They occurred at a moment of deep political significance as Biden steps up his reelection campaign — amid fierce Republican criticism of his global leadership skills and foreign policy, especially from his most likely GOP opponent in November, ex-President Donald Trump. While the strikes were not a surprise, given intensified US warnings in recent days, they also took place a day after GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley criticized Biden for being too slow to act to protect US forces and assets in the Middle East.
The strikes follow a worsening barrage of drones and missiles from Houthi rebels targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a strategic waterway critical to the global economy. Those attacks are part of a pressure campaign against Israel and the US in the region, orchestrated by Iran through its proxies, in reaction to the war in Gaza. That means the US and UK operations carry an extra layer of risk because they essentially targeted the vital interests of the Islamic Republic.
While the Biden administration is desperate to avoid being sucked into a new Middle East conflict, especially with US troops in the firing line in Iraq and Syria, it had reached a point where action became inevitable. White House demands for a halt to Houthi attacks were being ignored. The credibility of US power in the region was on the line and there was an imperative to reestablish some form of deterrence.
“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” Biden said in a statement. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
The Middle East is on edge after US and UK strikes on Yemen's Houthis. Here's what we know
From CNN staff
The US and UK militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday.
It marks a significant response after the US and its allies warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The strikes come after the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on the Houthis to "cease its brazen" attacks in the commercially vital waterway.
Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen. They come at a time of huge tension in the Middle East as the US looks to ensure the war in Gaza does not spill out into the wider region.
Here's what we know:
The mission: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the joint strikes were "intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthis’ capabilities to endanger mariners and threaten global trade." The strikes targeted the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed surface vessel, land-attack cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities, Austin said in a statement. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes aimed to degrade Houthi military capabilities and safeguard global shipping.
US partners: In a statement,US President Joe Biden said the strikes were carried out by the US and the United Kingdom with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) said it conducted strikes against two Houthi facilities in Yemen during the joint operations. Australia's defense minister said Canberra provided personnel support to the US and UK.
Houthi targets: US and coalition forces hit more than 60 targets at 16 Houthi militant locations in Yemen, US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said in a news release. More than 100 precision-guided munitions were used in the strikes on command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems, he said. Houthi officials said the strikes hit several locations in Yemen, including airports.
The damage: A senior military official told reporters he could not provide an exact percentage of Houthi assets that were destroyed in the strikes but that it was “significant.” Precision guided munitions were used to destroy the targets “and also to minimize collateral damage,” he said, adding they were "absolutely not targeting civilian population centers." The RAF said detailed results were being assessed, but early indications are that the Houthis' ability to threaten merchant shipping had taken a blow.
Why now: The barrage of Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping Tuesday marked the final straw for Biden, a senior US official told CNN. Biden said he ordered the strikes "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea." The targeted strikes "are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes," he said, adding he would "not hesitate" to take further measures.
Houthi response: Houthi forces launched retaliatory attacks on US and UK warships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the assault by the US and its partners, a senior member of the group claimed early Friday. Meanwhile, the Houthi deputy foreign minister warned the US and Britain would face severe repercussions for what he termed a blatant act of aggression.
Tense region: Saudi Arabia, a close US military partner which is in a carefully-brokered truce with the Houthis following years of war, expressed deep concern over the security situation in the Red Sea and urged restraint. The Houthis' backers in Tehran did not immediately comment on the strikes. Meanwhile, Russia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council set for Friday morning, officials said.
What happens next: The joint strikes on Houthi positions may not be the final moves taken against the Iran-backed group, a senior US administration official said, signaling further action could be necessary to protect people and commerce in the Red Sea. "This may well not be the last word on the topic," the official said.
22 min ago
Australia provided personnel support in joint strikes against Houthis, defense minister says
From CNN’s Hilary Whiteman and Akanksha Sharma
Australian defense minister Richard Marles said Canberra provided personnel support to the US and UK in their joint strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday.
“Australia’s support of these actions came in the form of personnel in the operational headquarters,” Marles told reporters Friday.
The strikes are about “maintaining freedom of navigation on the high seas” and “maintaining global trade,” which are “completely central to Australia’s national interest,” he said.
The decision to support the strikes “was not taken lightly,” he said, adding Canberra would “continue to support any actions which assert the global rules-based order.”
