritative Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution as the Gaza conflict escalated and the Red Sea became a new flash point. Speaking to reporters after talks with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Sunday, Wang said the international community should “listen” carefully to the legitimate concerns in the Middle East.
Hizb ut-Tahrir will be banned from organising in the UK following claims that the group is antisemitic, the home secretary has said. The Islamist group, which is already banned in several countries including Germany and Indonesia, will no longer be allowed to recruit or hold protests and meetings across the UK. It follows criticisms of the group by ministers in the wake of demonstrations held against Israeli strikes on Gaza.
US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward a US destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday. The midair interception is the latest incident in the Red Sea where the Houthis have been attacking international shipping in what they say is a campaign to support Palestinians under siege from Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
Britain’s “decisive” action in the Red Sea “dealt a blow” to the Houthis, the UK’s defence secretary has said. In his first major speech, Grant Shapps said “enough was enough” and precision strikes were authorised in response to Houthi attacks because they “chose to ignore” clear warnings.
The UK has no interest in taking part in any wider conflict in Yemen but is “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether further military strikes against Houthi forces might be needed, the defence secretary has said. Discussing the US-led strikes on the Yemen-based rebels in the early hours of Friday, which were aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Grant Shapps said the aims of the military operation were always limited.
Turkish authorities have released Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel from police custody and he will return to Israel on Monday, the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said. Jehezkel had been detained in Antalya after wearing a wristband during a match with the words “100 days”, the date of the Hamas militant attack that precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, and a Star of David.
Three gunmen who crossed into Israel from Lebanon and two Israelis were killed in clashes and a strike along the frontier between the two countries on Sunday, the army and medics said. Five soldiers were wounded in the firefight with the gunmen, the Israeli military said. Earlier, an Israeli man was pronounced dead and a woman, who the local municipality said was his mother, died later after a missile strike in the Israeli border community of Kfar Yuval that reportedly wounded multiple Israelis.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Rachel Hall will be along shortly.
Updated
Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease, the heads of three major UN agencies have warned.
Authorities in the territory reported that the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 24,000, AP reported.
While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery had been hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continued fighting throughout the territory – with Israel being a deciding factor in all of this.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the militant group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, has prompted unprecedented destruction and triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and pushed more than a quarter into starvation, according to the UN.
Updated
Hizb ut-Tahrir will be banned from organising in the UK following claims that the group is antisemitic, the home secretary has said.
The Islamist group, which is already banned in several countries including Germany and Indonesia, will no longer be allowed to recruit or hold protests and meetings across the UK.
It follows criticisms of the group by ministers in the wake of demonstrations held against Israeli strikes on Gaza.
If agreed by parliament, a draft order that was laid on Monday will come into force on 19 January. This means that belonging to, inviting support for and displaying articles in a public place in a way that arouses suspicion of membership or support for the group will be a criminal offence.
Reports of new attack on ship south-east of Aden under investigation
A fresh attack on a ship passing through the Gulf of Aden is being investigated by United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
It posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had received reports of an “incident” 95 nautical miles south-east of Aden, Yemen.
It said: “Master reports port side of vessel hit from above by a missile. Authorities are investigating.”
UKMTO WARNING 009/JAN/2024 - UPDATE 001
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) January 15, 2024
ATTACK
Warnings - 2024 (https://t.co/5An1YH0JyE)#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/U3Y3S3qx9V
Updated
Two Palestinians kill woman, injure 12 in Israel car-rammings, police say
Two Palestinians carried out coordinated car-rammings in central Israel on Monday, killing a woman and injuring 12 other people, police and medical officials said, as tensions soared over the more than three-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.
Police described the incident in Raanana, north of Tel Aviv, as a terrorist attack and said two suspects were under arrest. The two are from the same family in Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, and entered Israel illegally, police said.
“They went out together and in parallel, to two different locations, took two cars and launched a series of rammings,” the central district police chief, Avi Biton, told reporters in Raanana.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, Reuters reported.
