Yemen's Houthis re-designated as 'terrorist' entity by US, as medical aid arrives in Gaza

The live blog has now ended and will be back at 9am GMT for the latest coverage on Israel's war on Gaza and other developments. 

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong has stated that she is "deeply concerned by ongoing settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

"Such violence inflames tensions and undermines stability in the West Bank" she added. 

Such violence inflames tensions and undermines stability in the West Bank.

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) January 17, 2024

The UN Human Rights Office in Palestine has stated that "unlawful killings of Palestinians must end" after a deadly day in the occupied West Bank which saw Israeli forces kill at least nine Palestinians. 

Israeli Forces continue to escalate operations in #WestBank, reportedly killing at least 9 Palestinians. Unlawful killings of Palestinians must end. #Nablus #Tulkarem #IHL pic.twitter.com/ZAosd9bdcE

— UN Human Rights Palestine (@OHCHR_Palestine) January 17, 2024

American forces carried out strikes on 14 missiles in Yemen that were ready to be launched and posed a threat to civilian and military vessels, the US military said Wednesday.

US forces "conducted strikes on 14 Iran-backed Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels," Central Command said in a statement on social media.

U.S. CENTCOM Strikes Houthi Terrorist Missile Launchers

In the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, on Jan. 17 at approximately 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central… pic.twitter.com/MMCQbzr1f7

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 18, 2024

According to Al Jazeera, an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah killed 16 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The strike also resulted in a number of injuries.

Israeli forces have stormed a number of Palestinian cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, including raids in and around Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, and Tulkarm, where a raid that began on Wednesday is still ongoing.

According to Al Jazeera, the raid on Tulkarm, which includes Tulkarm refugee camp and Nur Shams refugee camp, has seen firefights and battles between Palestinian fighters with Israeli forces conducting the raids. 25 vehicles and bulldozers were brought in as reinforcements. 

The United States conducted another round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Wednesday, CBS News reported, citing a US official.

The US military said earlier on Wednesday that a drone launched from areas controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen had struck a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

(Reuters)

British foreign secretary David Cameron met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum, UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.

Cameron condemned the attacks in Erbil in Iraq, which killed UK-Iraqi dual national Karam Mikhael, the statement added.

Cameron also made it clear that the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are "illegal and unacceptable", the FCDO said. The foreign secretary added that Iran must use its influence with the Houthis to prevent further threats. 

He also announced his condemnation of the attacks on X.

Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others’ sovereignty.

I made this clear to FM @Amirabdolahian

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 17, 2024

(Reuters & The New Arab)

Doctors without Borders (MSF) have stated that Israel bombed an area close to the Nasser hospital without giving an evacuation order, causing panic amongst patients and displaced persons. 

According to the MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans, the hospital is now operating at 300 percent capacity. 

During a visit to the hospital yesterday, MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans said that Nasser, now Gaza’s largest functioning health facility, was operating at 300% capacity, adding "the situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle”. pic.twitter.com/I9b83pW3xB

— MSF International (@MSF) January 17, 2024

Spokesperson for the Qatari ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Majed Al Ansari has announced that aid destined for Israeli hostages and Palestinians living in Gaza has entered into the enclave from Egypt, where it had arrived earlier in the day. 

Over the past few hours, medicine & aid entered the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for the benefit of civilians in the Strip, including hostages.

Qatar, along with its regional and international partners, continues mediation efforts at the… https://t.co/b6HlpHMUgQ

— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) January 17, 2024

ICJP Director Tayab Ali has announced that the organisation will start looking into "interference with out media outlets". 

In a post on X, Ali stated "journalists from some mainstream media outlets have shared their concerns about a 'toxic' atmosphere that suppresses stories that show the situation in Gaza from a Palestinian perspective while those that advocate the Israeli position are being amplified."

He added that anyone who had information or evidence should contact him.

At ICJP we are now investigating interference with our media outlets.

Journalists from some mainstream media outlets have shared their concerns about a ‘toxic’ atmosphere that suppresses stories that show the situation in Gaza from a Palestinian perspective while those that…

— Tayab Ali (@tayab_ali_) January 17, 2024

Yemen's Houthi movement targeted on Wednesday the US Genco Picardy bulk carrier with missiles which resulted in a "direct hit", the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement.

"The naval forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Red and Arabian sea within the legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people", Sarea added.