7 min ago
US and UK carry out strikes against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
Oren Liebermann, Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand, Alex Marquardt and Jennifer Hansler
In this photo provided by the UK Ministry of Defense on January 10, taken from the bridge of HMS Diamond, Sea Viper missiles are fired in the Red Sea. UK Ministry of Defense/AP
The United States and United Kingdom militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, a US official and a UK official told CNN.
The strikes were from fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles. More than a dozen Houthi targets were hit by missiles fired from air, surface, and sub platforms and were chosen for their ability to degrade the Houthis’ continued attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, a second US official told CNN.
They included radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, ballistic missile storage and launch sites, and cruise missile storage and launch sites.
The strikes mark a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The strikes Thursday are a sign of the growing international alarm over the threat to one of the world’s most critical waterways. For weeks, the US had sought to avoid direct strikes on Yemen because of the risk of escalation in a region already simmering with tension, but the ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping compelled the coalition to act.
Dozens killed and injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza over past 24 hours, officials say
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman and Celine Alkhaldi
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis, southern Gaza, during Israeli bombardment on January 11. AFP/Getty Images
Dozens of people were killed in Gaza following a series of Israeli airstrikes in the southern part of the enclave in the last 24 hours, several officials said.
In the early hours of Wednesday, an airstrike targeting a house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, killed seven people and injured at least 25 others, the Al-Nasser Medical Complex said.
“You are seeing us passing away every day. And there is a question: How many of us have to die that this war will end?” Dr. Ahmad Al Moghrabi, a surgeon at the facility, said in a video obtained by CNN.
Several civil defense and medical personnel were also injured after an Israeli airstrike that struck a residential building near the hospital, Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement. Videos obtained by CNN show civil defense crew members being treated inside the medical center.
Also near Khan Younis, six people were killed and brought to the European Hospital on a “horse cart,” the hospital said.
In another incident, journalist Khader Zaanoun, who is in Gaza City, told CNN that he spoke with a doctor at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Dr. Mu’taz Salah told him that Israeli army snipers fired at hundreds of civilians on the coastal Haroun Al-Rasheed road, in the Sheikh Ajleen area west of the city.
At least five people were killed and 21 others were injured, Zaanoun said.
CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment regarding allegations they have targeted rescue personnel. The IDF has also not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the incidents in Khan Younis and Gaza City.
Rising toll: The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 from Israeli attacks as of Wednesday is at least 23,469, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said. CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures due to limited access to the area.
3 hr 57 min ago
Blinken says path forward involves security for Israel, a Palestinian state and marginalizing Iran
From CNN's Jen Deaton
There is a clear and "attractive" path toward peace in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he wrapped up his latest multi-nation visit to the region, which came amid fears the Israel-Hamas fighting could spark a wider regional conflict.
The path includes assured security for Israel, isolating and marginalizing Iran, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, he said, adding that these things are tied together.
It will be up to the governments in the region to commit to such a path, Blinken said.
"All of which, I believe countries are prepared to do. And it's also the best way to address the most fundamental security concern that Israel and many others have, which are the actions that Iran and its proxies have taken," he told reporters in Cairo before his flight back to the United States.
The top US diplomat also insisted that his visit to the region resulted in concrete steps toward ending the conflict in Gaza.
"First, an agreement by Israel to have the United Nations send an assessment team to the north of Gaza to look at the conditions that would be necessary to start to get people moving back to the north," he said.
"Second, we have a commitment from the Palestinian Authority to issue meaningful reform."
3 hr 56 min ago
Hezbollah says it launched dozens of rockets toward Israel in response to strikes in Lebanon
From CNN's Charbel Mallo, Eyad Kourdi and Lauren Izso
Hezbollah said it has launched "dozens of rockets" toward northern Israel on Thursday in response to Israeli strikes that killed two paramedics in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group — which has one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East — said its strikes on the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, near the Lebanese border, were also in support of the "steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."
The Lebanese Civil Defense said two of its members were killed in the earlier attack on an ambulance in Hanin, according to state-run news agency NNA.
What Israel says: The Israel Defense Forces said it identified 10 launches from Lebanon toward Israel, with sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona and the nearby community of Margaliot. Three of those were intercepted, the military said.
"In addition, earlier today (Thursday), a number of launches toward Israeli territory were identified. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire," the IDF statement said.
Israel said its military also struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including "military sites, a military post, and terrorist infrastructure," and a number of other areas in Lebanon.