At least one of the vehicles had been stolen, police said earlier.
Israeli TV showed scattered personal items on a pavement and said several children were among the injured.
Updated
The US cannot call for restraint while supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday, while calling for a diplomatic solution to the war in the strip.
Hossein Amirabdollahian, in a televised joint press conference with his Indian counterpart in Tehran, called on US officials “not to tie the security and national interests of the US to the fate of Israel’s prime minister who is falling”.
The Islamic Republic backs Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in its war with Israel and Tehran accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Amirabdollahian said Iran-aligned Houthi militias would continue their attacks in the Red Sea “as long as the genocide in the Gaza war continues”.
“Senior officials in Yemen’s Sanaa [Houthi leaders] told us that as long as the genocide in the Gaza war continues, they will take action to prevent the movement of Israeli ships or ships heading to Tel Aviv,” he said.
However, Amirabdollahian added that the Houthis had assured Tehran that “they will not create any disruption in maritime security”.
Updated
At least 13 injured after man steals car and rams people in Israeli city of Raanana
Reuters is reporting that a Palestinian man stole a car and rammed people in central Israel on Monday, injuring at least 13, police said, adding that the suspect was in custody and his motivations were being investigated.
Israeli media said some people may have also been stabbed in the incident in Raanana, north of Tel Aviv, which came amid heightened security tensions over the more than three-month-old war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
“This was apparently a suspected terrorist ramming attack,” police said in a statement. It said the suspect was from the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
The injured were taken to hospitals for treatment, it said.
Citing witnesses in an earlier report, Army Radio said the incident may have been a car-jacking during which the stolen vehicle crashed.
Updated
According to Reuters, which cites local media, the number of people injured in the stabbing and car-ramming incident in Raanana has now reached 19. One is critically injured, the news agency says, adding that residents had been instructed to stay off the streets.
Citing witnesses, Army Radio said the incident may have been a car-jacking during which the stolen vehicle crashed. The incident came amid heightened security tensions over the war. Eli Levy, the police spokesperson, tells Army Radio:
We still cannot declare with certainty that this was a terrorist attack.
He said he it was also unclear how many people had been involved in the incident, leaving open the possibility that suspects were still at large.
'Strikes on Red Sea shipping will continue', warn militants
Attacks on ships headed to Israel will continue, the chief negotiator for Yemen’s Houthis says, adding that the group’s position has not changed since US-led air strikes on Yemen. Reuters quotes Mohammed Abdulsalam as saying:
Attacks to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue.
He adds that the group’s demands are still for an end of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, and allowing humanitarian aid to the north and south of the strip.
Fourteen injured in car-ramming – reports
Local medical services say 14 people were wounded in the car-ramming incident, which took place at three separate locations, according to the Times of Israel.
Citing the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service, the paper reports that the victims include a woman in her 70s in critical condition and a man aged 34 and a 16-year-old in serious condition. It says a further 11 people suffered lesser injuries.
The MDA director-general, Eli Bin, told the paper 17 people were treated at the scene, “which may include those suffering from acute anxiety”. Police are investigating, but their spokesman Eli Levy tells the Times of Israel it “increasingly looks like a terrorist incident”.
Updated
Eight people struck by vehicle in Israeli city of Raanana
Eight people have been struck by a vehicle in the central Israeli city of Raanana on Monday, Israeli paramedics said. “We arrived in large numbers on scene and started triaging some eight casualties in varying conditions,” Israeli EMT Eli Raymond.
More to follow …
Updated
Russia’s foreign and defence ministers Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu held telephone calls with their Iranian counterparts on Monday, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
Russia and Iran have drawn close in recent months, and Iran has provided Russia with weaponry to be used in Ukraine. The two sides have also criticised Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.
A new round of negotiations to obtain the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas has made incremental progress, sources close to the talks say, signalling the end to months of deadlock and raising hopes among relatives as the war passes its 100th day.