(Reuters)

The Iraqi and Saudi foreign ministers discussed in a phone call on Wednesday the latest regional and international developments, led by the Iranian attack on Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement.

Iran late on Monday struck Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, with ballistic missiles in what it said was an attack on an Israeli spy headquarters - claims vehemently denied by Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials.

The Iranian attacks have caused a rare diplomatic dispute between the two neighbouring countries.

(Reuters & The New Arab)

Israel airstrikes are being reported in Khan Younis, according to The New Arab's Arabic language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, with Al-Jazeera reporting that clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters are ongoing in the area. 

The reports come as the Israeli military says it killed 30 in fighting in Khan Younis over the past 24 hours.

NetBlocks, a watchdog tracking internet network availability, has announced the network of Israeli company Bazan Group has been disrupted. Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. 

Bazan Group is an Israeli oil refining and petrochemicals company located in Haifa bay and operates oil refineries in Israel.

⚠️ Confirmed: Live metrics show a major disruption to the network of Bazan Group / Oil Refineries Ltd petrochemical company in #Israel; prolific hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan has claimed a cyberattack on the company, which operates the country's largest oil refinery 📉 pic.twitter.com/SUKmiI45t1

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 17, 2024

The United States on Wednesday condemned recent Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, which Tehran has claimed were carried out against "anti-Iranian terrorist groups."

"So we do condemn those strikes. We've seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said on Wednesday it has received a report of an incident 60 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's Aden.

The master reported the "vessel has been hit on port side by an uncrewed aerial system," UKMTO said in an advisory note.

"There was a fire onboard which has now been extinguished," it added.

(Reuters)

The UN's Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, is in Egypt in a bid to help facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza.

She stated that "I'm here because of the mandate of the Security Council to see how we can facilitate, accelerate, and expedite all areas of the assistance that is so much needed for the civilians in Gaza". 

#Gaza: "I'm here because of the mandate of the Security Council to see how we can facilitate, accelerate and expedite all areas of the assistance that is so much needed for civilians in Gaza"- Sigrid Kaag, @UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pic.twitter.com/LmHPqFokQr

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) January 17, 2024

Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi stated during a visit to Israeli soldiers in the country's north that there is a greater chance of war between Israel and Hezbollah than there had been before.

"I don't know when the war in the north [will happen]. I can tell you that the likelihood of it happening in the coming months is much higher than it was in the past," he said to soldiers who were drilling for an offensive in Lebanon.

He also said that the Israel's goal was to ensure the return of 80,000 Israeli's who fled the border area over the ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, and that the lessons learnt from Gaza would be implemented in any war in Lebanon.

Israeli forces reportedly blew up a new residential quarter in Khan Younis' Batn al-Sameen neighbourhood on Wednesday.

مصادر محلية: الاحتلال ينسف مربعاً سكنياً في منطقة البطن السمين في خانيونس pic.twitter.com/SdbFCEyRxF

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 17, 2024

Israeli forces killed 10 people in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up.

Five people were killed inside Tulkarem refugee camp, the ministry said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society and an official at the camp said Israeli strikes had killed multiple people.

A separate incident near Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus, killed five fighters with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahomud Abbas's Fatah party, it said in a statement.

AFP journalists around the world staged rallies Wednesday to show solidarity with nine colleagues in Gaza, with agency chiefs calling on Israel to ensure their safety and let them leave the war-torn territory.

Journalists and other AFP staff in Paris and bureau across AFP's global network gathered with portraits of Gaza colleagues who have been unable to leave since the start of the war on October 7.

The demonstration was organised by AFP's management, with unions and the Journalists' Association (SDJ).

AFP employees in Gaza include journalists Mahmud Hams, Yahya Hassouna, Bilal al-Sabbagh, Mohammed Abed, Saïd Khatib, Adel Zaanounn, Mai Yaghi, technician Ahmed Eissa and office manager Mohanad Shahwan. The team also includes freelance videographer Youssef Hassouna and administrator Zuhair Abuatila.

In Paris and around the world, #AFP staff gathered in solidarity on Wednesday with their nine colleagues in Gaza, demanding that the Israeli authorities ensure their security and allow them to leave the territory if they need to pic.twitter.com/WTM6ESR7Sb

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 17, 2024

In Paris and around the world, #AFP staff gathered in solidarity on Wednesday with their nine colleagues in Gaza, demanding that the Israeli authorities ensure their security and allow them to leave the territory if they need to pic.twitter.com/UsKSG063IM

— Acil Tabbara (@aciltab) January 17, 2024

Solidarity with our colleagues in #Gaza . @AFP pic.twitter.com/HwBesRhenE

— Hussein Faleh | حسين فالح (@Hussein_Afp) January 17, 2024

Aid destined for Israeli hostages and Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip was delivered to Egypt on Wednesday for transfer across the border, following a deal brokered by Qatar and France.

