Summary of the day so far
It’s 4:10am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 5:10am in Baghdad. This blog is now closing but you can still see all of our coverage on the Middle East crisis and the Israel-Gaza war until we open our fresh blog in a few hours time.
Before we go, here is a summary of the latest events:
The United States has carried out strikes in Iraq against targets linked to Iran-backed militia. Associated Press is reporting that three facilities in Iraq were hit by the US military. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes were in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days. The US strikes hit militia facilities in Jurf al-Sakhar, which is south of Baghdad, al-Qaim and another unnamed site in western Iraq, two US officials told AP.
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, on Tuesday said the “clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable”, as he appealed for more aid access throughout the Gaza Strip. “The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history,” Guterres told the UN security council. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
He told the council that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave was “appalling” and that “the people of Gaza not only risk being killed or injured by relentless bombardments, they also run a growing chance of contracting infectious diseases like hepatitis A, dysentery, cholera.” Guterres again appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Speaker after speaker from around the globe but especially the Middle East has lined up to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and rapid pathway move to a two state solution, writes our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour.
The Israeli envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, faced a walkout by some Arab ambassadors as he started by saying the world was trying to treat cancer with an aspirin, and said those advocating a ceasefire needed to realise it only meant the terror group Hamas would “remain in power, they would regroup and rearm, and soon Israel would face another attempted holocaust.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States was opposed to any permanent change to Gaza’s territory, but kept the door open to possible support for any “transitional arrangements” to resolve the conflict with Israel. “If there needs to be transitional arrangements to enable that to happen, that’s one thing. But when it comes to the permanent status of Gaza going forward, we’ve been clear, we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” Blinken told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria.
British foreign secretary David Cameron will travel to Israel on Wednesday where he is expected to raise concerns over the high number of Palestinians killed and push for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza war.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has released their latest update where they are highlighting what’s happening in Khan Younis specifically as fighting intensifies there “Hostilities were particularly intense in Khan Younis, with Israeli forces reported to having surrounded and launched a large-scale operation in the city. Heavy fighting is reported in proximity to hospitals in Khan Younis, including Al Aqsa, Nasser and Al Amal, with reports of Palestinians trying to flee to the southern town of Rafah.”
Palestinian RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire was the likely cause of a blast that collapsed two buildings killing a group of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said on Tuesday. “A militant squad surprised the force with RPG fire. The first rocket hit one of the buildings in which explosives had been laid out. The hit apparently led to the explosion that caused the collapse of the building and the building next to it,” R Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv.
Whatever the future of a post-Gaza war looks like, it cannot include the leaders of Hamas, the US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said. In a press briefing at the White House, Kirby also said the US was involved in “active conversations” on the release of more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Reuters reports.
The United States would support another “pause” – temporary ceasefire – in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, such as a 30, 60 or 90-day period, the White House has just said. The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, is briefing right now in the west wing at the regular media press conference with him and the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Aid trucks continue to have difficulty reaching people in southern Gaza, from Egypt and, via multiple aid agency reports, are not able to get to many parts of central and northern Gaza at all. Trucks are blocked for security checks and become severely backed up prior to reaching inside Gaza.
The United States has destroyed or degraded over 25 Houthi missile launch facilities and more than 20 missiles in Yemen since it started strikes in the country earlier this month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
New Zealand is deploying a six-member defence force team to contribute to maritime security in the Middle East, prime minister Christopher Luxon has announced.
Updated
In Israel, funerals continue for soldiers who have died in the war in Gaza.
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) noted the death toll of Israeli soldiers in their latest update saying that “As of 23 January, 219 soldiers have been killed, and 1,232 soldiers have been injured in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.”
Ocha also notes that at least 25,490 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began and 63,354 Palestinians injured, according to the Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza.
Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, including 36 children, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on 7 October.
The Israeli authorities estimate that about 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, says Ocha.
The UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths has also posted on X about the update in Khan Younis.
He lists some of the main humanitarian concerns there, including access to supplies, water and sanitation:
A grim update on Khan Younis from the @UNOCHA team in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/4HZvulfeRH
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) January 23, 2024
The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has released their latest update on the Israel-Gaza war.
They are highlighting what’s happening in Khan Younis specifically as fighting intensifies there:
Hostilities were particularly intense in Khan Younis, with Israeli forces reported to having surrounded and launched a large-scale operation in the city. Heavy fighting is reported in proximity to hospitals in Khan Younis, including Al Aqsa, Nasser and Al Amal, with reports of Palestinians trying to flee to the southern town of Rafah.
Ocha adds more detail on those fleeing Khan Younis:
On 23 January, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders via social media to Palestinians in a number of city blocks in Khan Younis. The affected area covers some four square kilometres. There are about 88,000 residents in the area, in addition to an estimated 425,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking shelter in 24 schools and other institutions.
The affected area includes Nasser Hospital (475 bed capacity), Al Amal Hospital (100 beds) and the Jordanian Hospital (50 beds), representing almost 20 per cent of the remaining partially functioning hospitals across the Gaza Strip. Three health clinics are also located in the affected area. Some 18,000 IDPs are reported to be in the Nasser Hospital, with an unknown number of IDPs seeking shelter in the other health facilities.
These people are squeezing into a limited space at an UNRWA facility in Khan Younis, amid nearby gunfire and shelling.#Gaza hostilities have been particularly intense in this area, with more Palestinians fleeing south, while others are trapped.
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) January 24, 2024
More in Flash Update #100 👇
The UN Secretary Gen António Guterres has posted on X in the wake of his speech to the security council.
Earlier, the UN chief said it was ‘unacceptable’ for Israel to continue to reject the two-state solution.
António Guterres has posted further comments on X that “Over decades, the two-state solution has been traduced, undermined & left for dead many times.
“However, it remains the only way to achieve durable & equitable peace in Israel, in Palestine & in the region.”
Over decades, the two-state solution has been traduced, undermined & left for dead many times.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) January 23, 2024
However, it remains the only way to achieve durable & equitable peace in Israel, in Palestine & in the region. pic.twitter.com/4pAdfF75Ui
Read our full report on those US strikes in Iraq:
The US has carried out strikes in Iraq against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militia, the Pentagon has said, after a weekend attack on an Iraqi airbase that wounded US forces.
“US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said in a statement.
“These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Austin added.
On Saturday, four US personnel suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq.
More here:
A highly charged UN security council debate focusing on aid shipments to Gaza has been taking place.
Speaker after speaker from around the globe but especially the Middle East has lined up to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and rapid pathway move to a two state solution.
The Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi pleaded “Stop this massacre. Adopting a binding Security Council resolution forcing the end of this misery is the least that you can do now. Partial solutions will not achieve this peace.
“All of you support the two-State solution that the Israeli Government is undermining.”
He said the future of the region cannot be taken hostage by the political ambitions and radical agendas of Israeli extremists.
Abdallah Bou Habib, the Lebanese Foreign Minister urged countries not to fall into an Israeli trap of extending the war to his country. “Have not we learned anything from our past mistakes; is it not high time we acknowledge that we cannot cancel each other out?”
The United Arab Emirates envoy Lana Zaki Nusseibeh insisted “We will not support a return to the failed status quo. Before, the two-State solution was the end point to where we envisioned our diplomatic efforts would lead. Now it must be our starting point.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Waleed El-Khereiji condemned Israel’s killing war machine.
The Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said “instead of calling on others to exercise restraint, the US must compel the Israeli regime to stop the war and pull itself out of the trap that the Israeli regime has set to drag the US into direct conflict.”
He also says “security cannot be achieved by resorting to the use of force and committing the crime of genocide in Gaza The killing of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank cannot continue until the so-called total destruction of Hamas, because that time will never come.”
Earlier, Gilad Erdan, the Israeli envoy to the UN, faced a walkout by some Arab ambassadors as he started by saying the world was trying to treat cancer with an aspirin, and said those advocating a ceasefire needed to realise it only meant the terror group Hamas would “remain in power, they would regroup and rearm, and soon Israel would face another attempted holocaust. Is this the outcome you would seek?”
Read more in Patrick’s piece here:
British foreign secretary David Cameron will travel to Israel on Wednesday where he is expected to raise concerns over the high number of Palestinians killed and push for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Reuters reports that Cameron’s trip, which will include visits to the West Bank, where the western-backed Palestinian Authority is based, and to Qatar and Turkey, is his third to the Middle East in just over two months.
