Two killed in Houthi missile attack

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At least two sailors have been killed by a Houthi attack on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, marking the first loss of life in months of highly disruptive attacks on global shipping.
The missile caused significant damage to the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, according to a US official, adding that it was the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in two days.
The British embassy in Yemen confirmed the two deaths on Wednesday.
It said: “This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop. Our deepest condolences are with the families of those that have died and those that were wounded.
A US defence official said: “Today, the Houthis have killed innocent civilians,” adding the crew “reports at least two fatalities and six injured crew members and have abandoned the ship”.
The vessel was struck about 50 nautical miles south-west of the Yemeni port of Aden and was drifting and ablaze.
Details of the two sailors are not known and the status of 20 crew and three armed guards on board, who included 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian and a Nepali national, is unknown.
An unnamed US official told Reuters the damage to the vessel was not clear but the crew fled the ship in lifeboats.
Vessels in the vicinity of the ship had reported “a loud bang, and a large plume of smoke”, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British maritime security agency.
Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have been targeting ships in the Red Sea for months claiming they were attacking Israel-linked assets in solidarity with people of Gaza, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the attack but stopped short of admitting the loss of life.
The group wrote on X, formally Twitter: “The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out a targeted operation against the American ship (True Confidence) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles. The strike was accurate, leading to a fire breaking out on it.”
It insisted it acted against the “American-British aggression against our country”.
A spate of Houthi attacks last November forced global shipping companies to abandon navigation through the Red Sea, which triggered lengthier and costlier journeys.
Four days ago, the Rubymar, a UK-owned bulk carrier, became the first ship to sink as a result of a Houthi attack, after floating for two weeks with severe damage from a missile strike. All crew were safely evacuated from that vessel.
The United States in December announced the creation of a joint naval protection force in the south of the Red Sea in a bid to stave off the attacks and restore merchant shipping in the area but the Houthi attacks persisted.
That’s all for today, thanks for following along. Here is a summary of the most significant events of the day.
An escalation of fighting on Lebanon’s southern border would further strain hospitals already struggling with a lack of money in a national financial crisis, the Middle East chief of The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.
Doctors in southern Lebanon have sounded the alarm, saying an influx of wounded has pushed the health sector to its limits.
Speaking to Reuters outside Lebanon’s Marjayoun Hospital near the border with Israel, Fabrizio Carboni said Lebanon did not have the needed resources to support its health facilities.
“Then you also have a lot of health personnel who left the country so, yes, there is a concern,” he said.
“We know should something happen and we hope the situation will not deteriorate there will be a need for substantial medical support for the population in the south of Lebanon and all people affected by the conflict,” Carboni said.
Marjayoun Hospital has 14 emergency beds and struggles to operate because of a lack of staff and, crucially, fuel shortages, its director has told Reuters. It runs on its own electricity generators for 20 hours a day, paying up to $20,000 a month for the fuel.
Carboni urged warring parties on the Lebanon-Israel border to respect the protected status of medical staff and facilities, saying it was “very concerning, very worrying” to see cases of rescue workers being killed in shelling.
Seven rescue workers and paramedics have been killed in Israeli shelling over the last five months, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Eleven civilian casualties in US-UK strikes in Yemen in February, the first recorded incidents of civilian harm in the US-led bombing campaign. One civilian killed, 7 injured on 24 Feb. A further 3 injured in strikes in the capital and on a farm in Hajja➡️ https://t.co/KAOyikmLda pic.twitter.com/RiIuqPckdB
A Barbados-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier was struck Wednesday southwest of the Yemeni port city of Aden, triggering a naval operation to rescue the crew, a maritime security firm said.
“Reports confirmed the bulker had been struck and sustained damage,” Ambrey said, adding that a rescue operation was “underway with parts of the crew already in lifeboats”.
It did not elaborate on the attack but cautioned other ships to steer clear of the bulker, which it said matches the “targeting profile” of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British maritime security agency, said vessels in the vicinity of the bulker had reported “a loud bang, and a large plume of smoke”.
It said the ship “is reported to have been hit and has suffered damage”.
Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Kassem, has said there is a “90 percent chance” that the cross-border fighting with Israel will not evolve into an all-out war in the country, in an interview with Lebanese news channel LBCI last night. 
The Iran-backed paramilitary force is “ready for the remaining 10 per cent,” he said.  
Until now, Hezbollah has been in a “defence position,” Sheikh Kassem said, claiming Hezbollah does not want to “drag Lebanon into a war, but there is a dangerous enemy that could a start a war at anytime against our country, without any justifications.”
For this reason, he said, “early deterrence is crucial to safeguard Lebanon … Israeli restraint benefits all Lebanese.”
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office, “the next disaster is only a matter of time,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has reportedly said, after a state commission of inquiry found the prime minister personally responsible for the April 2021 Mount Meron disaster, in which 45 people were killed in a crush.
“The report published today shows that the disaster could have been prevented. The writing was on the wall. It indicates criminal negligence, arrogance and disconnection, it indicates complete irresponsibility,” Lapid told reporters, according to The Times of Israel. “Out of respect for the victims of Mount Meron, to prevent his next disaster, he should go home.”
Netanyahu’s opponents have drawn a line between the Mount Meron report and the intelligence failures of October 7.
“There is a direct line from the Carmel disaster, the Meron disaster, and the failure of October 7 — the prime minister and his cabinet’s avoidance of responsibility for managing the affairs of the state,” Mickey Levi, an MK in Lapid’s party said. “Somehow they always don’t know, don’t hear, don’t see.”
In a report released yesterday a team of UN experts said there are “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
The UN team said it also received information from civil society sources and direct interviews, about “sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in [Israeli] detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints” after October 7.
Action Aid has responded to the report, calling for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the safe return of civilian hostages and displaced persons.
“In the face of alleged sexual violence reported since October 7th in Gaza and Israel, ActionAid stands firm: Every report of sexual violence against women demands thorough investigation. It’s not just a crime; it’s a gross violation of human rights, a war crime, and a crime against humanity under international law,” the British NGO said in a statement.
“The alleged sexual violence and harassment against any woman, both in Israel and Palestine, are deeply troubling and must be addressed.”
The barrage was part of Hezbollah’s retaliation to a deadly drone strike in Lebanon earlier in the day.
An explosion in the vicinity of a Barbados-flagged, U.S.-owned cargo ship off the port of Aden in southern Yemen was reported by a nearby vessel, British security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday.
The ship, located approximately 57 nautical miles southwest of Aden, was hailed by an entity declaring itself to be the “Yemeni Navy” and ordered to alter course, Ambrey said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency also reported the incident.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Cyprus this week as the bloc explores a possible humanitarian corridor through the Mediterranean island to support the population in Gaza, her spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“Our efforts are focused on making sure that we can provide aid to Palestinians,” the spokesperson told journalists, adding: “We all hope that this opening (of the corridor) will take place very soon.”
Since the October 7 attacks the question surrounding whether the insular community, whose members see army service as conflicting with their religious duties, should be obligated to serve has sparked debate and led to protests against their decades-long exemptions.
An Israeli planning body has advanced permits for 3,500 new homes in West Bank settlements near Jerusalem, Israeli media has reported.
“We continue to build the country! 18,515 permits this year in Judea and Samaria,” far-right Israeli finance minister Smotrich posted on Twitter, referring to the West Bank. 
Reuters reported last week that Israel’s plan to add thousands more homes to settlements in the occupied West Bank announced last week was the final push the Biden administration needed to declare them “inconsistent” with international law.
Washington has repeatedly warned Israeli officials that settlement expansion is an obstacle to peace and that Israel must act to stop violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The 3,500 homes are planned for the large settlements of Maale Adumim and Efrat and the smaller one of Kedar, according to statements from settlement leaders as well as ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock.
A 14-truck food convoy – the first from the World Food Programme since it paused deliveries to the north on 20 February – was turned back by the IDF after a three-hour wait at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint yesterday. 
After being turned away the trucks were rerouted and later stopped by a large crowd of desperate people who looted the food, taking around 200 tons, from the trucks, WFP said in a statement.