New details emerged in recent days of a deal to allow medicine – such as vital prescription drugs – to reach the hostages, along with an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza.
On Friday, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the agreement, which should come into effect this week. Negotiators are currently discussing how to deliver the medications and aid with Israel and Hamas.
About 250 hostages were seized by Hamas during their unprecedented attack in southern Israel on 7 October, according to Israeli figures. At least 130 remain in captivity.
The families of hostages are campaigning for the Israeli government to ramp up efforts to get them freed, saying the captives were in poor health, some with complex illnesses, others with injuries. Some families gathered in an area near the Gaza border in recent days to broadcast messages of support to their loved ones using loudspeakers.
Precision US-UK strikes 'dealt a blow' to Houthis, says British defence secretary
Britain’s “decisive” action in the Red Sea “dealt a blow” to the Houthis, the UK’s defence secretary has said.
In his first major speech, Grant Shapps said “enough was enough” and precision strikes were authorised in response to Houthi attacks because they “chose to ignore” clear warnings.
He said:
The result is that the Houthis have been dealt a blow.
Our decisive response in the Red Sea and our uplift in support for Ukraine offers a direct blueprint for how the UK must continue to lead in the future, offering our unwavering support to our allies in times of struggle, galvanising global response to any malign actors seeking to break rules-based international order and acting decisively when the moment calls for us to defend ourselves, deter and lead.
Updated
Turkish authorities have released Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel from police custody and he will return to Israel on Monday, the foreign ministry in Jerusalem said.
Jehezkel had been detained in Antalya after wearing a wristband during a match with the words “100 days”, the date of the Hamas militant attack that precipitated Israel’s war in Gaza, and a Star of David.
Updated
The UK has no interest in taking part in any wider conflict in Yemen but is “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether further military strikes against Houthi forces might be needed, the defence secretary has said.
Discussing the US-led strikes on the Yemen-based rebels in the early hours of Friday, which were aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Grant Shapps said the aims of the military operation were always limited.
“We’ve always been clear with our intention is not to go into Yemen or anything like that, but simply to send a very clear and, I hope, unambiguous message to the Iranian-backed Houthis is that their behaviour in the Red Sea was completely unacceptable,’” he told Sky News on Monday.
Asked if further strikes were possible, Shapps told BBC1’s Breakfast: “Guaranteeing that freedom of navigation is incredibly important. So we’ve said that this is a discrete action. Of course, if the Houthis don’t stop we have to look at this again.”
Israel’s defence minister accused Turkey on Monday of serving as a “de facto executive arm of Hamas” following the police detention in Antalya of an Israeli soccer player who made a show of solidarity with Gaza war hostages during a top-tier match.
In a post on X, defence minister Yoav Gallant reminded Turkey of Israel’s swift assistance of the country after last year’s earthquake and called Sagiv Jehezkel’s treatment “a manifestation of hypocrisy and ingratitude”.
Updated
A total of 24,100 Palestinians have been killed and 60,834 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
It said 132 Palestinians were killed and 252 injured in the past 24 hours.
Updated
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called for a larger, more authoritative Israeli-Palestinian peace conference and a timetable to implement a two-state solution as the Gaza conflict escalated and the Red Sea became a new flash point.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Sunday, Wang said the international community should “listen” carefully to the legitimate concerns in the Middle East.
“China calls for the convening of a larger-scale, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference, the formulation of a specific timetable and road map for the implementation of the ‘two-state solution’, and support for the prompt resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks,” Wang said.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the road map needed to be “binding”, Reuters reported.
“As for the timing and venue of the conference and where it will be hosted, I think it needs to be determined by all parties through consultation,” Mao Ning said at a regular news conference in Beijing.
“China also welcomes the active role of the United Nations in this regard,” she said.