He will advocate for a pathway out of the war involving the release of all Israeli hostages held by Gaza’s ruling Islamist Hamas group, with the Palestinian Authority taking over the running of the enclave, and an end to rocket attacks on Israel.
In Israel, Cameron will tell Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu more should be “done, more quickly to significantly increase the flow of life-saving aid into Gaza” and he will raise “concerns over the high number of civilian casualties”, according to a Foreign Office statement.
“No one wants to see this conflict go on a moment longer than necessary,” Cameron said. “An immediate pause is now necessary to get aid in and hostages out. The situation is desperate.”
David Cameron will also urge Israel to open more crossing points to allow aid deliveries into Gaza, including the Israeli port at Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom crossing, and that water, fuel and electricity must be restored.
US says strikes hit three targets linked to Iran-backed groups in Iraq
Let’s get more details on those strikes in Iraq. Associated Press is reporting that three facilities in Iraq were hit by the US military.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes were in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days.
The US strikes hit militia facilities in Jurf al-Sakhar, which is south of Baghdad, al-Qaim and another unnamed site in western Iraq, two US officials told AP.
Here is part of a statement released by Lloyd Austin:
At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq …
These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias.
The strikes come hours after the US said militants fired two one-way attack drones at al-Asad airbase, injuring US service members and damaging infrastructure. And they followed the militia’s most serious attack this year on the airbase, when it launched multiple ballistic missiles on Saturday.
Al-Asad is a large airbase in western Iraq where US troops have trained Iraqi security forces and now coordinate operations to counter the Islamic State group.
Updated
Reged Ahmad here picking up the blog from Tom Ambrose
The US central command (Centcom) have posted on X about those latest strikes carried out in Iraq.
They say the strikes were “In response to attacks by the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including the attack on al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq”
U.S. Forces Strike Kataib Hezbollah Capabilities in Iraq
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 23, 2024
In response to attacks by the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including the attack on al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq on Jan. 20, on Jan. 24 at 12:15 a.m. (Iraq time), U.S. CENTCOM forces conducted… pic.twitter.com/rSnbQdlRD4
More details have emerged about the strikes in Yemen that took place on Monday.
Britain said in a joint statement on Tuesday that 24 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, conducted additional strikes on Monday against eight targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
In response to continued illegal and reckless Houthi attacks against vessels transiting the Red Sea and surrounding waterways, the armed forces of the United States and United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted additional strikes against eight targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
The joint statement was issued by Britain’s prime minister’s office, which added “These strikes were designed to disrupt and degrade the capability of the Houthis to continue their attacks on global trade and innocent mariners from around the world, while avoiding escalation.”
This post was amended to remove the suggestion that fresh strikes have just taken place.
Updated
New Zealand is deploying a six-member defence force team to contribute to maritime security in the Middle East, prime minister Christopher Luxon has announced.
Luxon said the Houthi attacks against commercial and naval shipping were “illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising”, adding:
This deployment, as part of an international coalition, is a continuation of New Zealand’s long history of defending freedom of navigation both in the Middle East and closer to home.
The team will contribute to the self-defence of ships in the region, in accordance with international law, but no personnel will enter Yemen, Luxon said.
Foreign affairs minister, Winston Peters, said the deployment is in support of the free flow of trade, on which New Zealanders rely, and should not be conflated with the country’s position on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which includes supporting a two-state solution and the parties taking steps towards a ceasefire.
“Any suggestion our ongoing support for maritime security in the Middle East is connected to recent developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip, is wrong.”
US carries out strikes against targets in Iraq
The United States is carrying out strikes in Iraq against targets linked to Iran-backed militia, US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
One said it was a response to a weekend attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded US forces.
US troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked about 150 times by Iran-aligned militants since the Israel-Gaza war started in October.
On Saturday, four US personnel suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strikes were targeting multiple locations.
The attacks against the United States are seen as retaliation for its support of Israel in its war against Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The US has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq.
Updated
Summary
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, on Tuesday said the “clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable”, as he appealed for more aid access throughout the Gaza Strip. “The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history,” Guterres told the UN security council. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
He told the council that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave was “appalling” and that “the people of Gaza not only risk being killed or injured by relentless bombardments, they also run a growing chance of contracting infectious diseases like hepatitis A, dysentery, cholera.” Guterres again appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States was opposed to any permanent change to Gaza’s territory, but kept the door open to possible support for any “transitional arrangements” to resolve the conflict with Israel. “If there needs to be transitional arrangements to enable that to happen, that’s one thing. But when it comes to the permanent status of Gaza going forward, we’ve been clear, we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” Blinken told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria.
Palestinian RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire was the likely cause of a blast that collapsed two buildings killing a group of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said on Tuesday. “A militant squad surprised the force with RPG fire. The first rocket hit one of the buildings in which explosives had been laid out. The hit apparently led to the explosion that caused the collapse of the building and the building next to it,” R Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv.
The United States has destroyed or degraded over 25 Houthi missile launch facilities and more than 20 missiles in Yemen since it started strikes in the country earlier this month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the Israeli army fired directly at a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, where civilians are caught amid heavy fighting. “Israeli tanks are firing heavily on the upper floors of the specialised surgery building and the emergency building of Nasser hospital, dozens expected wounded,” a ministry statement said.
Whatever the future of a post-Gaza war looks like, it cannot include the leaders of Hamas, the US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said. In a press briefing at the White House, Kirby also said the US was involved in “active conversations” on the release of more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Reuters reports.
The United States would support another “pause” – temporary ceasefire – in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, such as a 30, 60 or 90-day period, the White House has just said. The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, is briefing right now in the west wing at the regular media press conference with him and the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Aid trucks continue to have difficulty reaching people in southern Gaza, from Egypt and, via multiple aid agency reports, are not able to get to many parts of central and northern Gaza at all. Trucks are blocked for security checks and become severely backed up prior to reaching inside Gaza.
Reports are trickling in that Hamas won’t accept the latest offer from Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza, lasting two months, to allow another exchange of hostages – held by the Islamist group since 7 October – for more Palestinian prisoners held in Israel as threats to security. The Times of Israel is reporting that an unnamed Egyptian official has told the Associated Press of the situation. These are early moments in this news development and we await more clarity and further details.
Protest by international aid bodies about catastrophic hunger and the danger of “looming famine” among Palestinians in besieged Gaza continues with the latest warning this hour from the World Food Programme (WFP). The population of the Gaza Strip faces an increasing risk of famine as the Israel-Hamas war drags on, the United Nation’s WFP has declared anew, Agence France-Presse reports.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the United States was opposed to any permanent change to Gaza’s territory, but kept the door open to possible support for any “transitional arrangements” to resolve the conflict with Israel.
“If there needs to be transitional arrangements to enable that to happen, that’s one thing. But when it comes to the permanent status of Gaza going forward, we’ve been clear, we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” Blinken told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria.
The United States has destroyed or degraded over 25 Houthi missile launch facilities and more than 20 missiles in Yemen since it started strikes in the country earlier this month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
UN chief says 'unacceptable' for Israel to reject two-state solution
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, on Tuesday said the “clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable”, as he appealed for more aid access throughout the Gaza Strip.
“The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history,” Guterres told the UN security council. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
He told the council that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave was “appalling” and that “the people of Gaza not only risk being killed or injured by relentless bombardments, they also run a growing chance of contracting infectious diseases like hepatitis A, dysentery, cholera.”
Guterres again appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Updated
Palestinian RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire was the likely cause of a blast that collapsed two buildings killing a group of Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“A militant squad surprised the force with RPG fire. The first rocket hit one of the buildings in which explosives had been laid out. The hit apparently led to the explosion that caused the collapse of the building and the building next to it,” R Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv.
Updated
UN security council meeting on Middle East crisis begins
The UN security council meeting to discuss unprecedented violence spreading across the Middle East has started.
The council is expected to hear calls for Israel to lift its restrictions on aid into Gaza and to accept that a future Palestinian state is necessary for its own security.
The US will resist renewed calls from the Arab League for the security council to demand that Israel accept an immediate ceasefire that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.
The meeting is also likely to hear calls from China for the UN to recognise Palestine fully as a step towards a two-state solution.
