Yemen’s Houthis threaten to hit US ships as more tankers steer clear

Pick-up trucks carrying Houthi policemen and tribal supporters of the group parade during a protest against recent US-led strikes on Houthi targets, near Sanaa, Yemen January 14, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 16 January 2024
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Yemen’s Houthis threaten to hit US ships as more tankers steer clear

  • The vessel’s US-based operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said it was hit by an “unidentified projectile” while sailing 100 miles (160 km) off the Gulf of Aden

WASHINGTON: Yemen’s Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include US ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday, as it vowed to keep up attacks after US and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.
Attacks by the Houthis on ships in area since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers in an escalation of Israel’s more than three-month war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
British and American ships had become “legitimate targets” due to the strikes launched by the two countries on Yemen last week, Nasruldeen Amer, a spokesperson for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera.
“The ship doesn’t necessarily have to be heading to Israel for us to target it. It is enough for it to be American,” Amer said. “The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security.”
The Houthis previously said they would only target Israeli ships or those en route to Israel.
In the latest apparent attack, the USCentral Command said Houthi forces in Yemen struck the US-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile on Monday, although there were no reports of injuries or significant damage.
The vessel’s US-based operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said it was hit by an “unidentified projectile” while sailing 100 miles (160 km) off the Gulf of Aden. The attack caused a fire in a hold of the vessel, which was carrying steel products, but no injuries, and the ship was continuing on its way, it said.
Earlier in the day, British Maritime Security firm Ambrey said a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier was reportedly struck by a missile while transiting near Yemen’s port of Aden.
The vessel was assessed not to be Israel-affiliated, according to Ambrey, which also assessed the attack to have targeted US interests in response to the recent strikes on Houthi military positions.
The latest attack suggests that despite the US strikes, the Houthis appear undeterred.
Later on Monday an explosion was heard near Yemen’s Hodeidah airport, residents reported. Hodeidah is some distance from Aden, however, and it was not immediately clear what had caused the blast.
Container vessels have been pausing or diverting from the Red Sea that leads to the Suez Canal, the fastest freight route from Asia to Europe. Many ships have been forced to take the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope instead.
Ship-tracking data on Monday showed at least 15 tankers altering course in response to the escalating conflict.

LNG TANKERS
QatarEnergy, the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has joined those avoiding the Red Sea, a senior source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Qatar’s Al Ghariya, Al Huwaila and Al Nuaman LNG tankers loaded at Ras Laffan and were heading to the Suez Canal but stopped in Oman on Jan. 14, LSEG ship-tracking data showed. The Al Rekayyat, which was sailing back to Qatar, stopped in the Red Sea on Jan. 13.
“It is a pause to get security advice, if passing (through the) Red Sea remains unsafe we will go via the Cape,” the source told Reuters regarding QatarEnergy.
The Qatari government and QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
About 12 percent of world shipping traffic transits the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.
The longer route round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which various shipping firms have opted for, can add about nine days to the normally 18-day trip from Qatar to northwest Europe.
The Houthis have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for years, but have turned their sights on the sea to show support for Palestinian group Hamas.
On Sunday, the United States said its fighter aircraft had shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired by the militants toward a US destroyer. No injuries or damage were reported, it said on X.
US ally Britain said it had no desire to be involved in Red Sea conflict but was committed to protecting free navigation.
“Let’s wait and see what happens,” Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on Monday regarding potential further strikes on Houthi sites.
China also called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea that have placed Beijing’s commercial interests at risk.

SUPPLIES AFFECTED
With vessels pausing or diverting, some supply lines are being affected.
Carmaker Suzuki on Monday said it was halting production at its Esztergom plant in Hungary until Jan. 21 as the Red Sea attacks had delayed the arrival of Japanese-made engines.

In energy markets, however, the impact was limited. European benchmark gas prices were lower in afternoon trade on Monday, LSEG data showed, while oil prices lost roughly 1 percent as the conflict’s limited impact on crude output prompted profit taking after oil benchmarks gained 2 percent last week.

 


Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates

Updated 5 sec ago
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Erdogan says Turkiye inflation to fall along with interest rates

ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkiye’s inflation rate will fall alongside its interest rate, adding that “no one should doubt” the steady decline in inflation, which on an annual basis began in May and fell below 49 percent last month.
Erdogan — who in past years was seen as influencing monetary policy — said that economic steps will continue with discipline and determination to ease price pressures, he was reported by broadcaster TRTHaber as telling reporters on a flight.

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Updated 2 min 42 sec ago
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman
GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Updated 28 min 48 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.


UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

Updated 08 November 2024
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UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

  • UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far delivered 121 shipments in Gaza

GAZA: Two shipments of aid from the UAE entered the Gaza Strip this week via Egypt’s Rafah Crossing, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.

The UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far sent 121 shipments to ease the plight of Palestinians affected by Israel’s war on Gaza.

Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, of the 2.3 million population in Gaza, are facing a dire humanitarian crisis.

The UAE’s various initiatives include the opening of a field hospital in Rafah last year, a floating hospital in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, and a prosthetics project to support those who have lost limbs.

The latest convoys involved 20 trucks carrying over 288 tonnes of aid, including food, medical supplies, children’s nutritional supplements, clothing, shelter materials, and health kits for women.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has so far delivered a total of 17,312 tonnes of aid for Gaza residents.