Middle East crisis live: US targets Houthi drone base with further strikes inside Yemen | Israel

It is 2pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Cairo, 3pm in Sana’a and 4.30pm in Tehran. Here are the headlines …

• American forces have carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, according to the US military. Early on Thursday local time, US forces targeted a “Houthi UAV ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVs” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region,” Centcom said.

• The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) issued a warning about a later incident in the Red Sea near Yemen when a vessel reported an explosion “a distance off” its starboard side. Italy’s defence minister has said that disruption to Red Sea shipping caused by attacks by Yemen’s Houthis risks destabilising the Italian economy.

• At least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza has said. In its statement, the ministry said in the past 24 hours, 118 Palestinians were killed and 190 injured. Images from the Gaza Strip today show that the Israeli bombardment continues.

• In its latest operational briefing, Israel’s military has claimed to have destroyed a long-range missile launcher and to be continuing to operate in northern and central Gaza, killing dozens of what it described as “terrorists”. Israeli media reports that Hamas representatives are again conducting talks in Cairo on the outlines of a possible hostage deal, with Egypt and Qatar mediating.

• Israeli protesters have this morning been attempting to prevent trucks departing from Ashdod port if the protesters believe they are carrying humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip. It is an extension of demonstrations that were being held at the Kerem Shalom border crossing by Israeli campaign groups who want to see all aid blocked to Gaza until Hamas has released the remaining estimated 136 hostages held there. Haaretz correspondent Eden Solomon reported that several protesters attacked Arab truck drivers, cursing and saying “I’m the master, you’re the slave.”

• Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that at least 41 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces inside the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday, bring the total number detained since 7 October to nearly 6,460.

• The bodies of nine labourers from Pakistan killed by gunmen in Iran last week were repatriated to their home country. It is still unclear who was behind the attack on Saturday in a home in Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan province. Iran and Pakistan exchanged airstrikes recently, with both countries claiming they were attacking Balochistan separatist militants operating freely over their border.

At least 27,019 Palestinians have been killed and 66,139 injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza has said.

Reuters reports that in its statement, the ministry said in the past 24 hours, 118 Palestinians were killed and 190 injured. Images from the Gaza Strip today show that the Israeli bombardment continues.

The Hamas-run ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its figures, though it claims the majority of those killed by Israel have been women and children. It does not distinguish between those killed directly by Israeli military action, and those who may have died as a result of the ensuing humanitarian and healthcare crisis in the beseiged territory.

On Friday 26 January, the international court of justice in The Hague told Israel it must “take all measures within its power” to desist from killing Palestinians in contravention of the genocide convention, and to “ensure with immediate effect” that its military forces do not engage in such acts as killing Palestinians in Gaza, “causing serious bodily or mental harm” to Palestinians in Gaza, “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”, or “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”.

Over the same period of time, Israel has stated that it has lost more than 220 troops during the ground offensive, and has previously estimated to have killed about 9,000 Hamas fighters during its campaign.

Since 7 October, an additional 370 Palestinian deaths caused by Israeli forces or settlers have been recorded in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including the deaths of 94 children.

The Israeli campaign began after the surprise Hamas attack inside southern Israel on 7 October which killed about 1,140 people, and during which an estimated 240 people were seized and abducted into Gaza as hostages. Of those, it is estimated that 136 are still being held in captivity, with not all of them still believed to be alive.

It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued.

Israeli protesters have this morning been attempting to prevent trucks departing from Ashdod port if the protesters believe they are carrying humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip.

It is an extension of demonstrations that were being held at the Kerem Shalom border crossing by Israeli campaign groups who want to see all aid blocked to Gaza until Hamas has released the remaining estimated 136 hostages held there.

Israel’s security forces have, over the course of this week, declared the Kerem Shalom and the Nitzana border crossings as closed military zones to prevent further demonstrations there.

Haaretz reports that Knesset member Zvi Sukkot has joined the protest, and correspondent Eden Solomon wrote:

Activists protesting the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip blocked a major intersection on the road to the Ashdod seaport on Thursday morning.

The police blocked the entry of vehicles to the port to prevent the protesters from blocking the passage of aid shipments through the border crossings.

Several protesters attacked Arab truck drivers, cursing and saying” “I’m the master, you’re the slave.”

American forces have carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, according to the US military.

Early on Thursday local time, US forces targeted a “Houthi UAV ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVs” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region,” Centcom said, using an abbreviation for unmanned aerial vehicle.

Centcom earlier announced that the USS Carney had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis, and then downed three Iranian drones less than an hour later.

It did not specify if the drones shot down by the naval destroyer were designed for attack or surveillance.

American forces also destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile on Wednesday that Centcom said posed an imminent threat to “US aircraft”. Agence France-Presse reports the language is a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international shipping.

It did not identify the type of aircraft that were threatened or the exact location of the strike, only saying that it took place in “Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”

The Houthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the war.

US and UK forces have responded with strikes on the Houthis, who have since declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

It’s 7:45am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 8:45am in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. Welcome to our latest blog on the Middle East crisis. I’m Reged Ahmad and I’ll be with you for the next while.

The United States says it conducted strikes against a drone control station and up to 10 unmanned drones in Yemen that were preparing to launch. In a statement posted on X by US central command (Centcom) it said they posed an “imminent threat to US vessels and the US Navy ships in the region”.

A US Navy ship also shot down three Iranian drones and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden, according to Centcom. More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest events so far:

• A senior Hamas official has told the Reuters news agency that the group is studying a new proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks with Israel. The ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from Israel, the United States and Egypt, with the prime minister of Qatar.

• In its latest operational update, Israel’s military says it continues to operate in the central and northern Gaza Strip, and claims its forces are “conducting targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure and eliminating dozens of terrorists”. In al-Shati in the north, it claims to have killed ten people and to have “located large quantities of weapons, as well as documents and military equipment belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation”. The IDF has announced that three soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday.

• The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US. The commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

• Security forces in Sweden have found a suspicious object at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. A controlled detonation is to be carried out.

• Israeli media reports several protesters have been detained by police at the Kerem Shalom border crossing where for days a group has been gathering attempting to prevent humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip while Hamas still holds people hostage.

• The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Wednesday he was hopeful it could be decided later in the day which member state could lead the forthcoming EU mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea, adding the operation could be launched before mid-February.

• The head of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd shipping company has said he does not expect disruption to Red Sea voyages caused by Yemen’s Houthis to end anytime soon.