Follow along with the video at the top of the blog, as well as all key lines here.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the Israeli army fired directly at a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, where civilians are caught amid heavy fighting.
“Israeli tanks are firing heavily on the upper floors of the specialised surgery building and the emergency building of Nasser hospital, dozens expected wounded,” a ministry statement said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond when asked by AFP about firing at the hospital.
Khan Younis has become the centre of fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, who have pressed south over nearly three months of their ground offensive.
Updated
Freed Israeli female hostages tell of abuse in Hamas captivity
Two freed Israeli female hostages on Tuesday gave testimony to a parliamentary hearing on sexual violence on the abuse they experienced while being held captive by Hamas militants in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
I was there 51 days and there wasn’t a moment that we didn’t go through abuse of any kind,” said Aviva Siegel, who was taken hostage on 7 October.
Siegel, 62, told the hearing on sexual violence during the Israel-Hamas conflict that militants had turned both female and male hostages into victims.
They became:
Dolls on a string that they can do with them what they please, whenever they please. I saw it with my own eyes. I didn’t just see, I felt the women as if they were my daughters,” she said.
Chen Goldstein-Almog, another freed hostage, said she had seen fellow female hostages miss periods during their captivity.
She said this may have been due to:
The difficult conditions in captivity … [but] heaven forbid they get pregnant.”
Both women were freed during a seven-day humanitarian pause in late November that led to the release of 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for aid deliveries into Gaza and the freeing of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Updated
Future of Gaza cannot include Hamas leaders – White House
Whatever the future of a post-Gaza war looks like, it cannot include the leaders of Hamas, teh US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, just said.
In a press briefing at the White House, Kirby also said the US was involved in “active conversations” on the release of more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Reuters reports.
The US Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, is in Cairo today for these “active” discussions on ensuring the release of hostages – and securing a humanitarian pause in the conflict.
Kirby said the Biden administration would “absolutely” support a longer humanitarian pause, following brief breaks in the war last year.
He said McGurk was also discussing other issues, including getting an assessment of Israel’s military operations and its efforts to protect civilians, as well as continuing to explore the idea of a normalisation of Israel-Saudi ties.
Here is a file picture of Brett McGurk from last year, during a meeting with the foreign minister of Qatar.
Updated
The United States would support another “pause” – temporary ceasefire – in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, such as a 30, 60 or 90-day period, the White House has just said.
The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, is briefing right now in the west wing at the regular media press conference with him and the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Kirby was asked by the press whether the US would support a halt in the war lasting for that range of possible time periods and he said “sure, absolutely”, particularly “if that would give us the opportunity to get hostages out and more aid in”.
He said he could not confirm any reports about ceasefire discussions or developments right now.
The US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk is in Cairo today.
Updated
Aid trucks continue to have difficulty reaching people in southern Gaza, from Egypt and, via multiple aid agency reports, are not able to get to many parts of central and northern Gaza at all.
Trucks are blocked for security checks and become severely backed up prior to reaching inside Gaza.
The aid trucks all over the road on the Egyptian side waiting to be to allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/FL0PVcf6CK
— MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 23, 2024
Aid trucks line up.
Trucks undergo inspections.
Updated
Reports are trickling in that Hamas won’t accept the latest offer from Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza, lasting two months, to allow another exchange of hostages – held by the Islamist group since 7 October – for more Palestinian prisoners held in Israel as threats to security.
The Times of Israel is reporting that an unnamed Egyptian official has told the Associated Press of the situation. These are early moments in this news development and we await more clarity and further details.
Rejecting the offer also involves Hamas leaders refusing to accept exile from Gaza and requiring the Israeli military to leave Gaza entirely, while allowing the millions of displaced Palestinians to return to their home locations (even if their actual homes have been destroyed). We await any confirmation or further information and are looking for word from AP itself.
Updated
Protest by international aid bodies about catastrophic hunger and the danger of “looming famine” among Palestinians in besieged Gaza continues with the latest warning this hour from the World Food Programme (WFP).
The population of the Gaza Strip faces an increasing risk of famine as the Israel-Hamas war drags on, the United Nation’s WFP has declared anew, Agence France-Presse reports.
The situation in Gaza is of course slipping every day into a much more catastrophic situation … [with] a looming threat of famine”, Abeer Etefa, the WFP’s senior Middle East spokeswoman, told a press briefing by video link from the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
A study conducted between November 24 and December 7 found that all 2.2 million people in the Palestinian territory were in a crisis level of food insecurity. The picture has deteriorated since, said Etefa.
More than half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic food insecurity levels and the risk of famine increases each day,” she said.
Etefa noted there is something exceptional about the current situation, even with the long years of conflict in places like Syria, Yemen and Sudan.
In Gaza right now:
We haven’t seen that high a level of the number of people in these conditions in such a short span of time … [and Gaza has] the largest concentration of people in what looks like famine-like conditions anywhere in the world”.
The warning echoes earlier alarm today expressed by the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA).
Updated
A key meeting of the United Nations security council is due to begin around three hours from now at the world body’s headquarters in New York City.
Several foreign ministers are flying in to add weight to their ambassadors and other diplomats as calls for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and to accept a future Palestinian state are expected to dominate the discussions, as my colleague Patrick Wintour lays out in this piece.
The session is scheduled to begin at 2pm local time on the US east coast, which is 7pm GMT and 9pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv.
Updated
Al Amal hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza is not far from where the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has a centre with resources and is trying to arrange for ambulances to collect Palestinian civilians being wounded by Israeli attacks – but the organisation is having trouble.
Nebal Farsakh, a PRCS spokewoman, says on the clip that the Guardian’s video team in London put together, in translation, that the society’s ambulances are not able to leave the centre to reach the wounded in Khan Younis, “due to the siege on the centre and no vehicles being able to move.”
She said that the organisation lost contact with medical staff at the Amal hospital on Monday.
The Israeli authorities have insisted throughout the war on Hamas in Gaza that militants are using hospitals as cover, which Hamas and medical personnel dispute.
With so many lives in danger, thousands are now seeking to flee Khan Younis, many already having traveled there from central and northern Gaza as Israel’s assault on the Palestinian territory began there after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths. Hamas also took hostages, more than 100 of which remain captured in Gaza. People are fleeing on foot, by bicycle, donkey cart of laden vehicles, whatever they can muster.
This post was amended on 23 January 2024 to correct the death toll in Israel of the October 7 attack.
Updated
Disturbing scenes have emerged in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military says it now has the city surrounded and the Palestine Red Crescent Society says hospitals are under siege and al-Amal hospital is encircled, amid continued bombardments.
The Guardian’s team in London has put together a short video of footage emerging from the area, which, to warn readers, has some disturbing footage as injured people try to get to hospital and get treatment.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Six displaced people were killed after one of the UN-run shelters in Khan Younis, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, was hit during military operations yesterday, the commissioner general of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said the “devastating scale of loss of life” in Gaza “is unacceptable, is unprecedented and it is just a blemish on the international community’s moral perspective”.
The United Nations Relief Works and Agency has said 570,000 people in Gaza face “catastrophic” hunger. “Intense fighting, access denials & restrictions + communications blackouts are hampering UNRWA’s ability to safely & effectively deliver aid,” the agency said in a post on X.
Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month-old war. An Israeli military spokesperson said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank. Reports in local media said explosives set by the soldiers detonated prematurely. Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it had been an “unbearably difficult morning” after hearing news of the deaths of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli bombardment was continuing in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with gunfire from Israeli drones targeting “anyone moving around” the hospital.
The Gaza health ministry said a total of 25,490 Palestinians had been killed and 63,354 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October. At least 195 Palestinians had been killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Israel’s military said its troops had encircled Khan Younis. “Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade,” the military said.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said action to degrade Houthi military capabilities would continue after the UK and US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against the rebel group on Monday. “What we’ve done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” he told broadcasters.
A Houthi army spokesperson said the latest US-UK strikes against the rebel group in Yemen would not go “unanswered” or “unpunished”.
Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to a two-month pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, Axios reported on Monday. The first phase would reportedly involve the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition.
Updated
Reuters has posted this update on the newswires:
At Khan Younis’s main Nasser hospital, the biggest still functioning in the Gaza Strip, bodies were being buried on the grounds because it was unsafe to go out to the cemetery.
