Houthis say US ship hit in Gulf of Aden attack

The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. (File/Reuters)
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Updated 19 January 2024
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Houthis say US ship hit in Gulf of Aden attack

  • US conducts new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles that were being prepared to fire into the Red Sea
  • Biden says strikes against Houthi positions to continue

SANAA/NEW DELHI: Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed early Friday they had carried out a missile attack on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis said in a statement posted on their social media that their “naval” forces had attacked the Chem Ranger “with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits.”
It did not give a time or other details for the latest attack in international shipping lanes.
The specialist website Marine Traffic identified the Chem Ranger as a Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.
British maritime risk management company Ambrey said a Marshallese chemical tanker sailing along the same route had reported a “suspicious” approach by drones.
One fell in the sea approximately 30 meters from the tanker, it added. “An Indian warship responded to the event.”
“There were no crew casualties or damage reported,” the monitor said.On Thursday, the US launched new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the Red Sea, as growing tensions in the region’s sea lanes disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks that could reignite inflation.
The two Houthi anti-ship missiles targeted in the strikes were being prepared for firing into the Red Sea and deemed “an imminent threat” to shipping and US Navy vessels in the region, the US military said.
Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in and around the Red Sea since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
After the second attack this week on a US-operated vessel in the region, the Indian Navy said it had rescued the crew of the Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel came under attack late on Wednesday, sparking a fire onboard.
The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to target US ships in response to American and British strikes on the group’s positions.
The strategy pursued by US President Joe Biden — a blend of limited military strikes and sanctions — appears aimed at preventing a wider Middle East conflict even as Washington seeks to punish the Houthis, security and military experts say.
Biden on Thursday acknowledged that the strikes had not halted attacks by the militants but said the US military response would continue.
“Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they gonna continue? Yes,” Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One.
In the latest sign that Houthi attempts to attack ships continue unabated, British maritime security firm Ambrey said a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned tanker reported four unmanned aerial vehicles approached and circled the vessel, approximately 87 miles southeast of Yemen’s Mukalla.
“One of the UAVs reportedly fell into the water. No damage or injuries were reported. The tanker was not impacted and continued its voyage,” Ambrey said in an advisory note.
Following the attack on the Genco Picardy, the US military said its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles on Wednesday that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region.” Thursday’s strikes were similar to those on Wednesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One.
After the latest attack, India diverted a warship deployed in the region to rescue the 22 crew on board the Genco Picardy, including nine Indians. The crew were all safe and a fire on the vessel had been extinguished.
The Houthi movement said its missiles had made a “direct hit” on the bulk carrier. Shipping operator Genco confirmed the attack, and said its vessel was hit by a projectile while it was passing through the Gulf of Aden with a cargo of phosphate rock.

Suez Canal suffers
The attacks target a route that accounts for about 15 percent of the world’s shipping traffic and acts as a vital conduit between Europe and Asia.
The alternative shipping route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope can add 10-14 days to a journey compared to passage via the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
A sharp downturn in revenue from the Suez Canal has struck a painful new blow to Egypt’s already deteriorating economy. The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority said last week that revenue had fallen by 40 percent in the first 11 days of January.
Wheat shipments via the Suez Canal tumbled almost 40 percent in the first half of January to 0.5 million metric tons, the World Trade Organization said on Thursday.
The Red Sea crisis was rippling through the business world and reviving concerns about stretched supply chains that emerged when activity picked up after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The re-routing of a growing number of vessels is altering refueling patterns and boosting demand for bunker fuel used by ships at far-flung ports, from Mauritius to South Africa to the Canary Islands. Denmark’s Maersk and other large shipping lines have instructed hundreds of commercial vessels to stay clear of the Red Sea. The attacks, as well as weather-related closures and stoppages in Europe, risked causing congestion at several container terminals, Maersk told its customers on Thursday.
Officials at Rotterdam Port, Europe’s largest, expect traffic to become busier from the end of January as delayed ships start to arrive but they do not expect any serious logistical issues.
Ports in Italy and France are worried about being bypassed as ships steer away from the main Mediterranean route.
“We are not observing a significant impact as of today but it’s a concern,” Christophe Castaner, chairman of Marseille port, told a press conference on Thursday.
If the crisis persists, one scenario could be that vessels traveling around Africa call in at Morocco and transfer goods to other ships to serve the Mediterranean, he added.


Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations

Updated 3 sec ago
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Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations

  • ArabPlast will feature a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics and petrochemicals in the region

LONDON: Saudi petrochemical firms will showcase their products and innovative solutions at the 17th ArabPlast, hosted by the Dubai World Trade Center, the Emirates News Agency — WAM —reported. 

ArabPlast, an international trade show that takes place from Jan. 7-9, is an important event in the calendar of companies working in the plastics, recycling, petrochemicals, packaging and rubber industries.  

In 2025, ArabPlast will host 12 national pavilions and 750 exhibitors from a total of 35 countries, including companies from Saudi Arabia, Austria, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, India, Switzerland, Jordan, UAE and the rest of the GCC countries.  

They will showcase “a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics, petrochemicals and rubber sectors in the region,” WAM reported. 

Nidal Mohammed Kadar, director of ArabPlast, said that the event would also feature the “latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in the field of recycling,” which will contribute to sustainability. 

Sadiq Al-Lawati, executive director of Polymers Marketing at OQ Oman, said that ArabPlast will focus on “sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions” as the global demand for plastic increases in industrial sectors, such as construction, food and beverage, aviation, automotive, health care and sports. 

Alongside the exhibitions, hundreds of professionals and decision-makers will discuss the latest solutions and challenges that the plastic and petrochemical industries are facing in the Arab region.  


Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 24, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 24 November 2024
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Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media

  • “Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” official National News Agency said
  • The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” the official National News Agency said.
The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since September 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon’s east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed grey smoke billowing over south Beirut.
The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned on social media platform X that the military would strike “Hezbollah facilities and interests” in the Hadath and Burj Al-Barajneh districts, also sharing maps of the areas to be evacuated.
Full-on war erupted following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Iran-backed Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas, after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.


Israel records 160 launches fom Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south

Israeli security forces and people inspect a damaged house at a site hit by rockets fired from Lebanon in Rinatya village.
Updated 23 min 36 sec ago
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Israel records 160 launches fom Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south

  • Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into its territory from Lebanon on Sunday, with the group saying its attacks had targeted the Tel Aviv area and Israel’s south.
The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it had “launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a swarm of attack drones on the Ashdod naval base” in southern Israel.
Later, it said it fired “a barrage of advanced missiles and a swarm of attack drones” at a “military target” in Tel Aviv, and had also launched a volley of missiles at the Glilot army intelligence base in the city’s suburbs.
The Israeli military did not comment on the specific attack claims when contacted by AFP.

But it said earlier that air raid sirens had sounded in several locations in central and northern Israel, including in the greater Tel Aviv suburbs.
It later reported that “approximately 160 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization have crossed from Lebanon into Israel.”
Some of the projectiles were shot down.
Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition.
AFP images from Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, showed several damaged and burned-out cars, and a house pockmarked by shrapnel.
The wave of projectiles follows at least four deadly Israeli strikes in central Beirut in the past week, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.
In a speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem had said the response to the recent strikes on the capital “must be expected on central Tel Aviv.”
The Lebanese army, meanwhile, said that a soldier was killed on Sunday and 18 others injured, “including some with severe wounds, as a result of an Israeli attack targeting a Lebanese army center in Amriyeh.”
Though the Lebanese army is not a party to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli strikes have killed 19 Lebanese soldiers in the last two months, authorities have said.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack, which sparked the Gaza war.
Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 3,670 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them since September this year.


Israeli strike on Lebanese army center kills soldier, wounds 18 others

Updated 24 November 2024
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Israeli strike on Lebanese army center kills soldier, wounds 18 others

  • It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops
  • Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel’s ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country’s north.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.

Lebanon’s army reflects the religious diversity of the country and is respected as a national institution, but it does not have the military capability to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist Israel’s invasion.


Top EU diplomat urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Hezbollah-Israel war

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a press conference.
Updated 24 November 2024
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Top EU diplomat urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Hezbollah-Israel war

  • “We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said

BEIRUT: The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to the Lebanese capital for talks.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
“We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said after meeting Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006 and stated that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces in the country’s south, where Hezbollah holds sway.
It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.
“Back in September I came and was still hoping we could prevent a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon,” Borrell said on Sunday.
“Two months later Lebanon is on the brink of collapse.”
He said the European Union was ready to provide 200 million euros for Lebanon’s army, whose deployment in larger numbers along the border forms a crucial point in truce talks.
France and Washington have been spearheading ceasefire efforts, with US envoy Amos Hochstein visiting Lebanon and Israel this week to discuss a truce plan based on implementing Resolution 1701.
“We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire,” Borrell said, calling for an “immediate” truce.