Following Israel’s denial to allow the aid into the north, WFP airdropped it in with the help of the Jordanian Air Force, but warned that air drops will not stop the looming famine.
“Airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine. We need entry points to northern Gaza that will allow us to deliver enough food for half a million people in desperate need,” said Carl Skau, WFP’s Deputy Executive Director.
WFP described the hunger levels in the north of Gaza as “catastrophic” and said that a massive relief operation requires more entry points into Gaza, including from the north, and the use of Ashdod port.
US forces on Tuesday shot down one anti-ship ballistic missile and three one-way attack unmanned aerial systems launched from Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the USS Carney in the Red Sea, US Central Command said late last night.
US forces later destroyed three anti-ship missiles and three unmanned surface vessels in self-defense, Centcom said in a statement.
Israeli authorities evacuated six Indian citizens working in the fields of the northern Israeli community of Margaliot after a missile fired from Lebanon on Monday killed one and wounded seven other agricultural workers nearby, Haaretz reported.
The Immigration and Population Authority said in a statement that the decision to evacuate was made “following the events and in light of the increasing rate of fire over the last days.”
IDF fighter jets “struck two terrorists who participated in the October 7th Massacre in the Israeli community of Nir Yitzhak, as well as two platoon commanders and a cell commander in Hamas’ Nukhba forces,” the Israeli army said in a daily round up this morning. 
The military also claimed that in Beit Hanoun it killed “ two terrorists who fled to a military compound… and were eliminated by an IDF fighter jet directed by soldiers.”
In central Khan Yunis, “approximately 20 terrorists were killed over the past day,” the IDF said. 15 of those killed were eliminated in one strike, as part of a sniper ambush initiated by IDF troops. 
“In another coordinated strike between IDF units, terrorist infrastructure used to fire at IDF troops was struck. Secondary explosions at the site were identified, indicating that a large number of weapons were stored in the compound.
In the Hamad area in Khan Yunis, a number of terrorists were identified and eliminated, including in a helicopter strike. AK-47 rifles and ammunition were amongst the large quantity of weapons located and seized during searches in the Hamad area.”
I asked the Government what items of UK aid for Gaza have been denied entry by the Israeli Govt. Of them were 1,350 water filters, because apparently Israel says they are a ‘threat’.What threat does a water filter, supplied by the UK Government, have? pic.twitter.com/OY9SyPdkuB
At least 30,717 Palestinians have been killed and 72,156 have been wounded since Oct. 7 in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Some 86 Palestinians were killed and 113 wounded in the previous 24 hours, the ministry added.
Britain will warn Israel on Wednesday that its patience is running thin over the “dreadful suffering” in Gaza, where a lack of aid is leading people to die of hunger, foreign minister David Cameron said.
Cameron, who is due to meet Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday, told parliament late on Tuesday that Israel’s handling of aid for Gaza, as the occupying power, raised questions over its compliance with international law.
“We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza,” Cameron told the upper House of Lords. “I spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease; and we are now at that point.
“People are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.”
Cameron told parliament that aid going to Gaza in February was around half the amount that was delivered in January.
“The patience needs to run very thin and a whole series of warnings needs to be given, starting, I hope, with a meeting I have with Minister Gantz when he visits the UK tomorrow,” he said.
Hello and welcome to the Telegraph’s daily live blog on the crisis in the Middle East. Follow along as we bring you the latest news and developments throughout the day. 
First up this morning:
Negotiators propose mini Gaza ceasefire as talks stall ahead of Ramadan deadline
US and Arab negotiators have put forward a proposal for a mini ceasefire in Gaza in a bid to buy time for a more substantial pause in fighting, it has been reported, as negotiations stall.
A short pause in fighting could last only a few days, according to the Wall Street Journal, as a way for both Israel and Hamas to prove that they are serious about agreeing to a longer deal.
Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt – but not Israel – are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.
Hamas said on Wednesday that it would continue working towards achieving a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel despite the absence of Israeli negotiators from the latest round of talks. Israel says it pulled out because Hamas refused to supply a list of hostages still alive in Gaza.
“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that Hamas had been given a “rational offer” and that the deal is “in the hands of Hamas right now.”