Footage filmed by Palestinian journalist Hamdan El-Dahdouh showed persistent gunfire hitting the top of the main building.
“I am besieged at Nasser hospital now and my life is in great danger. The smell of death, the only smell I know, is filling the place,” Dr Mahmoud Abu Shammala posted on Facebook.
“I lived this war as a hero, and if I die I will die a hero.”
Updated
The UK must stand by the state of Israel and its right to defend itself as it deals with the terrible consequences of the Hamas attacks on 7 October, David Cameron, the UK’s foreign secretary, insisted as he was joined by a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor at a ceremony in the Foreign Office marking Holocaust Memorial Day.
Eva Kugler, a young girl at the time Germany swept through Poland and France, admitted she was angry that Israel was now being likened to the Nazis and condemned Hamas, saying: “I feel they have been indoctrinated against Israel as Hitler indoctrinated the German people in the same way as the Nazis. The Holocaust was all over Europe and north Africa; we can only hope this does not spread, but Jewish people have been attacked for 5,000 years, sadly.”
Cameron described the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust as “humanity’s darkest hour” and promised “to recommit to rid the world of the prejudice and hatred that persists today”.
He said two of the most unforgettable experiences of his life had been a visit to Auschwitz nine years ago to see “the architecture of mass murder and the mechanics of death” and a visit last year to the Be’eri kibbutz in Israel where he saw how horror had been brought to “a place of peace and beauty in the desert”.
He recalled seeing “the bullet holes in the walls, the blood on the floor, and the cupboards that had been full of children hiding before they were pulled out and murdered in front of their parents. It was the most deadly assault on Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
As a result, he said, “it has never been so important to say so clearly we stand with the Jewish people, the state of Israel and their right to defend themselves as they go about dealing with this terrible problem of dealing with the legacy of 7 October.”
Speaking at the same ceremony, the Israeli envoy to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, said the phrase “never again” seemed hollow after 7 October when “1,200 innocent people had been killed by the same poisonous hatred of the Jewish people that fuelled Nazi Germany during the Holocaust”.
“Jewish people in Britain were becoming fearful of showing themselves, or Jewish symbols,” she said.
Eric Pickles, the government’s envoy for post-Holocaust issues, attacked “the useful idiots who are willing to march alongside outright racists”.
Accusing Hamas of necrophilia and paedophilia in its attacks on Israelis on 7 October, he said he had been shocked to hear imams in the UK prepared to say Hamas had acted in self-defence. He said denial was the final stage of genocide and claimed “denial alongside distortion represented formidable obstacles to the truth”.
Updated
Six people were killed at UN-run shelter in Gaza, UNRWA chief says
Six displaced people were killed after one of the UN-run shelters in Khan Younis, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, was hit “during military operations” yesterday, the commissioner general of the UN’s Palestine relief agency UNRWA has said.
“Terrified staff, patients and displaced people are now trapped inside the few remaining hospitals in Khan Younis as heavy fighting continues,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X on Tuesday.
He called on “all parties” to abide by international law and take every precaution possible to minimise harm and protect civilians, medical facilities and personnel.
One of the largest @UNRWA shelters in Khan Younis (southern #Gaza) was hit during military operations yesterday.
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) January 23, 2024
At least 6 displaced people were killed and many more injured during intense fighting around our the shelter.
Terrified staff, patients and displaced people are now… pic.twitter.com/tg6rOWQ6e2
Updated
'Devastating scale of loss of life' in Gaza is 'unacceptable' and 'unprecedented', Egypt's foreign minister says
Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, has said the “devastating scale of loss of life” in Gaza “is unacceptable, is unprecedented and it is just a blemish on the international community’s moral perspective”.
He called for an immediate ceasefire to deal with the “inhumane conditions that the people of Gaza are suffering under, absolutely horrendous, tragic, painful conditions.”
He warned that unless the world dealt with the displacement of Palestinians fleeing the bombing from Israel, the security of the wider region and Egypt would be at risk.
Shoukry said rhetoric was not enough. “The deprivation of their basic needs water, food, medicine, healthcare, sanitation, not being provided will make the conditions and Gaza unliveable in itself, and will induce displacements.
“If we don’t take measures to offset the potential of displacement, then displacement will occur and its consequences will be a further complication to the situation, will be a direct challenge to Egypt’s security,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Updated
The EU and Egypt have signed a framework agreement to strengthen economic and political ties as fears grow over further displacement of people from Gaza in the region.
Unveiling the deal, Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, paid tribute to Egypt’s role in getting aid to Gaza and said the new deal would give Egypt access to some EU programmes including the Horizon research fund.
The deal, which is expected to lead to a fully blown partnership agreement in the next month, will draw on a €9bn fund already agreed to strengthen economic ties.
The EU’s neighbourhood commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, described the deal as “the beginning of the golden age”, adding that it was based on “six pillars” of investment in the economy, water and food security, green energy and assistance with migration.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said the deal “recognised that what happens in Egypt and in our region has a direct effect on conditions in Europe and what happens in Europe equally has an effect on Egypt and its adjoining regions whether it is the Middle East or Africa.”
Egypt already offers refuge to millions of people who have fled south Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen and has so far resisted the establishment of refugee camps on the Gaza border.
Asked about the possibility of future funds, he said he did not take the “Dickens perspective of I want more [money]” but his aim was for his country’s needs to be met through “a healthy and productive relationship that responds to the interests of both sides”.
Updated
Reuters reports that the Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy has restated Israel’s position that it will not agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas that leaves its hostages in Gaza or Hamas in power in the territory. He added that efforts were ongoing to bring about the release of the hostages, but declined to elaborate, saying lives were hanging in the balance.
Updated
Michael Segalov has interviewed Tal Mitnick, the first conscientious objector to be jailed in Israel since the 7 October attack:
Mitnick said he had known he wouldn’t serve for many years. While he studied maths and computer science at school, a teacher suggested his natural aptitudes would suit a role in an elite intelligence unit. “So I looked into it more. Intelligence units, I learned, blackmail LGBTQ+ Palestinians and people needing health treatment in Israel into being informants. I started to see how the system is built on oppression. Once I realised this, I knew I had to not only refuse but also work against it.”
The events of 7 October only affirmed his decision. “Israel has already lost this war,” he believes. “More killing and more violence won’t bring back the lives lost on 7 October. I know people are hurt. Traumatised. But this doesn’t make anything better. To root out extremist ideas from Palestinian society, we must root them out in Israel.”
For first-time refuseniks, seven to 10 days is a standard sanction. On 26 December, Mitnick received 30 days, to be spent at a prison just outside the town of Kfar Yona. “I don’t see myself as the hero or anything,” he says, “while people are being massacred every day in Gaza.”
Read more here: ‘More killing won’t bring back lost lives’ – Tal Mitnick, 18, on going to prison instead of joining IDF
Updated
Logitech International has said it is facing 30-day delays in getting its products from its factories in Asia to Europe due to the Red Sea crisis, Reuters reports.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has told MPs in the House of Commons that the latest airstrikes against the Houthis were only part of a “wider response” to the Houthis being taken by the government.
He said the government was increasing diplomatic engagement in the region, working to end the supply of arms to the Houthis, using sanctions to try to cut off their funding and delivering humanitarian aid to help people in Yemen who have suffered from the civil war.
He claimed there was no link between what the government was doing and the conflict in Gaza. He said people who glorified the Houthi attacks were glorifying terrorism, and that would be met by a zero tolerance response.
You can read the latest updates on UK politics in this liveblog.
Updated
Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it struck the Israeli air control base of Meron for a second time in recent weeks, in response to Israeli “assassinations” and attacks on civilians.
It comes after security sources told Reuters that two Hezbollah fighters were killed on Sunday when an Israeli drone hit their vehicle in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement backed by Tehran, has been trading fire across Lebanon’s southern border with Israeli forces in support of the militia group’s Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Updated
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Tuesday that it had received a report of uncrewed aerial system activity in the vicinity of 46 nautical miles south of Yemen’s port city of Mokha.
The UKMTO said authorities were investigating. We will give you more information as updates come in.
Updated
UNRWA: 570,000 people in Gaza face 'catastrophic hunger'
The United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) has warned that 570,000 people in Gaza face “catastrophic hunger”.
In a post on X, it wrote:
Intense fighting, access denials & restrictions + communications blackouts are hampering UNRWA’s ability to safely & effectively deliver aid.