UK will 'wait and see' before deciding to launch new strikes on Houthis in Yemen
Britain will “wait and see” before deciding to launch fresh military strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen in order to protect international shipping, the British defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Monday.
“Let’s wait and see what happens, because it’s not that we want to be involved in action in the Red Sea. But ultimately freedom of navigation is an international right,” Shapps told Sky News, when asked if Britain would carry out more strikes.
Updated
UK prime minister to address MPs about strikes on Houthis in Yemen
The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, will address members of the UK parliament on Monday for the first time since the UK and US carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Sunak authorised the missile attacks without consulting parliament, which he is authorised to do, however convention usually means that British politicians are given the chance to discuss military action in advance.
After the strikes, Sunak said the Houthis had been “risking lives at sea” and were “causing major disruption to a vital trade route”. He also called the strikes “limited” but “necessary” to protect commercial shipping and lives.
The pro-Hamas Houthis have said they are targeting ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea despite some having no clear connection. It has meant shipping companies diverting vessels via a longer route around southern Africa.
This is the first time Sunak has agreed to military action since becoming prime minister in October 2002. His foreign secretary, David Cameron, said on Sunday “operational security” made it necessary to proceed without a vote. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the decision “utterly disgraceful that parliament has not even been consulted”.
Updated
Israeli forces killed five militants who were trying to “locate weapons” in northern Gaza and killed another two who had been loading weapons on to a vehicle in the territory’s south, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
It said in an operational update that it had also raided a Hamas “command centre” in Khan Younis, confiscating dozens of weapons as well as diving gear belonging to Hamas’s naval forces.
The IDF posted on Telegram that its troops were “continuing to target terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip” and claimed weapons, explosive devices and ammunition had been located “inside a child’s room at the residence of a Hamas terrorist”.
The update said:
In the city of Khan Younis, IDF troops identified two terrorists loading weapons into a vehicle. With the direction of IDF troops, an IAF [Israeli air force] aircraft struck the vehicle and weapons, and eliminated the terrorists who fled to a nearby structure.
The IDF said that over the past day, troops in Khan Younis struck two weapon-storage facilities and Hamas operational infrastructure.
In the northern Gaza Strip, IDF troops identified several terrorists who attempted to locate weapons in an area in which troops operated. IDF troops directed an IAF aircraft which eliminated five terrorists.
The claims could not be independently verified.
Updated
A video journalist from the Cairo-based television channel Al Ghad was killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a strike that the channel blamed on the Israeli army.
In a post on X, the station said it was announcing “with a heavy heart” that Yazan al-Zwaidi was “murdered by Israeli fire”, Agence France-Presse reports.
In addition to Zwaidi, at least 82 other journalists and media professionals – the vast majority Palestinians – have been killed since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The United Nations said last week it was “very concerned by the high death toll of media workers”.
The international criminal court said it was investigating potential crimes against journalists during the war.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the Gaza Strip and Israel over the newswires.
Updated
'It’s the right time' to scale back Israeli offensive, says US
The White House has said “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli leaders again vowed to press ahead with their offensive against Hamas.
The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war on Sunday, Associated Press reports.
The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby, told the US network CBS that the US had been speaking to Israel “about a transition to low-intensity operations” in Gaza.
We believe it’s the right time for that transition. And we’re talking to them about doing that.
The comments came a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a televised address on Saturday that the war against Hamas would continue “until the end, until total victory”.
We are continuing the war … until we achieve all of our goals: eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel.
The war has sent tensions soaring across the region, with Israel trading fire almost daily with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group while Iranian-backed militias attack US targets in Syria and Iraq. In addition, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been targeting international shipping, drawing airstrikes from the US and the UK.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said his group would not stop until a ceasefire was in place for Gaza.
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An Israeli footballer who displayed a message referring to the Israel-Gaza war during a match in Turkey has been arrested, according to reports in Turkish media.
