Israel says Hamas’s Gaza chief moving ‘from hideout to hideout’

RIYADH: The US military said early on Tuesday it had conducted a strike against “explosive uncrewed surface vehicles” belonging to the Houthis in Yemen.

The statement by CENTCOM said the vehicles “presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region” and the action was in self defense.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said on Tuesday it had received a report of an incident west of Yemen’s Hodeidah.

The US and its allies have been conducting strikes against the Houthis who have declared a blockade of maritime traffic that supports Israel’s war on Gaza.

The US and UK have led the attacks and Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Denmark have provided support.

Israel has been conducting a military incursion into the Gaza Strip since early October after Hamas attacked settlements in Israel killing 1,200 people and taking scores of hostages. The military response by Israel has killed over 27,000, mostly women and children, and prompted the International Court of Justice to rule that there may be a “plausible case” of genocide in the densely packed enclave.  

The US said it does not want to escalate regional tensions but has conducted strikes in Iraq and Syria last week in response to the killing of three US military personnel in Jordan carried out by Iran-aligned groups.

The UN on Monday urged parties in the conflict to pull back from the brink and consider the “unbearable human and economic cost” of a regionwide conflagration.  

During a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the latest escalations in the region, the under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, Rosemarie DiCarlo, once again called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and for the unconditional release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Friday’s strikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran-back militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards hit 85 targets across a dozen sites and killed around 18 people.

The act was in retaliation for an attack on Tower 22 base in Jordan, which the US blames on Islamic Resistance, a coalition of anti-US groups backed by Iran.

Tehran said it had no role in the drone strike on the base and that the militias act independently.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has stopped short of attacking any targets within Iran. Before Friday’s strikes Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said that his country would not start a war but would act “strongly” if anyone tried to bully it.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the region on his fifth tour since the Israel-Hamas war began. He met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday and is expected to travel to Israel, Qatar and Egypt as the US and its regional allies try to deal with a growing humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas are yet to  agree on plans to release hostages in return for a humanitarian ceasefire, despite diplomatic efforts over the last few weeks.