As risk of famine grows, the UN calls for a critical increase in humanitarian access.
570,000 people in📍#Gaza face catastrophic hunger.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 23, 2024
Intense fighting, access denials & restrictions + communications blackouts are hampering @UNRWA's ability to safely & effectively deliver aid.
As risk of famine grows, @UN calls for a critical increase in humanitarian access. https://t.co/fhlAGyJ8BQ
Israel’s war has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and caused acute shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
In Rafah and Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza, tents and makeshift dwellings cover almost all available ground, with multiple families crammed into apartments, in UN-run shelters in schools or sleeping on the floors of hospitals.
The UN humanitarian office this month said Israeli authorities were systematically denying it access to northern Gaza to deliver aid and this had significantly hindered the humanitarian operation there.
Israel, which has previously denied blocking the entry of aid, will face pressure to allow more aid into Gaza at a meeting of the UN security council in New York on Tuesday.
Updated
Mediation efforts on ending the war in Gaza are ongoing, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said in a press briefing.
Separately, he said escalation in the Red Sea represented a “big danger”.
He was speaking a day after US and UK forces carried out fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthi fighters who have disrupted global shipping in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Qatar, whose mediators are involved in talks on the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, has also helped mediate in several regional conflicts including in Afghanistan.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month-old war. An Israeli military spokesperson said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank. Reports in local media said explosives set by the soldiers detonated prematurely. Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it had been an “unbearably difficult morning” after hearing news of the deaths of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli bombardment was continuing in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with gunfire from Israeli drones targeting “anyone moving around” the hospital.
The Gaza health ministry said a total of 25,490 Palestinians had been killed and 63,354 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October. At least 195 Palestinians were killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Israel’s military said its troops had encircled Khan Younis. “Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade,” the military said.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said action to degrade Houthi military capabilities would continue after the UK and US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against the rebel group on Monday. “What we’ve done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” he told broadcasters.
A Houthi army spokesperson said the latest US-UK strikes against the rebel group in Yemen would not go “unanswered” or “unpunished”.
Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to a two-month pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, Axios reported on Monday. The first phase would reportedly involve the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition.
Updated
Twenty-four Israeli soldiers killed in deadliest day for Israeli forces of Gaza war
Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month-old war.
As we reported earlier, an Israeli military spokesperson said 21 soldiers were killed when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank.
Reports in local media said explosives set by the soldiers detonated prematurely.
Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.
The large death toll of Israeli troops in fighting comes at a time when Israel is beginning to see the first stirrings of discontent with Benjamin Netanyahu’s war strategy, which aims to “crush” Hamas but which has not involved detailed discussion of what would come next for Gaza.
You can read the full story by Jason Burke, the Guardian’s international security correspondent, here:
Updated
Reuters has some more quotes from Abeer Etefa, the World Food Programme’s spokesperson for the Middle East, on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Etefa said there was a “systematic limitation on getting into the north of Gaza, not just for the WFP”.
“This is why we’re seeing people becoming more desperate and being impatient to wait for food distributions, because it’s very sporadic,” she said. “They don’t get it frequently and they have no trust or confidence that these convoys will come again.”
The UN humanitarian office this month said Israeli authorities were systematically denying it access to northern Gaza to deliver aid and this had significantly hindered the humanitarian operation there.
Israel has previously denied blocking the entry of aid.
Updated
The World Food Programme (WFP) has said that very little food assistance has made it beyond southern Gaza since the start of the war.
“It’s difficult to get into the places where we need to get to in Gaza, especially in northern Gaza,” said Abeer Etefa, the WFP’s spokesperson for the Middle East.
“Very little assistance has made it beyond the southern part of the Gaza Strip … I think the risk of having pockets of famine in Gaza is very much still there.”
Updated
Palestine Red Crescent says Israeli gunfire targeting 'anyone moving around' al-Amal hospital
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said Israeli bombardment is continuing in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, with gunfire from Israeli drones targeting “anyone moving around” the hospital.
It said earlier on Tuesday in a post on X that its ambulances were unable to reach the injured, and said in a separate post that a civilian was killed by Israeli gunfire at the entrance of the hospital.
Israel says Hamas fighters operate in and around hospitals, which Hamas and medical staff deny.
Updated
US officials said the latest US-UK airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen have degraded the Houthis’ ability to carry out complex attacks.
But, according to Reuters, they have declined to offer any specific numbers of missiles, radar, drones or other military capabilities destroyed so far.
“We are having the intended effect,” a US military official told Pentagon reporters.
Updated
Death toll in Gaza reaches 25,490, says health ministry
A total of 25,490 Palestinians have been killed and 63,354 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday.
At least 195 Palestinians were killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Most of the casualties have been women and children, the ministry has said, and thousands more bodies are likely to remain uncounted under rubble across Gaza.
Updated
Israel's military says its troops have encircled Khan Younis
Israel’s military said on Tuesday that its troops had encircled the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
“Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade,” the military said.
“Ground troops engaged in close-quarters combat, directed (air force) strikes, and used intelligence to coordinate fire, resulting in the elimination of dozens of terrorists,” it said.
Israel launched an offensive last week to capture Khan Younis, which it says is the principal headquarters of the Hamas militants responsible for the 7 October attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have lost their homes and the vast majority are now penned into small towns just north and south of Khan Younis, many sleeping rough in makeshift tents with food and medicine running out and no clean water.
Palestinians said Israeli blockades and the storming of hospitals since Monday had left the injured beyond the reach of rescuers.
Dead people were being buried inside the grounds of Khan Younis’s main Nasser hospital because it was unsafe to leave to reach the cemetery, according to Reuters.
Another Khan Younis hospital, al-Khair, was stormed by Israeli troops who arrested staff there, and a third, al-Amal, where Red Crescent rescuers are based, was cut off and unreachable, according to Palestinian officials.
Updated
US-UK airstrikes will not go 'unpunished', Houthis warn
A Houthi army spokesperson has said the latest US-UK strikes against the rebel group in Yemen will not go “unanswered” or “unpunished”.
The spokesperson said:
The American-British aggression aircraft launched 18 airstrikes during the past hours, distributed as follows: 12 raids on Amanat al-Asimah and Sana’a governorate, three raids on Hodeidah governorate, two raids on Taiz governorate [and] a raid on al-Bayda governorate.
These attacks will not go unanswered and unpunished.
The US and UK said they had conducted “an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes” against eight Houthi targets on Monday, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The number of targets is considerably lower than the 60 struck in the first air raids on Yemen made by the two countries 10 days earlier, while their effect and the number of casualties caused is uncertain.
The latest raid marks the eighth time the US has conducted strikes on Houthi targets this month and the second time that the UK has participated.
You can read more on who the Houthis are and the group’s relationship with the war in Gaza here:
Updated
Netanyahu vows Israel will continue fighting in Gaza until 'absolute victory'
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would push on with fighting in Gaza until “absolute victory”.
“Yesterday we experienced one of the most difficult days since the war erupted,” Netanyahu was quoted by Reuters as saying. “In the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory.”
He said the military was investigating the incident in which 21 soldiers were killed when buildings exploded in central Gaza.
Support for the war remains high among Israelis, but opinion polls show lagging support for Netanyahu and his far-right coalition.
Weekly Saturday night rallies demanding the release of hostages have been supplemented in recent weeks by growing calls for elections.
Updated
Israeli president says it has been an 'unbearably difficult morning'
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said it had been an “unbearably difficult morning” after hearing of news of the deaths of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza (see post at 6.10am for more details on the updated death toll of 21).
He wrote on X:
An unbearably difficult morning, in which more and more names of the best of our sons – the silver tray in the full sense of the word – are added to the hero’s tombstone, in a war that has no justice.
Behind every name is a family whose world has fallen on one, a family that we take to our hearts with sorrow and pain, and at the same time with pride – for the heroism of the generation, for the missions and evils, for sticking to the goal and for the love of the people and the homeland.
Herzog said “intense battles” were taking place in “an extremely challenging space”.