After scoring a goal for his team against Trabsonspor, Sagiv Jehezkel revealed a message that read “100 days. 07/10” on a bandage on his left wrist.
Earlier on Sunday, the country’s justice minister announced an investigation into Jehezkel over the incident for suspected “incitement to hate”, after his club, Antalyaspor, sacked him over the matter.
The Turkish justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, said in a post online:
The Antalya public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation against Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel for public incitement to hate due to his odious celebration in favour of the massacre committed by Israel in Gaza.
The full story is here:
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The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has posted on social media that “100 days of captivity in Gaza is far too long” and the US “will not rest” until all hostages were freed.
Israelis marked 100 days of war with a 100-minute pause in the working day and rallies to call for the return of hostages held in Gaza, but little relief from the anxiety that has gripped the country since Hamas launched its 7 October attacks, as Jason Burke in Jerusalem reported earlier.
Blinken said on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday:
100 days of captivity in Gaza is far too long. The United States will not rest until all remaining hostages, including six Americans, are reunited with their loved ones.
100 days of captivity in Gaza is far too long. The United States will not rest until all remaining hostages, including six Americans, are reunited with their loved ones.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 15, 2024
Blinken’s post drew an angry response from the Palestinian mission to the United Nations, which tweeted:
100 days and not a single mention of the nearly 24,000 killed - 1/2 of which are children. Shame on those who remain complicit and not call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
100 days and not a single mention of the nearly 24,000 killed - 1/2 of which are children. Shame on those who remain complicit and not call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Shame on them @POTUS @SecBlinken @USUN https://t.co/kfsA1DrzZe
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) January 15, 2024
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Australian minister urges 'sustainable ceasefire' ahead of Middle East trip
Australia’s foreign minister called for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza as she left on Monday for a Middle East tour that includes a visit to the occupied West Bank and meetings with the families of Israeli hostages.
Penny Wong said she would use the visits to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates to advocate for a pathway out of the current conflict and a lasting peace in the form of a two-state solution, Reuters reports.
Australia would also use its voice to push for more humanitarian assistance, greater protection of civilians and a de-escalation of regional tensions, she added.
She told a news conference before her departure:
Our position is that we want to see a sustainable ceasefire and that we see an international humanitarian, immediate humanitarian ceasefire as a step towards that.
No ceasefire can be one sided and no ceasefire can be unconditional.
Australia backed a UN resolution for a Gaza ceasefire in December in a rare split with its ally the US.
Wong said in a statement that Australia supported Israel’s right to defend itself in response to “terrorism” but “the way it does so matters”. She also called for the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas.
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Houthi missile fired at American destroyer shot down, says US
US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward a US destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, the US military said on Sunday.
The midair interception is the latest incident in the Red Sea where the Houthis have been attacking international shipping in what they say is a campaign to support Palestinians under siege from Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
It follows a series of American and British airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen that have drawn threats of a “strong” response from the Iran-backed militia, adding to anxieties over a wider conflict in the Middle East beyond Gaza.
There were no injuries or damage reported in the latest incident, according to the US Central Command (Centcom), which released the news in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
Centcom said the missile was shot down near Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah.
Earlier on Sunday, the Houthis complained that US aircraft were observed flying close to Yemeni airspace and coastal areas.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam described the activity by “enemy” aircraft as a blatant violation of national sovereignty.
Reuters could not immediately determine whether the incidents were one and the same. Centcom did not immediately respond to a request for further details about the interception.
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The missile fired from Yemen towards the destroyer USS Laboon in the Red Sea was downed by US fighter aircraft “in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah”, US Central Command (Cencom) says.
The port city of Hudaydah, in Yemen’s west, is the country’s fourth-largest city.
Cencom said on X (formerly Twitter) that the anti-ship cruise missile was fired from an area controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis around 4.45pm local time on Sunday.