4 hr 30 min ago
Middle East conflict is not escalating but there are "lots of danger points," top US diplomat says
From CNN's Jen Deaton
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the Israel-Hamas war is not ramping up into a broader regional conflict, but he did admit there were "danger points."
"I don't think the conflict is escalating," Blinken said. "There are lots of danger points. We're trying to deal with each of them."
Here's what he detailed:
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea: Blinken noted that the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling on Yemen's Houthi rebels to stop their "brazen" attacks in the Red Sea. "We have a number of countries that have made clear that if it doesn't stop, they'll have to be consequences. And unfortunately, it hasn't stopped. But we want to make sure that it does, and we're prepared to do that," he said.
Israel-Hezbollah tensions: Blinken said "aggressive" diplomatic efforts were underway to quell ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, and ensure that people on both sides of the border — in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon — who've been forced from their homes could return. Blinken did say that Israel had "mobilized a significant number of forces starting in the north."
West Bank: Blinken also said that work was being done to make sure the "West Bank does not explode, catch on fire."
He also said efforts were underway to end the fighting in Gaza, but that Israel had to ensure the October 7 attacks were never repeated.
"We also want to see this conflict come to an end, and until it does, to make sure that humanitarian assistance goes up for people who need it," he said.
18 min ago
South Africa accuses Israel of genocide and urges top UN court to halt Gaza war
From CNN's Christian Edwards
People raise flags and placards as they gather around a statue of late South African president Nelson Mandela to celebrate a landmark genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on January 10. Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, saying the country’s leadership was “intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza” and calling for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa on Thursday argued that Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population, and that comments made by Israeli leaders signaled their “genocidal intent.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group’s murderous rampage on October 7, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza. South Africa condemned Hamas’ attacks but said “nothing” could justify Israel’s response, which has killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza.
“The point is not simply that Israel is acting disproportionately. The point is that the prohibition on genocide is an absolute,” said Vaughan Lowe, one of the lawyers representing South Africa. “Nothing can ever justify genocide.”
Israel dismissed the case as “absurd blood libel,” and government spokesperson Eylon Levy said it is “tragic that the rainbow nation that prides itself on fighting racism will be fighting pro-bono for the anti-Jewish racists.”
Israel is scheduled to deliver its response in court on Friday. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country would make the case that the war was one of self-defense, and would show that Israel is doing its “utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avert civilian casualties.
About the court: The ICJ, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, was set up in June 1945 and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it.
The US and UK militaries launched joint strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday in response to the Iran-backed group's attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The strikes come as world leaders try to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spilling into a wider regional conflict involving Iran's proxies, including the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel will defend itself in a genocide case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice on Friday. The high-stakes hearing could potentially change the course of the war, but it may take weeks before judges issue a decision.
Meanwhile in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis is deepening as the death toll mounts. Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people in the south of the enclave, officials said.
They occurred at a moment of deep political significance as Biden steps up his reelection campaign — amid fierce Republican criticism of his global leadership skills and foreign policy, especially from his most likely GOP opponent in November, ex-President Donald Trump. While the strikes were not a surprise, given intensified US warnings in recent days, they also took place a day after GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley criticized Biden for being too slow to act to protect US forces and assets in the Middle East.
The strikes follow a worsening barrage of drones and missiles from Houthi rebels targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a strategic waterway critical to the global economy. Those attacks are part of a pressure campaign against Israel and the US in the region, orchestrated by Iran through its proxies, in reaction to the war in Gaza. That means the US and UK operations carry an extra layer of risk because they essentially targeted the vital interests of the Islamic Republic.
While the Biden administration is desperate to avoid being sucked into a new Middle East conflict, especially with US troops in the firing line in Iraq and Syria, it had reached a point where action became inevitable. White House demands for a halt to Houthi attacks were being ignored. The credibility of US power in the region was on the line and there was an imperative to reestablish some form of deterrence.
“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes,” Biden said in a statement. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
The US and UK militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday.
It marks a significant response after the US and its allies warned the Iran-backed militant group it would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The strikes come after the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on the Houthis to "cease its brazen" attacks in the commercially vital waterway.
Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen. They come at a time of huge tension in the Middle East as the US looks to ensure the war in Gaza does not spill out into the wider region.