בוקר קשה מנשוא, בו עוד ועוד שמות של טובי בנינו – מגש הכסף במלוא מובן המילה – מתווספים למצבת הגבורה, במלחמה שאין צודקת ממנה.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) January 23, 2024
מאחורי כל שם נמצאת משפחה שעולמה חרב עליה באחת, משפחה שאנו מאמצים אל ליבנו ביגון ובכאב, ובה בעת בגאווה - על גבורת הדור, על השליחות והרעות, על הדבקות במטרה…
The chief spokesperson for the IDF, Daniel Hagari, said the killed soldiers had been preparing explosives to demolish two buildings when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby.
This reportedly set off an explosion prematurely and caused the buildings to collapse on the soldiers, all of whom were said to be reservists.
A medical evacuation team was deployed but it was a “complicated operation, which took place until the last hours,” Hagari said, indicating the difficulty in extracting bodies buried under the rubble.
Hagari was quoted as saying the incident took place in central Gaza, close to the kibbutz of Kissufim on the Israeli side of the border, at 4pm local time (2pm GMT) on Monday.
Updated
UN security council to meet on Tuesday to discuss Middle East crisis
The UN security council will meet on Tuesday to discuss unprecedented violence spreading across the Middle East and hear calls for Israel to lift its restrictions on aid into Gaza and to accept that a future Palestinian state is necessary for its own security.
The US will resist renewed calls from the Arab League for the security council to demand that Israel accept an immediate ceasefire that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.
The meeting is likely to hear calls from China for the UN to recognise Palestine fully as a step towards a two-state solution.
Before the meeting, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in New York to urge Israel to agree to a ceasefire and warn the US not to spread the conflict.
The meeting comes against a backdrop of a second US-UK coordinated raid deep into Houthi strongholds in Yemen, as well as news of intensified fighting in southern Gaza.
The top Iranian diplomat said:
At the same time that America and England launched its attacks against Yemen, satellite images show that 230 commercial and oil ships were moving in the Red Sea, and this shows that they have understood the Yemeni message that they are only stopping the ships that go to the ports of the Zionist regime.
He added he had told the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, last week in Davos: “Your action in escalating tension in the Red Sea and against Yemen is a strategic mistake.”
Turkey’s Hakan Fidan and France’s Stéphane Séjourné are among the foreign ministers who have flown to New York for the open debate, which is also likely to hear extended criticism that Israel has not acted on a UN security council resolution passed before Christmas demanding a big increase in aid.
Updated
David Cameron: action to degrade Houthi capability will continue
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said action to degrade Houthi military capabilities would continue after the UK and US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against the rebel group on Monday.
“What we’ve done again is send the clearest possible message that we will continue to degrade their ability to carry out these attacks,” Cameron told broadcasters.
The former prime minister said there had been more than 12 Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea since the first joint US-UK strikes 10 days ago.
He was quoted by BBC News as saying that what the Houthis were doing was “unacceptable”, “illegal” and threatened “the freedom of navigation”, as the rebel group is indiscriminately attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
A joint US-UK statement yesterday said the two countries had conducted “an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes” against eight Houthi targets, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The number of targets is considerably lower than the 60 that were struck in the first air raids on Yemen made by the two countries 10 days earlier, while their effect and the number of casualties caused is uncertain.
Updated
Israel proposes fighting pause in Gaza for release of all hostages – report
Israel has given Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to a two-month pause in the fighting as part of a multi-phase deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, Axios reported on Monday.
The first phase would reportedly involve the release of women, men over 60 and those in critical medical condition. Subsequent phases would involve the release of female soldiers, younger civilian men, male soldiers and the bodies of dead hostages, according to the report, which cited two Israeli officials.
The officials – who said the deal was expected to take around two months to implement – added that the proposal also involved the release of an as yet undetermined number of the roughly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, but not all of them.
The proposal does not include promises to end the war, but it would involve Israeli troops reducing their presence in major cities in Gaza and gradually allowing residents to return to the territory’s devastated north.
The Guardian is yet to independently verify the claims in the report.
A total of 110 Israelis and other nationals were released in return for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons as part of a week-long truce at the end of November. Several attempts at a ceasefire since have failed.
The families of the remaining 130 hostages appear to be turning to more drastic measures in pursuit of another release deal, including further demonstrations outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 10am in Sana’a, Yemen. Here’s what we know so far:
Israel’s army has revised up its death toll and says a total of 21 soldiers were killed in an attack in central Gaza in the last 24 hours. It makes it the largest single loss of life for the Israeli military since the war began. Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said the soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings on Monday when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby, setting off the explosion prematurely. The buildings collapsed on the soldiers. The IDF had earlier put the death toll at 10.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society says its headquarters is being targeted in Khan Younis. Posting on X, the group said: “Urgent - Israeli Occupation targets the PRCS’s headquarters in #KhanYounis with artillery shelling on the fourth floor, coinciding with intense gunfire from Israeli drones.”
Concern has been expressed about the safety of hospital staff and patients in Gaza, with the World Health Organization’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posting on X that “continuous fighting in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital and today’s raid at Al-Kheir hospital in #Gaza are deeply worrisome.”
The US national security council spokesperson John Kirby reacted to those reports on Monday, saying Israel had a right to defend itself but adding: “We expect them to do so in accordance with international law and to protect innocent people in hospitals, medical staff and patients as well, as much as possible.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has released its latest update on the fighting in the Israel-Gaza war, saying hostilities have escalated in Khan Younis. “On 22 January, ground operations, fighting and attacks intensified in the Khan Younis area, destroying several residential houses, buildings, towers and residential squares, reportedly killing at least 45 Palestinians, including IDPs [internally displaced persons], women and children,” it reported.
The US carried out its eighth round of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday at 11.59pm local time. A Pentagon statement said the bombing was proportionate and necessary.
US military officials said the strikes were successful and had “good impacts” in all eight locations. US Central Command said the strikes were to “respond to increased Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities”.
The UK joined the airstrikes for the second time in 10 days. The defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said the attacks were “in self-defence” and in the interests of degrading Houthi capabilities.
The Pentagon said the operation targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and air surveillance sites. The UK Ministry of Defence said it was involved in hitting multiple targets at two military sites with guided precision bombs in the vicinity of Sana’a airfield.
The action followed a call on Monday between Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden. The leaders discussed further “disrupting and degrading Houthi capabilities,” a US spokesperson said.
A joint statement from both countries said they had conducted strikes against eight Houthi targets in Yemen, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The UK involvement on Monday appears to have been smaller than in 11 January’s strikes. Ten days ago, US and UK warships and jets hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said “American-British forces are launching raids on the capital of Sana’a” and several other parts of Yemen, Agence France-Presse reports. Houthi TV outlet al-Masirah said four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under rebel control.
A Houthi spokesperson responded on X to say the airstrikes “will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination”. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti accused the UK and US of protecting perpetrators of “genocide” in Gaza.
Mohammad Ali AlHouthi, who is with Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, also posted on X about the latest round of strikes. As part of his post he said: “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response.”
Updated
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has released its latest update on the fighting in the Israel-Gaza war.
It says hostilities have escalated in Khan Younis:
On 22 January, ground operations, fighting and attacks intensified in the Khan Younis area, destroying several residential houses, buildings, towers and residential squares, reportedly killing at least 45 Palestinians, including IDPs [internally displaced persons], women and children.
Along with noting the World Health Organization’s reports of an increase in attacks on healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank, the update outlines a lack of medical staff to treat patients:
Humanitarian health partners report on a severe shortage of medical staff in some of the hospitals in Gaza. Only 12 medical doctors are still working at al-Aqsa hospital, which is about 10% of the doctors who operated before the start of the hostilities. Nasser hospital has experienced a significant decrease in staff and patient numbers, as over 50% of staff have left and only 400 out of 750 patients remaining, some seeking care elsewhere or remaining at home.
#Gaza Hostilities have further escalated in Khan Younis.
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) January 23, 2024
A strike reportedly hit near Al Amal hospital, but the intensity of hostilities nearby prevented patients and displaced people from leaving.#NotATarget
This and more in Flash Update #99👇
Updated
IDF increases soldier death toll to 21 in past 24 hours
Israel’s army has revised up its death toll and says a total of 21 soldiers were killed in an attack in central Gaza in the last 24 hours.
It makes it the largest single loss of life for the Israeli military since the war began.
Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, made the announcement on Tuesday, updating an earlier toll.
He said the soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings on Monday when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby, setting off the explosion prematurely. The buildings collapsed on the soldiers.
