The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
Saudi Arabia calls for restraint in response to US, UK strikes against Houthis in Yemen
Saudi Arabia calls for restraint and “avoiding escalation” in light of the air strikes launched by the United States and Britain against sites linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, which has in recent months engaged in peace talks with Yemen’s Houthis after engaging in a years-long bombing campaign against them, was closely monitoring the situation with “great concern,” its foreign ministry says in a statement.
“The kingdom emphasizes the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region, as the freedom of navigation in it is an international demand,” the ministry adds.
The chief negotiator for the Houthis, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Thursday the group’s attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea do not threaten its peace talks.
Biden: Strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen a direct response to rebels’ Red Sea attacks
US President Joe Biden says that the United States and Britain, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, had conducted strikes in Yemen at sites used by Houthi rebels.
“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden says in a statement released by the White House.
“These attacks have endangered US personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden says.
Biden says he would “not hesitate” to direct further measures to protect people and the free flow of commerce.
Just 145 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, UN agency says
Only 145 trucks of food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies entered Gaza on Thursday through Egypt’s Rafah Crossing and Israel’s Kerem Shalom Crossing, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says in its daily update.
Israel agreed during a November truce to begin allowing at least 200 trucks of aid into Gaza, with the US pushing for the number to approach the 500 trucks per day that entered the Strip before the war. Jerusalem says the UN and Egypt are causing massive bottlenecks in aid delivery, and that it is inspecting hundreds of trucks per day.
But aid agencies on the ground retort that delivering the assistance throughout the Strip is nearly impossible as Israel’s military operations persist throughout Gaza.
“Between 1 and 11 January, only 21 per cent (5 of 24) of planned aid deliveries of food, medicines, water, and other lifesaving supplies to the north of Wadi Gaza proceeded,” OCHA says amid growing concerns of food insecurity, particularly in northern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain.
“Repeated denials of fuel delivery to water and sanitation facilities, have deprived people of access to clean water, escalating the risk of sewage overflows and rapidly intensifying the spread of communicable diseases,” OCHA says.
US, UK carrying out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen — officials
The United States and Britain have started carrying out strikes against targets linked to the Houthis in Yemen for the first time since Iran-backed group started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea after Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught against Israel.
“American-Zionist-British aggression against Yemen launches several raids on the capital, Sanaa, Hodeidah governorate, Saada, and Dhamar,” Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada says on X.
A US official says the strikes were carried out from aircrafts, ships and a submarine.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been targeting Red Sea shipping routes to show their support for Hamas. The attacks have disrupted international commerce on the key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic.
BREAKING: VIDEO OF MAJOR STRIKES IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS IN YEMEN pic.twitter.com/BKb8oWitKe
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) January 11, 2024
These are believed to be the first strikes the United States has carried out against the Houthis in Yemen since 2016.
Four US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say a formal statement is soon expected to detail the strikes.
Earlier today, the Houthi’s leader said any US attack on the group would not go without a response.
The Houthis, who seized much of Yemen in a civil war, have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports. However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.
The US military said earlier today that Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden, the 27th attack by the group since Nov. 19.