Middle East crisis live: US and UK airstrikes in Yemen will not go without ‘punishment or retaliation’, say Houthis | Middle East and north Africa

Jordan said Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians were to blame for heightened regional tension and violence in the Red Sea, which it said threatened to ignite a wider war in the Middle East, reports Reuters.

Jordanian foreign minster, Ayman Safadi said on Friday that the international community had failed to act to stop Israeli “aggression” against Palestinians which was endangering the region’s security. His comments came after the US and UK launched strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the movement’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

“The Israeli aggression on Gaza and its continued committing of war crimes against the Palestinian people and violating international law with impunity are responsible for the rising tensions witnessed in the region,” Safadi said in remarks carried by state media. The stability of the region and its security were closely tied, he added.

“The international community is at a humanitarian, moral, legal and security crossroads. Either it shoulders its responsibilities and ends Israel’s arrogant aggression and protect civilians, or allows Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist ministers to drag us to a regional war that threatens world peace,” Safadi said.

He stated that Israel was pushing the region towards more conflict “by continuing its aggression and its attempt to open new fronts,” and that Israeli military actions against civilians in Gaza met the legal definition of genocide.

Israel has denied allegations that it has committed war crimes and on Friday rejected as “grossly distorted” accusations brought by South Africa at the UN’s top court that its military operation in Gaza was a state-led genocide campaign against the Palestinian population.

Czech president Petr Pavel, a former top Nato general, endorsed the airstrikes by the US and the UK overnight against Houthi military targets in Yemen.

Posting on X, Pavel said: “The provocative and dangerous Houthi attacks on maritime traffic in the Red Sea can no longer be tolerated. The military action of our allies is a necessary step to prevent mounting tension in the region and to restore safe international trade passage.”

Humza Yousaf calls for parliament to be recalled to discuss UK action in Yemen

Libby Brooks

Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf is calling for parliament to be recalled to discuss the UK action in Yemen.

Yousaf said it was “pretty frustrating” that he was not briefed in advance of the UK and US strikes carried out last night.

He said there was “no equivocation” that the SNP aligns itself with the UN security council resolution calling for an end to Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea but that the UK’s record of military intervention in Middle East “is not a good one”.

“The correct and appropriate thing to have done would have been to have recalled parliament to have given serious detail about any proposed military action because there are significant questions.”

He said that, despite the UK insisting that this has nothing to do with the conflict between Israel and Gaza “that is a complete fallacy and the concern is that there will be a wider regional escalation because of the action taken.”

“My concern also is that we see thousands of children are dying in Gaza, and I just wish the UK government would care as much about those children that are dying.”

Ongoing attacks by Houthis represent ‘an escalation that benefits no one’, says Belgian foreign minister

Lili Bayer

Hadja Lahbib, Belgium’s foreign minister, said this morning that “the ongoing attacks by the Houthis are a real danger for the stability of the region and represent an escalation that benefits no one.”

She added that “Belgium is working with its EU partners and US ally to restore maritime security in the region and avoid any spillover.”

Russia’s foreign ministry has criticised the military strikes in Yemen

Lili Bayer

Russia’s foreign ministry has criticised the military strikes in Yemen, calling them a “gamble” and as posing a “direct threat to global peace and security.

“We believe that the gamble by the so-called ‘coalition’ forces in Yemen poses a direct threat to global peace and security,” a spokesperson for the ministry said, noting that Russia has called for a meeting of the UN security council “where our principled assessment of these illegal actions will be voiced.”

Italy declined to take part in the US-UK strikes overnight against on Houthi targets in Yemen, a government source said on Friday, reports Reuters. The source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, explained that Rome preferred to pursue a “calming” policy in the Red Sea.

The source also said the government would have needed parliamentary backing to take part in any military action, making swift approval impossible. The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided logistical and intelligence support to the strikes, US officials have said.

Israel says South Africa ‘seeks to thwart Israel’s inherent right to defend itself’, at ICJ hearing

Haroon Siddique

My colleague, the Guardian’s legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique is at The Hague and has sent the below update on the second day of ICJ hearings on a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of “genocidal acts” in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza:

Opening Israel’s defence to the charge of genocide at the international court of justice in The Hague, Tal Becker, legal adviser of the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, on Friday accused South Africa of providing a “profoundly distorted and factual legal picture” in its case against Israel and said that the applicant’s arguments were “barely distinguishable” from Hamas rhetoric. Becker said calling for Israel to halt its military operations against Hamas was an “unconscionable” request’ and that South Africa “seeks to thwart Israel’s inherent right to defend itself”.

He described in graphic terms the 7 October attacks by Hamas and other militants, including details of rape and mutilation. Becker said that the purpose of relaying such details was not to absolve Israel of its responsibility to comply with international law in its response but because it was “impossible to understand the armed conflict in Gaza without appreciating the nature of the threat” faced by Israel.

Making its case on Thursday, evidence of genocidal acts by Israel cited by South Africa included, the high civilian death toll, the number of Palestinians physically and mentally harmed, suffering starvation and dehydration and statements made by Israel’s political and military leaders, including the prime minister.

Patrick Wintour

A Houthi military spokesperson alleges that the joint US–UK operation conducted 73 raids in Sana’a, Hodeidah, Taiz, Hijjah, and Saada, resulting in five deaths and six injuries. No civilian casualties were reported.

The spokesperson, Yahya Saree, asserted that the “responsibility for this aggression lies with the enemies”, vowing to respond with impunity. Additionally, they expressed a commitment to targeting threats and hostile entities on land and sea while pledging continued support for Gaza.

Danish government proposes sending frigate

Lili Bayer

Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said this morning that the country’s government “supports the American-led action that took place in Yemen last night.”

“Free navigation is of crucial importance and therefore the government is putting forward a motion to send a frigate to the area,” he added.

US-UK airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen had full political support of the Netherlands

Jon Henley

The US and British armed forces’ strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen had the full political support of the Netherlands, with prime minister Mark Rutte saying on X that Houthi attacks were “a clear violation of international law and pose a threat to maritime personnel and trade flows”.

The US-British action was “based on the right of self-defence, aims to protect free passage and is focused on de-escalation”, Rutte said, adding that the Netherlands, “with its long history as a sea-faring country, places significant importance on the right of free passage and supports this targeted operation”.

A joint statement on the action by the governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the UK and the US gave no details of the practical supporting role played by the Dutch, but ministers clarified that it was non-operational.

In a letter to the lower house of parliament, foreign minister Hanke Bruins Slot and defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said that at Washington’s request, the Netherlands had provided “non operational military support” consisting of the provision of “one staff officer”, public broadcaster NOS reported.

The ministers added that “the impact of the operation on the Dutch presence and Dutch interests in the region was taken into account” during the decision-making.

Airstrikes by the US and the UK overnight against Houthi military targets in Yemen would not go without “punishment or retaliation”, said the group’s military spokesperson.

They also claimed that 73 strikes had killed five fighters and wounded six others, and said the Houthis would continue to block the passage of ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, reports Reuters.