Updated
IDF says 10 soldiers killed in Gaza
It’s 7:56am in Tel Aviv where Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) are reporting that 10 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours.
It’s one of the deadliest single attacks on Israeli forces of the 3-month war against Hamas, says Reuters.
מצורפת הודעת דובר צה"ל בנושא שמותיהם של עשרה חללי צה״ל אשר הודעה נמסרה למשפחותיהם: https://t.co/WN2hJLvBim
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 23, 2024
מצורף קישור לאתר צה"ל, בו מפורסמים ומתעדכנים פרטיהם ותמונותיהם של החללים:https://t.co/gBSQOIk0Wv
>>
Updated
Palestine Red Crescent Society says headquarters targeted in Gaza
It’s currently 7:50 in Gaza where the Palestine Red Crescent Society says its headquarters is being targeted in Khan Younis.
Posting on X, the group says “Urgent - Israeli Occupation targets the PRCS’s headquarters in #KhanYounis with artillery shelling on the fourth floor, coinciding with intense gunfire from Israeli drones”.
It’s as concern has been expressed about the safety of hospital staff and patients in Gaza, with the World Health Organization’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posting on X that “continuous fighting in the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital, and today’s raid at Al-Kheir Hospital in #Gaza are deeply worrisome.”
National security council spokesperson John Kirby reacted to those reports on Monday, saying Israel had a right to defend itself but added: “We expect them to do so in accordance with international law and to protect innocent people in hospitals, medical staff and patients as well, as much as possible.”
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) posted on X earlier saying that “MSF staff in Nasser hospital report they can feel the ground shaking and that there is a sense of panic among staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the building.”
🚨Urgent - Israeli Occupation targets the PRCS's headquarters in #KhanYounis with artillery shelling on the fourth floor, coinciding with intense gunfire from Israeli drones, resulting in injuries among internally displaced individuals who sought safety on our premises.…
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 23, 2024
Updated
Houthi group responds to fresh US and UK air strikes in Yemen
Yemen’s Houthis have promised a response to the latest round of strikes from the UK and the US.
Mohammad Ali AlHouthi who is with Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee has posted on X about the strikes, saying “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
A senior political official and spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, also posted earlier saying “The American-British aggression will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination to carry out their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the oppressed in Gaza,” he said.
Al-Bukhaiti went on to say “The war today is between Yemen, which is struggling to stop the crimes of genocide, and the American-British coalition to support and protect its perpetrators.”
US and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes on Monday in Yemen, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the group against Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said.
The Houthis say their attacks on shipping aims to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 4:53am in Yemen’s capital Sana’a and 3:53am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. We are pausing this blog on the Middle East crisis for now, but first, here’s a summary of the latest so far:
The US has carried out its eighth round of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday at 11.59pm local time. A Pentagon statement said the bombing was proportionate and necessary.
US military officials said the strikes were successful and had “good impacts” in all eight locations. US Central Command said the strikes were to “respond to increased Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities”.
The UK joined the airstrikes for the second time in ten days. Defence secretary Grant Shapps said the attacks were “in self-defence” and in the interests of degrading Houthi capabilities.
The Pentagon said the operation targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and air surveillance sites. The UK Ministry of Defence added that it was involved in hitting multiple targets at two military sites with guided precision bombs in the vicinity of Sana’a airfield.
The action followed a call on Monday between Sunak and US president Joe Biden. The leaders discussed further “disrupting and degrading Houthi capabilities,” a US spokesperson said.
A joint statement from both countries said that they had conducted strikes against eight Houthi targets in Yemen, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The UK involvement on Monday appears to have been smaller than 11 January’s strikes. Ten days ago, US and UK warships and jets hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said that “American-British forces are launching raids on the capital of Sanaa” and several other parts of Yemen, Agence France-Presse reports. Houthi TV outlet al-Masirah said four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under rebel control.
A Houthi spokesperson responded on X to say the airstrikes “will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination.” Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti accused the UK and US of protecting “perpetrators” to “genocide” in Gaza.
Mohammad Ali AlHouthi who is with Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee has also posted on X about the latest round of strikes. As part of his post he says “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak did not brief Labour leader Keir Starmer or House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle ahead of the strikes. Sunak received criticism ten days ago for not informing parliament beforehand and this time did not brief Labour’s top team either.
The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have disrupted the global commercial shipping route in the Red Sea and forced ships to go around the Cape of Good Hope. The Houthis say they are acting to support Palestine amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in which officials say 25,000 people have been killed, but Houthi attacks have also targeted ships with no connection to Israel.
As the latest round of US and UK strikes take place against the Houthis in Yemen, the Israel-Gaza war continues. The US has called for Israel to protect innocent people in hospitals, Reuters reports. Israeli forces stormed one hospital according to Palestinian officials and put another under siege as they advanced deep into western Khan Younis in Gaza.
Israel’s defence forces (IDF) say in a post on X that they have hit what they say are Hezbollah structures in the villages of Leyda and Itarun in southern Lebanon.
Inside Israel, there were heated scenes as dozens of family members of hostages held by Hamas stormed a committee meeting in Israel’s parliament Monday, demanding a deal to release them.
They stormed into a gathering of the Knesset’s finance committee, holding up signs and yelling, “You won’t sit here while they are dying there!”, reports Associated Press.
“These are our children!” they shouted. Some had to be physically restrained, and at least one person was escorted out.
Israel’s defence forces (IDF) say in a post on X that it has hit what it says are Hezbollah structures in the villages of Leyda and Itarun in southern Lebanon.
At least 202 people have been killed in south Lebanon since early October, according to an Agence France-Presse tally, as Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants trade near-daily fire. On the Israeli side, 15 people have been killed.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו הערב תשתיות טרור ועמדות תצפית של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב הכפרים בליידא ועיתרון שבדרום לבנון.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 22, 2024
בנוסף, צה"ל תקף מוקדם יותר היום מבנה צבאי של הארגון במרחב מג'דל סלם pic.twitter.com/KaW3sLjisD
Here is our latest report on the situation in Gaza and what we know about events at the al-Khair hospital west of Khan Younis, as well as the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis:
As the latest round of US and UK strikes take place against the Houthis in Yemen, the Israel-Gaza war continues.
The US has called for Israel to protect innocent people in hospitals, Reuters reports. Israeli forces stormed one hospital according to Palestinian officials and put another under siege as they advanced deep into western Khan Younis in Gaza.
Residents say the bombardment from air, land and sea was the most intense in southern Gaza since the war began in October.
Israeli troops moved for the first time into Al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza.
There, they stormed Al-Khair hospital and arrested medical staff, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al Qidra told Reuters.
There was no word from Israel on the situation at the hospital, and the military spokesperson’s office had no comment. The military said later that three Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday in southern Gaza.
White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that Israel had a right to defend itself but added: “We expect them to do so in accordance with international law and to protect innocent people in hospitals, medical staff and patients as well, as much as possible.”
Mohammad Ali AlHouthi who is with Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee has also posted on X about the latest round of strikes.
As part of his post he says “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
US and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes on Monday in Yemen, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the group against Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said.
The Houthis say their attacks on shipping aims to end the Israeli air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
نقول للأمريكي والبريطاني من هذه الساحة المباركة ومن بين أبناء صنعاء الجديدة من بين القبائل هذه الكريمة نقول له، ثق جيداً أن كل عملية وكل عدوان على بلدنا لن يكون بدون رد، وترقّب الرد في كل دقيقة، إن لم يكن في كل ثانية ففي كل دقيقة يجب أن تترقب أن هناك رد قادم وأنه لا محالة سيكون… pic.twitter.com/QZuk47tUK1
— محمد علي الحوثي (@Moh_Alhouthi) January 22, 2024
Here’s two more images released by the US and UK military of planes involved in the latest round of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen:
Photograph: US Central Command (CENTCOM)/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
Our Defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh has the full report on this latest round of strikes:
The US and the UK have conducted a further round of strikes against Houthi targets, the second time in a month the two countries have bombed Yemen together in an attempt to stop the rebel group targeting shipping in the southern Red Sea.
A joint statement from both countries said that they had conducted “an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes” against eight Houthi targets in Yemen, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The number of targets is considerably lower than the 60 which were struck in the first air raids on Yemen made by the two countries 10 days earlier, but their effect and the number of casualties caused is unclear.