Here's what we know:
The mission: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the joint strikes were "intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthis’ capabilities to endanger mariners and threaten global trade." The strikes targeted the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed surface vessel, land-attack cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities, Austin said in a statement. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes aimed to degrade Houthi military capabilities and safeguard global shipping.
US partners: In a statement,US President Joe Biden said the strikes were carried out by the US and the United Kingdom with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) said it conducted strikes against two Houthi facilities in Yemen during the joint operations. Australia's defense minister said Canberra provided personnel support to the US and UK.
Houthi targets: US and coalition forces hit more than 60 targets at 16 Houthi militant locations in Yemen, US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said in a news release. More than 100 precision-guided munitions were used in the strikes on command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems, he said. Houthi officials said the strikes hit several locations in Yemen, including airports.
The damage: A senior military official told reporters he could not provide an exact percentage of Houthi assets that were destroyed in the strikes but that it was “significant.” Precision guided munitions were used to destroy the targets “and also to minimize collateral damage,” he said, adding they were "absolutely not targeting civilian population centers." The RAF said detailed results were being assessed, but early indications are that the Houthis' ability to threaten merchant shipping had taken a blow.
Why now: The barrage of Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping Tuesday marked the final straw for Biden, a senior US official told CNN. Biden said he ordered the strikes "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea." The targeted strikes "are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical commercial routes," he said, adding he would "not hesitate" to take further measures.
Houthi response: Houthi forces launched retaliatory attacks on US and UK warships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the assault by the US and its partners, a senior member of the group claimed early Friday. Meanwhile, the Houthi deputy foreign minister warned the US and Britain would face severe repercussions for what he termed a blatant act of aggression.
Tense region: Saudi Arabia, a close US military partner which is in a carefully-brokered truce with the Houthis following years of war, expressed deep concern over the security situation in the Red Sea and urged restraint. The Houthis' backers in Tehran did not immediately comment on the strikes. Meanwhile, Russia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council set for Friday morning, officials said.
What happens next: The joint strikes on Houthi positions may not be the final moves taken against the Iran-backed group, a senior US administration official said, signaling further action could be necessary to protect people and commerce in the Red Sea. "This may well not be the last word on the topic," the official said.
Australian defense minister Richard Marles said Canberra provided personnel support to the US and UK in their joint strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday.
“Australia’s support of these actions came in the form of personnel in the operational headquarters,” Marles told reporters Friday.
The strikes are about “maintaining freedom of navigation on the high seas” and “maintaining global trade,” which are “completely central to Australia’s national interest,” he said.
The decision to support the strikes “was not taken lightly,” he said, adding Canberra would “continue to support any actions which assert the global rules-based order.”
In this photo provided by the UK Ministry of Defense on January 10, taken from the bridge of HMS Diamond, Sea Viper missiles are fired in the Red Sea. UK Ministry of Defense/AP
The United States and United Kingdom militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, a US official and a UK official told CNN.
The strikes were from fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles. More than a dozen Houthi targets were hit by missiles fired from air, surface, and sub platforms and were chosen for their ability to degrade the Houthis’ continued attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, a second US official told CNN.
They included radar systems, drone storage and launch sites, ballistic missile storage and launch sites, and cruise missile storage and launch sites.
The strikes mark a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the Houthis say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The strikes Thursday are a sign of the growing international alarm over the threat to one of the world’s most critical waterways. For weeks, the US had sought to avoid direct strikes on Yemen because of the risk of escalation in a region already simmering with tension, but the ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping compelled the coalition to act.
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis, southern Gaza, during Israeli bombardment on January 11. AFP/Getty Images
Dozens of people were killed in Gaza following a series of Israeli airstrikes in the southern part of the enclave in the last 24 hours, several officials said.
In the early hours of Wednesday, an airstrike targeting a house in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, killed seven people and injured at least 25 others, the Al-Nasser Medical Complex said.
“You are seeing us passing away every day. And there is a question: How many of us have to die that this war will end?” Dr. Ahmad Al Moghrabi, a surgeon at the facility, said in a video obtained by CNN.
Several civil defense and medical personnel were also injured after an Israeli airstrike that struck a residential building near the hospital, Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement. Videos obtained by CNN show civil defense crew members being treated inside the medical center.
Also near Khan Younis, six people were killed and brought to the European Hospital on a “horse cart,” the hospital said.