On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by… pic.twitter.com/jftZHQhA2e
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
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A few hours before the breaking news of the US saying it has shot down a Houthi missile fired towards a US destroyer in the Red Sea, Dan Sabbagh reported on the latest concerns around the vital trade route:
Tensions remained high in the Middle East on Sunday as western leaders, the Houthis and their allies all warned of possible further action in the aftermath of Friday’s US-UK bombing of rebel-held areas in Yemen.
As initial briefings from the US suggested that only about a quarter of the Houthis’ missile and drone attack capability had been destroyed, reports emerged of two boats trying to threaten a merchant ship in the southern Red Sea.
A Houthi supporter said on Sunday that the group’s attacks on merchant shipping travelling the busy waterway south of the Suez Canal would continue “because they are at war with Israel”.
Hussain al-Bukhaiti said that if the US and UK continued to bomb Yemen, Houthi forces would attack western warships “maybe using hundreds of drones and missiles”, which would represent a significant escalation.
Not all the ships targeted since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October have had Israeli links.
See the full report here:
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Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis – I’m Adam Fulton and here’s the latest news.
A US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile that was fired from Iran-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen towards the USS Laboon in the southern Red Sea, the US Central Command said on Sunday.
There were no injuries or damage reported, it said.
More on that soon. In other key developments:
Three gunmen who crossed into Israel from Lebanon and two Israelis were killed in clashes and a strike along the frontier between the two countries on Sunday, the army and medics said. Five soldiers were wounded in the firefight with the gunmen, the Israeli military said. Earlier, an Israeli man was pronounced dead and a woman, who the local municipality said was his mother, died later after a missile strike in the Israeli border community of Kfar Yuval that reportedly wounded multiple Israelis.
A total of 23,968 Palestinians have been killed and another 60,582 injured by Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday. In the past 24 hours, 125 Palestinians were killed and 265 were injured, the ministry added.
Arab-Israeli legislator Ahmad Tibi said on social media that three of his relatives, including a 10-year-old boy, had been killed in a strike on Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Hamas has aired video footage showing three Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza in which they urged Israel’s government to stop its offensive against the militant group and bring about their release, as both sides marked the 100th day of the war. The undated 37-second video of the three captives – aged 26, 53 and 38 – aired on Sunday ended with the chyron: “Tomorrow we will inform you of their fate.”
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Israel had “failed” in Gaza and would be forced to negotiate. He made the remarks in a televised address on Sunday.
Bangladesh has voiced its support for South Africa in its genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice. Bangladesh “welcomes the opportunity to file a declaration of intervention in the proceedings in due course”, its ministry of foreign affairs said. Namibia, meanwhile, rejected what it called Germany’s support of the “genocidal intent of the racist Israeli state against innocent civilians in Gaza”. The Namibian presidency pointed to Germany’s “inability to draw lessons from its horrific history”, citing the 20th century’s first genocide – the Herero-Namaqua genocide perpetrated by German forces on Namibian soil from 1904-08.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has called the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by Israeli attacks across the strip, which have displacing nearly 2 million Palestinians, one of the world’s “most complex and challenging” operations. In a tweet on Sunday following 100 days of Israel’s war on Gaza, the UNRWA said: “The massive destruction, displacement, hunger and loss of last 100 days are staining our shared humanity.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners have visited al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza and Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X (formerly Twitter) that both hospitals require “sustained support and protection to remain operational” and that they were “vital lifelines for patients and thousands of displaced people in Gaza”.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has set up shelter tents for 315 displaced Palestinian families in the Mawasi Rafah area near the Egyptian border.
An Israeli footballer who displayed a message referring to the Israel-Gaza war during a match in Turkey has been arrested, according to reports in Turkish media. Earlier on Sunday, the country’s justice minister announced an investigation into Sagiv Jehezkel over the incident for suspected “incitement to hate”, after his club, Antalyaspor, sacked him over the matter. Jehezkel scored a goal for his team and then displayed a message reading “100 days. 07/10” on a bandage on his wrist.
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