Read the rest here:
There’s a bit more detail on the strikes coming from inside Yemen.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said that “American-British forces are launching raids on the capital of Sanaa” and several other parts of Yemen, Agence France-Presse reports.
Houthi TV outlet al-Masirah said four strikes targeted the Al-Dailami military base north of the capital, which is under rebel control.
The Houthis began striking Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza during the war with Israel.
The Houthis have since declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.
Reged Ahmad here picking up the blog from Jem Bartholomew
US Central Command (Centcom) has posted some of the latest video and images of their airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthis.
In a post on X, Centcom says the strikes are “part of ongoing international efforts to respond to increased Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities in the region”.
The latest barrage of allied attacks marks the eighth time the US has conducted strikes on Houthi sites since 12 January, Associated Press reports.
U.S. Forces, Allies Conduct Joint Strikes in Yemen
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 22, 2024
As part of ongoing international efforts to respond to increased Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities in the region, on Jan. 22 at approximately 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa / Yemen time), U.S. Central Command forces alongside UK… pic.twitter.com/BQwEKZqMAo
Updated
Summary
Here’s what we know so far.
The US undertook its eighth round of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday at 11.59pm local time. A Pentagon statement said the bombing was proportionate and necessary.
US military officials said the strikes were successful and had “good impacts” in all eight locations. US Central Command said the strikes were to “respond to increased Houthi destabilizing and illegal activities”.
The UK joined the airstrikes for the second time in ten days. Defence secretary Grant Shapps said the attacks were “in self-defence” and in the interests of degrading Houthi capabilities.
A Houthi spokesman responded on X/Twitter to say the airstrikes “will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination.” Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti accused the UK and US of protecting “perpetrators” to “genocide” in Gaza.
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak did not brief Labour leader Keir Starmer or House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle ahead of the strikes. Sunak recieved flak ten days ago for not informing parliament beforehand and this time did not brief Labour’s top team either.
The Pentagon said the operation targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and air surveillance sites. The UK ministry of defence added that it was involved in hitting multiple targets at two military sites with guided precision bombs in the vicinity of Sana’a airfield.
The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have disrupted the global commercial shipping route in the Red Sea and forced ships to go around the Cape of Good Hope. The Houthis say they are acting to support Palestine amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in which officials say 25,000 people have been killed, but Houthi attacks have also targeted ships with no connection to Israel.
The action followed a call on Monday between Sunak and US president Joe Biden. The leaders discussed further “disrupting and degrading Houthi capabilities,” a US spokesperson said.
The UK involvement on Monday appears to have been smaller than 11 January’s strikes. Ten days ago, US and UK warships and jets hit more than 60 targets in 28 locations. This time, it was eight strikes, according to a joint Pentagon statement with Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the UK and Netherlands, which supported the latest military action.
That’s all from me, Jem Bartholomew in London, as I hand over to my colleague Reged Ahmad in Sydney, who is taking over the Guardian’s live coverage from here. See you soon.
Updated
Houthi spokesperson says airstrikes 'will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination'
Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a senior political official and spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, has posted on X in response to Monday’s US and UK airstrikes.
“The American-British aggression will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination to carry out their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the oppressed in Gaza,” he said. “The war today is between Yemen, which is struggling to stop the crimes of genocide, and the American-British coalition to support and protect its perpetrators.”
Posting an undated video that appeared to show children dying, he added: “Thus, every party or individual in this world is faced with two choices that have no thirds: either to preserve its humanity and stand with Yemen, or to lose it and stand with the American-British alliance. Who do you stand with as you watch these crimes?”
Updated
Getty Images has some pictures coming out of Houthi-controlled Sana’a, Yemen, from Monday.
The Houthis are a Shia rebel group, backed by Iran, that has held Sana’a since 2014, and been at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government since 2015.
UK defence secretary: strikes conducted 'in self-defence' to 'degrade' Houthi capabilities
The UK government has confirmed its role in the joint airstrikes on Monday, saying precision-guided bombs were used to hit two military sites in order to help “support regional stability across the Middle East”.
The ministry of defence said in a statement: “Four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a pair of Voyager tankers, joined US forces in a deliberate strike against Houthi sites in Yemen.”
“Our aircraft used Paveway IV precision guided bombs to strike multiple targets at two military sites in the vicinity of Sanaa airfield. These locations were being used to enable the continued intolerable attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea. This follows our initial operation on 11 January, and subsequent US action, to degrade the Houthis’ capability to conduct such attacks.”
The UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said in a statement: “Dangerous Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have continued to threaten the lives of sailors and disrupt shipping at an intolerable cost to the global economy. Along with our US partners, we have conducted a further round of strikes in self-defence.”
He went on: “Aimed at degrading Houthi capabilities, this action will deal another blow to their limited stockpiles and ability to threaten global trade. Alongside our ongoing diplomatic efforts, we will continue to support regional stability across the Middle East, working hand in hand with our like-minded partners.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer and shadow defence secretary John Healey did not receive a briefing ahead of the latest airstrikes (contrary to ten days ago), according to PA.
Updated
Allied strikes targeted a Houthi underground storage site and missile and surveillance sites - Reuters
Monday’s allied strikes targeted a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and air surveillance sites, according to a Pentagon statement seen by Reuters.
“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,” the statement said.
The Pentagon detailed the eight new strikes in a joint statement with the UK, as well as from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, which supported the latest military action.
The statement said the strikes were proportionate and necessary.
According to PA, the latest set of UK strikes could raise questions about the prime minister consulting MPs before military action. Rishi Sunak was criticised for authorising the first strikes when parliament was not sitting, with some MPs demanding House of Commons scrutiny. Sunak did brief opposition leader Keir Starmer and shadow defence secretary John Healey, according to PA.
Updated
The US-UK strikes are currently ongoing, according to Sky news, against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Although the strikes are only the second time British forces have joined in, for US forces they are the eighth set of attacks in rceent weeks, retaliating against Houthi attacks on shipping in a crucial international commercial route.
Earlier on Monday, the US military denied claims made by the Houthis that they had attacked an American cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden.
A statement from the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reported by Reuters: “The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea.” The US military denied the claims.
The continued strikes show how the UK and US continue to be drawn into conflict in the Middle East amid Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s destructive ground campaign in Gaza, in which over 25,000 people have been killed.
On Monday, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and the top Navy commander in the Middle East, told AP that Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out since October – but stopped short of saying Iran is directing them.
Updated
Reuters says it confirmed with three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, that fresh airstrikes were carried out, but did not say how many targets were hit.
Before, US and UK forces mainly hit Houthi missiles and radar sites, striking more than 60 targets in 28 locations, according to AP:
The Houthis’ media office said in an online statement that several American and British raids targeted Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. And Jamal Hassan, a resident from south Sanaa, told The Associated Press that two strikes landed near his home, setting off car alarms in the street. An Associated Press journalist in Sanaa also heard aircraft flying above the skies of Sanaa overnight Monday.
Updated
Here is a bit more from AP on the latest joint airstrikes:
US officials say the US and British militaries are bombing multiple sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
It is the second time the two allies have conducted coordinated retaliatory strikes on the rebels’ missile launching capabilities.
Officials say warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets were used to take out Houthi missile storage sites and launchers.
The joint operation comes about 10 days after US and British warships and fighter jets struck more than 60 targets in 28 locations.
US and UK launch second joint airstrikes on Houthi missile sites in Yemen
US and British forces have conducted joint airstrikes targeting Houthi missile sites in Yemen for a second time.
The latest strikes came shortly after the White House said Joe Biden, the US president, had spoken to the UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, emphasising the need to continue “disrupting and degrading” Houthi military capabilities.
Three US officials confirmed the latest move against the Iran-aligned group over its targeting of Red Sea shipping, according to Reuters.
The US military denied claims that the Yemeni rebels had successfully targeted a US military support ship earlier in the day.
White House spokesman John Kirby said the US president had discussed the situation with the British prime minister on Monday, following continued Houthi attacks on shipping transiting the Red Sea and nearby Gulf of Aden over the past week.
“They talked about what’s going on in the Red Sea and the need for a continued international multilateral approach to disrupting and degrading Houthi capabilities,” Kirby told reporters in Washington, in an apparent reference to military action.
I’m Fran Lawther and we’ll be bringing you the latest updates as we get them.
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