Two Qatari planes arrived in El Arish in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where supplies were unloaded and transferred to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza about 28km (17 miles) away to the east, Egyptian security and Red Crescent officials said.

One of the planes was carrying medical packages for 45 hostages still held in Gaza.

The US designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group will not affect their operations to prevent Israeli ships or ships heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Wednesday.

British Palestinian families have called for urgent and immediate intervention in Gaza due to the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave as a result of more than three months of Israeli bombardment.

"The British Palestinian community is reeling from the devastating impact of an ongoing genocide in Gaza. Our loved ones are trapped in a relentless onslaught," read a statement released by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians on behalf of the British Palestinian Family group.

"We call upon the UK Government to urgently exert its influence to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire; it’s the first step towards any solution to alleviate the suffering of all."

"There must be immediate and unconditional restoration of water and electricity, as well as the rehabilitation of medical facilities. Lastly, but no less importantly, we call for the implementation of UK Family Reunion scheme for our beloved ones in Gaza."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that a "full-fledged confrontation" between Israel and Lebanon would be a "total disaster" amid fears of a wider war.

"The spillover that is already taking place, the risk of a full-fledged confrontation in Lebanon, it would be a total disaster. We need to avoid it at all cost," Guterres said.

France does not back a case against Israel at the UN's top court accusing the country of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the French foreign minister said on Wednesday.

"Accusing the Jewish state of genocide crosses a moral threshold. The notion of genocide cannot be exploited for political ends," Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told parliament.

At least $15 billion would be needed to rebuild housing in the Gaza Strip, Palestine Investment Fund chairman Mohammed Mustafa said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum, after much of the besieged enclave was flattened by Israel's bombardment.

The Palestinian leadership would, in the short-term, continue to focus on humanitarian aid including food and water but eventually the focus would shift to reconstruction, Mustafa said.

"If the war in Gaza continues, more people are likely to die of hunger or famine than war," Mustafa said.

The first steps should be to bring food, medicine, water and electricity back to the besieged enclave, he added.

A telecommunications blackout in the besieged Gaza Strip has entered its sixth day, the longest continuous outage since the war began, internet monitor NetBlocks said Wednesday.

"The disruption, now entering its sixth day, is the longest sustained telecoms outage on record since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war," NetBlocks said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Palestinian telecoms provider Jawwal blamed Israel's "heavy bombardment" of the territory for a previous blackout.

Hamas has denounced Germany’s move to agree to send about 10,000 tank shells to the Israeli military.

In a statement, Hamas said the decision “makes Germany a direct partner in the war against our people in Gaza”, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Germany “bears full political and moral responsibility for the war crimes committed by the Nazi Zionist government and the genocidal war against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”, the statement continued.

On Tuesday, the German magazine Der Spiegel revealed that government agencies in Germany had approved an Israeli request to obtain 10,000 precision-guided 120mm artillery shells.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday that "everyone will be harmed" if Israel's crimes in Gaza do not stop immediately.

He added that attacks by the "axis of resistance" - referring to Iran and Shia militia groups in backs in the region - against Israel and its interests will end if the Gaza war ends.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday that Tehran shared intelligence with Iraq about what it said were activities of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in the Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Iran has said its Revolutionary Guards attacked Israel's "spy HQ" in Iraq in the city of Erbil on Monday. Iraq later denied that there was any such spy centre in the country.

India is holding diplomatic talks with Iran and taking other measures to help shield its exporters from the impact of attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen, a government source said on Wednesday.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held talks in Iran on Monday which he said had touched on the Red Sea situation.

"The defence ministry has improved surveillance (in the region) and the ministry of external affairs is diplomatically negotiating this very well," said the government source, who requested anonymity.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned Wednesday of the bleak future facing Gazans after the war there ends.

Following his fourth visit to the enclave since October 7, the UNRWA chief said many residents are no longer able to see "the future in the Gaza Strip".

"You have hundreds of thousands of people living now in the street, living in these plastic makeshift (tents), sleeping on the concrete," Lazzarini told journalists in Jerusalem.