In another incident, journalist Khader Zaanoun, who is in Gaza City, told CNN that he spoke with a doctor at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Dr. Mu’taz Salah told him that Israeli army snipers fired at hundreds of civilians on the coastal Haroun Al-Rasheed road, in the Sheikh Ajleen area west of the city.
At least five people were killed and 21 others were injured, Zaanoun said.
CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment regarding allegations they have targeted rescue personnel. The IDF has also not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the incidents in Khan Younis and Gaza City.
Rising toll: The number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 from Israeli attacks as of Wednesday is at least 23,469, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said. CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures due to limited access to the area.
There is a clear and "attractive" path toward peace in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he wrapped up his latest multi-nation visit to the region, which came amid fears the Israel-Hamas fighting could spark a wider regional conflict.
The path includes assured security for Israel, isolating and marginalizing Iran, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, he said, adding that these things are tied together.
It will be up to the governments in the region to commit to such a path, Blinken said.
"All of which, I believe countries are prepared to do. And it's also the best way to address the most fundamental security concern that Israel and many others have, which are the actions that Iran and its proxies have taken," he told reporters in Cairo before his flight back to the United States.
The top US diplomat also insisted that his visit to the region resulted in concrete steps toward ending the conflict in Gaza.
"First, an agreement by Israel to have the United Nations send an assessment team to the north of Gaza to look at the conditions that would be necessary to start to get people moving back to the north," he said.
"Second, we have a commitment from the Palestinian Authority to issue meaningful reform."
Hezbollah said it has launched "dozens of rockets" toward northern Israel on Thursday in response to Israeli strikes that killed two paramedics in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group — which has one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East — said its strikes on the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, near the Lebanese border, were also in support of the "steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."
The Lebanese Civil Defense said two of its members were killed in the earlier attack on an ambulance in Hanin, according to state-run news agency NNA.
What Israel says: The Israel Defense Forces said it identified 10 launches from Lebanon toward Israel, with sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona and the nearby community of Margaliot. Three of those were intercepted, the military said.
"In addition, earlier today (Thursday), a number of launches toward Israeli territory were identified. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire," the IDF statement said.
Israel said its military also struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including "military sites, a military post, and terrorist infrastructure," and a number of other areas in Lebanon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the Israel-Hamas war is not ramping up into a broader regional conflict, but he did admit there were "danger points."
"I don't think the conflict is escalating," Blinken said. "There are lots of danger points. We're trying to deal with each of them."
Here's what he detailed:
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea: Blinken noted that the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling on Yemen's Houthi rebels to stop their "brazen" attacks in the Red Sea. "We have a number of countries that have made clear that if it doesn't stop, they'll have to be consequences. And unfortunately, it hasn't stopped. But we want to make sure that it does, and we're prepared to do that," he said.
Israel-Hezbollah tensions: Blinken said "aggressive" diplomatic efforts were underway to quell ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, and ensure that people on both sides of the border — in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon — who've been forced from their homes could return. Blinken did say that Israel had "mobilized a significant number of forces starting in the north."
West Bank: Blinken also said that work was being done to make sure the "West Bank does not explode, catch on fire."
He also said efforts were underway to end the fighting in Gaza, but that Israel had to ensure the October 7 attacks were never repeated.
"We also want to see this conflict come to an end, and until it does, to make sure that humanitarian assistance goes up for people who need it," he said.
People raise flags and placards as they gather around a statue of late South African president Nelson Mandela to celebrate a landmark genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on January 10. Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, saying the country’s leadership was “intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza” and calling for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa on Thursday argued that Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population, and that comments made by Israeli leaders signaled their “genocidal intent.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group’s murderous rampage on October 7, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza. South Africa condemned Hamas’ attacks but said “nothing” could justify Israel’s response, which has killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza.
“The point is not simply that Israel is acting disproportionately. The point is that the prohibition on genocide is an absolute,” said Vaughan Lowe, one of the lawyers representing South Africa. “Nothing can ever justify genocide.”
Israel dismissed the case as “absurd blood libel,” and government spokesperson Eylon Levy said it is “tragic that the rainbow nation that prides itself on fighting racism will be fighting pro-bono for the anti-Jewish racists.”
Israel is scheduled to deliver its response in court on Friday. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country would make the case that the war was one of self-defense, and would show that Israel is doing its “utmost” under “extremely complicated circumstances” to avert civilian casualties.
About the court: The ICJ, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, was set up in June 1945 and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it.
