Houthis say they targeted US ship in Gulf of Aden
Yemen’s Houthis have said they targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
A statement by the Houthi group spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reads:
The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people.
Key events
Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
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At least 24,448 Palestinians have been killed and 61,504 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since the war began on 7 October, according to the latest figures by the territory’s health ministry on Wednesday.
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A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has confirmed, under a deal mediated by Qatar and France. The agreement marks the first significant progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since December, when a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted a US-owned cargo ship with a kamikaze drone just hours after Washington put the group back on its list of global terrorists. The drone smashed into the Genco Picardy bulk carrier late on Wednesday, 70 miles (110km) southeast of Aden, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation. The Iranian-backed group said they targeted the US-owned vessel with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
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The likelihood of a war in Lebanon is “higher than before”, the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said. Speaking to troops in northern Israel on Wednesday, IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said Israel’s military is “increasing readiness for fighting in Lebanon”.
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A telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip entered its sixth day on Wednesday, the longest continuous outage since the war began, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks. Internet and telephone services collapsed across Gaza on Friday, marking the ninth blackout the territory has endured since 7 October.
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Israel has killed several people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including, it claimed, the “head of terrorist infrastructure” in the Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city of Nablus. Five people were killed inside the Tulkarm refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its ambulances were prevented from assisting at the scene of a strike near Nablus by Israeli forces. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported 85 Palestinians were detained overnight. Israel has detained about 6,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.
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Doctors have been instructed by Israel’s health ministry not to speak with UN representatives investigating the Hamas attacks on 7 October. Members of the UN independent international commission of inquiry, in areas including East Jerusalem and Israel, had been contacting senior physicians and hospital staff who treated the 7 October victims, requesting information and interviews for its investigation into potential war crimes committed since 7 October.
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The Jordanian army has said its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity. In a statement on Wednesday, the army said it held Israel responsible for a “flagrant breach of international law”.
US ship struck by drone from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, says military
The US military has said a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen struck a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
There were no injuries and some damage was reported in the attack, the US central command said in a social media post.
At approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time) Jan. 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS was launched from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen and struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden. M/V Genco Picardy is a Marshall Islands flagged, U.S. owned and operated bulk carrier ship.
There… pic.twitter.com/kAXPaCqYxV
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 17, 2024
As we reported earlier, the Houthis have said they targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
Journalists for Agence France-Presse around the world staged demonstrations on Wednesday to show solidarity with their colleagues in Gaza who have been unable to leave since the start of the war.
Journalists and other AFP staff in Paris and bureaus across the news agency’s global network gathered with portraits of their Gaza colleagues. The demonstration was organised by AFP’s management, with unions and the Journalists’ Association (SDJ).
AFP employees in Gaza include journalists Mahmud Hams, Yahya Hassouna, Bilal al-Sabbagh, Mohammed Abed, Saïd Khatib, Adel Zaanounn, Mai Yaghi, technician Ahmed Eissa and office manager Mohanad Shahwan. The team also includes freelance videographer Youssef Hassouna and administrator Zuhair Abuatila.
In a statement, AFP’s global news director, Phil Chetwynd, said the newsroom wanted to express its “whole-hearted support” for their Gaza colleagues “who are working in dire conditions and under constant fear of bombardment”, adding:
Not only are they trying to report on the story around them, they are also having to seek food and shelter for their families as the humanitarian situation becomes more desperate every day.
He called on Israel to ensure their safety and let them leave the territory. “Too many colleagues have been killed and injured,” he said.
At least 81 journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes in the territory since the war began on 7 October, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Médecins Sans Frontières has said patients and displaced civilians were forced to “flee in panic” last night after Israeli forces carried out heavy bombardment close to a hospital in southern Gaza without prior evacuation orders.
In a series of social media posts, the medical charity said it was concerned for the safety of the staff and patients at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
Léo Cans, MSF head of mission for Palestine, described the situation at the hospital as “catastrophic”, adding that the fighting was “very close. We hear bombings around and a lot of shooting.”
During a visit to the hospital yesterday, MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans said that Nasser, now Gaza’s largest functioning health facility, was operating at 300% capacity, adding “the situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle”. pic.twitter.com/I9b83pW3xB
— MSF International (@MSF) January 17, 2024
Qatar confirms medicine and aid for hostages and civilians entered Gaza
A shipment of medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians has entered the Gaza Strip, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has confirmed.
Posting to social media, Majed Al Ansari said medicine and aid “for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages” had entered the territory on Wednesday under a deal announced on Tuesday.
Over the past few hours, medicine & aid entered the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages.
Qatar, along with its regional and international partners, continues mediation efforts at the… https://t.co/b6HlpHMUgQ
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) January 17, 2024
The agreement, mediated by Qatar and France, marked the first significant progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since December, when a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
Aid trucks carrying medicine and humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza have entered through the Karm Abu Salem crossing on Wednesday.
Israel bars doctors from speaking to UN investigators about 7 October attacks
Doctors have been instructed by Israel’s health ministry not to speak with UN representatives investigating the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Members of the UN independent international commission of inquiry, in areas including East Jerusalem and Israel, had been contacting senior physicians and hospital staff who treated the 7 October victims, requesting information and interviews for its investigation into potential war crimes committed since 7 October.
But Israel’s health ministry has issued directives prohibiting doctors and healthcare workers from cooperating with members of the UN committee, claiming that the committee is anti-Israel, according to Israeli media reports on Tuesday.
Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, confirmed to NBC News today that healthcare workers have been told not to cooperate with the UN committee. He said:
The commission of inquiry is there to investigate Israel without any time limits, unlike any other commission of inquiry from the UN system. Furthermore, the three people chosen to head it are famous antisemitic and anti-Israel people.
The commission chair is Navanethem Pillay from South Africa, who served as UN high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014 and is currently a judge ad hoc of the international court of justice (ICJ). The commission’s other leaders are Miloon Kothari from India, the first UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, and Chris Sidoti from Australia, an expert in national human rights institutions and international human rights law and mechanisms.
Houthis say they targeted US ship in Gulf of Aden
Yemen’s Houthis have said they targeted the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a “direct hit”.
A statement by the Houthi group spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reads:
The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people.
The US has condemned recent Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, which Tehran has claimed were carried out against “anti-Iranian terrorist groups”.
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US state department, told reporters at a briefing:
So we do condemn those strikes. We’ve seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days.
Iran launched airstrikes on Pakistani territory on Tuesday that were apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike.
The strikes in Pakistan came less than a day after Iranian missiles hit targets in Syria and Iraq, in what have been seen as reprisals in the wake of a double suicide bombing in the city of Kerman on 3 January which killed more than 80 Iranians.
Miller added:
I think it is a little rich for, on one hand, Iran to be the leading funder of terrorism in the region, the leading funder of instability in the region, and on the other hand, claimed that it needs to take these actions to counter terrorism.
Vessel hit in drone attack off Yemen ‘incurred damage’
We have more details on the reports of a ship that was hit by a drone attack 60 nautical miles south-east of Yemen’s port of Aden.
The vessel, which had been “hit on port side by an uncrewed aerial system”, and its crew are safe and proceeding to the next port of call, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said that a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier was hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 66 miles south-east of Aden as it was heading east along the Gulf of Aden. It continued:
The vessel’s gangway incurred damage, and at the time of writing it was deemed not usable.
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