"The north for us is a pocket of humanitarian catastrophe," the UNRWA chief said.

"Would you even encourage anyone to go to the north when we know the north is infested by UXOs - unexploded ordnance - and rubble, and non-functioning services?" he asked.

The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting over Iran's attack on the Iraqi city of Erbil, Iraq's state news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the foreign ministry.

The agency did not mention the date of the session.

A foreign ministry statement said it had filed a complaint against Tehran at the UN Security Council over Iran's "aggression."

Israel has arrested about 1,300 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said Tuesday.

The group said the region which witnessed the highest number of arrests was the Hebron governorate in the southern West Bank.

Gaza’s health ministry said Wednesday that Hepatitis A was quickly spreading in areas which residents have been displaced to in the enclave, as a result of overcrowding and poor levels of hygiene.

Sanitation and healthcare services have collapsed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s bombardment and siege.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen, said on Wednesday the world needs a quick end to the Gaza war.

Speaking at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, Pedersen said he was extremely worried about the conflict because the "war is spreading and there have been escalations".

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that parties to the conflict in Gaza were "trampling" on international law and urged them to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Guterres said the warring parties were "ignoring international law, trampling on the Geneva Conventions, and even violating the United Nations Charter".

"The world is standing by as civilians, mostly women and children, are killed, maimed, bombarded, forced from their homes and denied access to humanitarian aid," he said.

"I repeat my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and a process that leads to sustained peace for Israelis and Palestinians, based on a two-state solution."

The Jordanian army said on Wednesday its military field hospital in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity.

In a statement, the army said it held Israel responsible for a "flagrant breach of international law."

"I think it was a big mistake to tear up the Iran nuclear agreement," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said from Davos on Wednesday.

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the Iranian missile attack on the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, and urged all parties to avoid an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.

"I express my closeness and solidarity with the victims, all civilians, of the missile attack that hit an urban area of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan," Francis said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.

"Good relations between neighbours are not built with similar actions, but with dialogue and collaboration. I ask everyone to avoid any step that fuels tension in the Middle East and other war scenarios," he added.

Francis called for prayers for the "many victims of war", mentioning specifically Ukraine, Gaza and other Palestinian territory, and Israel.

Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani cancelled a planned meeting with Iran's foreign minister at the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland in protest over Iranian missile strikes on the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil earlier this week, a source said on Wednesday.

Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling in Tulkarm camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement.

◾طواقم الاسعاف تنقل جثامين الشبان الذين ارتقو اثر قصف الاحتلال لمركبة في مخيم طولكرم. pic.twitter.com/V5nrG9A4pr

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) January 17, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday described the war in Gaza as "gutwrenching" and said what was needed was a Palestinian state "that gives people what they want and works with Israel to be effective".

"The suffering breaks my heart," he said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. "The question is what is to be done."

He added that the world needs to quickly end the war, but the real question is whether Israelis "can be contained."

Another two Israeli soldiers were killed, and more were wounded in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli media said Wednesday.

According to The Times of Israel, a total of 522 soldiers, reservists and local security officers have died and another 2,536 have been wounded since October 7.

Of them, 188 have so far been killed and 1,113 wounded since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza.

Gaza's health ministry said the number of people killed since Oct. 7 has reached 24,448, with more than 61,500 wounded.

Communications and internet services were still down across the Gaza Strip for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday.

The Palestinian News Agency Wafa had previously said more than 80% of Gaza’s telecommunications sector had been damaged by Israel’s bombardment.

Israeli airstrikes, heavy artillery and clashes continue in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip's south. 

تغطية صحفية: انفجارات وقصف مدفعي وأصوات اشتباكات... الأوضاع في خانيونس الآن pic.twitter.com/H6vHZoxAUF

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 17, 2024

The Israeli army claimed it killed a top Palestinian "militant" in an air strike in the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, averting an attack he was allegedly planning.

Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal had allegedly been responsible for a number of attacks over the past year, including one in annexed east Jerusalem, the army said.

He was "eliminated in a precision airstrike," it said in a statement that had a video link showing the strike on a vehicle. His car was hit as he drove near the Blata refugee camp, east of Nablus, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinian fighters, including the southern district Hamas officer in charge of interrogating suspected spies, the military claimed on Wednesday.

In a statement summarising operations in recent hours, it said the killing of counter-espionage officer Bilal Nofal significantly impacts the organisation's "capacity to develop and enhance its capabilities".