US forces struck an anti-ship missile in Yemen that they said was ready to fire early yesterday, hours after the Iran-backed rebels caused a fire on a British tanker in the Gulf of Aden with a similar munition, as intense fighting raged in the Gaza Strip’s Khan Yunis.
US and British forces have launched joint strikes aimed at reducing the Houthi’s ability to target vessels transiting the key Red Sea trade route — attacks the rebels say are in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with Hamas.
Washington has also carried out a series of unilateral air raids, but the Houthis have vowed to continue their attacks.
Photo: Reuters
The US Central Command said it carried out another strike early yesterday on a Houthi “anti-ship missile aimed into the Red Sea and which was prepared to launch.”
The Houthi’s Al-Masirah television yesterday said the US and the UK launched two airstrikes on the Port of Ras Issa in Yemen’s al-Hudaydah governorate, which hosts the country’s main oil export terminal.
There was no immediate confirmation from the US or the UK, and the Houthis did not provide details on the attack or the extent of the damage.
The previous evening, the British oil tanker the Marlin Luanda, operated on behalf of trading giant Trafigura Group, was hit by missiles fired by Yemeni naval forces, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
Trafigura yesterday said no injuries or casualties had been reported.
“All crew on board the Marlin Luanda are safe and the fire in the cargo tank has been fully extinguished. The vessel is now sailing towards a safe harbour,” Trafigura said in a statement, adding that the firefighting effort had been supported by Indian, US and French navy vessels.
Meanwhile, tensions rose between Israel and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee after Jerusalem charged that several of the UN agency’s staff were involved in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 last year, leading some key donor countries to suspend funding.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz yesterday said that Israel wants to ensure the UN agency, with tens of thousands of staff in Gaza, “will not be a part of the day after” the bloodiest Gaza war.
Alarm has grown over the plight of civilians in Khan Yunis, the southern hometown of Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, the suspected mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks.
Witnesses reported more fierce fighting in the city, where the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory said that “135 martyrs arrived at hospitals due to massacres throughout the night.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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