Live updates | Palestinians flee heavy fighting in southern Gaza as US and UK bomb Yemen again
Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip pounded the southern city of Khan Younis, pushing thousands of Palestinians to flee even further south on Monday.
Families made their way on foot down the coastal highway, smoke billowing from the city behind them. Others loaded blankets and belongings into vehicles or donkey carts.
The war has displaced some 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, and one in four of them are starving, the U.N. says.
Late Monday, U.S. officials said the American and British militaries bombed multiple sites in Yemen used by the Iranian-backed Houthis to attack shipping in the Red Sea, as fears grow that Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza will spark a regional conflict.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which erupted on Oct. 7 when militants from Gaza attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “complete victory” over Hamas, and to return around 100 hostages who are still held in Gaza.
But he’s facing mounting pressure from the hostages’ relatives to make a deal with Hamas and win their loved ones’ release. On Monday, family members disrupted a committee meeting in Israel’s parliament, yelling, “You won’t sit here while they are dying there!”
Currently:
— Iran is ‘ directly involved ’ in ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, US Navy commander tells AP.
— European Union pushes for Palestinian statehood, rejecting Israeli leader’s insistence that it’s off the table
— US military ends rescue search for Navy SEALs lost in raid on ship with Iranian weapons.
— US sanctions Iraqi airline, its CEO and Hamas cryptocurrency financiers.
— Strike kills Hezbollah fighter and civilian in Lebanon, amid seeming Israeli shift to targeted killings.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
US AND UK BOMB YEMEN’S HOUTHI REBELS AGAIN, OFFICIALS SAY
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and British militaries bombed multiple sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Monday night, several U.S. officials said. It’s the second time the two allies have conducted coordinated retaliatory strikes on the rebels’ missile-launching capabilities.
According to officials, the U.S. and U.K. used warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets to take out Houthi missile storage sites and launchers. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing mission.
The joint operation comes about 10 days after U.S. and British warships and fighter jets struck more than 60 targets in 28 locations. That what was the first U.S. military response to what has been a persistent campaign of Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October. The Houthis link their attacks to the conflict.
The Houthi media office said in an online statement that several American and British raids targeted Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. And Jamal Hassan, a resident from south Sanaa, told The Associated Press that two strikes landed near his home, setting off car alarms in the street. An Associated Press journalist in Sanaa also heard aircraft flying above the skies of Sanaa overnight Monday.
The latest barrage of allied attacks follows an almost-daily assault on Houthi missile launchers by U.S. fighter jets and ship-based Tomahawks over the past week.
The chaotic wave of attacks and reprisals involving the United States, its allies and foes suggests that the retaliatory strikes haven’t deterred the Houthis from their campaign against Red Sea shipping, and that the broader regional war that the U.S. has spent months trying to avoid is becoming closer to reality.
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Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed.
US MILITARY SAYS ATTACK ON ITS TROOPS AT IRAQ BASE WAS ‘LARGER SCALE’ THAN BEFORE
WASHINGTON — Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Monday that an attack by Iranian-backed militants on a base housing U.S. troops in Iraq on Saturday “was a larger scale attack than we have seen before,” calling it a “barrage.”
Multiple missiles were fired at al-Asad air base in western Iraq, injuring two U.S. personnel and one Iraqi Security Forces member, she said. The U.S. personnel have returned to duty, Singh said.
Since the Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, Iran-backed militias have launched 151 attacks on U.S. facilities in Syria and Iraq. Most of them have been claimed by an umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has said the attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in the war.
Singh was briefing reporters at the Pentagon Monday. According to the Pentagon, the three latest attacks took place on Monday morning and included multiple rockets fired at U.S. and coalition troops at Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria, a single rocket fired at the Rumalyn Landing Zone in Syria and a one-way attack drone fired at al-Asad. There were no casualties or damage reported from these attacks.
Also on Monday, the U.S. slapped new sanctions on Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and its CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, saying they have provided assistance to Iran’s military wing and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
GAZA LOSES PHONE AND INTERNET SERVICE IN TENTH BLACKOUT OF WAR
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Communication services across the Gaza Strip have dropped due to ongoing fighting, cutting the besieged territory off from the outside world, the Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel said Monday.
“We regret to announce that telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost,” Paltel said in a post on X. “Gaza is blacked out again for the 10th time since October 7th due to the ongoing and escalating aggression.”
Communication services in Gaza partially returned on Friday following a weeklong blackout. During that time, Palestinians from the enclave often walked miles from their homes or places of shelter hunting for a signal to send message friends and loved ones.
The telecommunications company is used by people in both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and The Gaza Strip.
US NAVY SAYS IRAN IS ‘DIRECTLY INVOLVED’ IN YEMEN’S HOUTHI REBEL ATTACKS ON SHIPS
JERUSALEM — The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander says Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels during Israel’s war against Hamas.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, stopped short of saying Tehran directed individual attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis link their attacks to the Israel-Hamas war.
However, Cooper acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that attacks associated with Iran have expanded from previously threatening just the Persian Gulf and its Strait of Hormuz into waters across the wider Middle East. He described the Houthi attacks as the most significant hostile actions against merchant shipping in two generations.
In recent days, the U.S. has launched seven rounds of airstrikes on Houthi military sites, targeting air bases under the rebels’ control and suspected missile launch sites.
So far, Iran has not directly gotten involved in fighting either Israel or the U.S. since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7. However, Cooper maintained Iran had been directly fueling the Houthi attacks on shipping.
“What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training,” Cooper said. “They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”
EU PUSHES FOR PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD, REJECTING ISRAELI LEADER’S INSISTENCE IT’S OFF THE TABLE
BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers are saying they think the creation of a Palestinian state is the only credible way to achieve peace in the Middle East.
As they met in Brussels on Monday, the ministers expressed concern that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has rejected Palestinian statehood. He has also described plans for open-ended military control over Gaza.
The EU invited the foreign ministers of Israel, the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan and a representative of the Arab League to take part in the talks.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz refused to respond when asked about the possibility of Palestinian statehood. Holding up pictures of Israeli hostages, Katz said he had come to seek support for Israel’s campaign to dismantle Hamas.
US SANCTIONS IRAQI AIRLINE, ITS CEO AND HAMAS CRYPTOCURRENCY FINANCIERS
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has hit Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and its CEO with sanctions for allegedly providing assistance to Iran’s military wing.
Additionally, the U.S. has imposed a fifth round of sanctions on the militant group Hamas for its abuse of cryptocurrency since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
In the new sanctions announced Monday, Treasury said Fly Baghdad and its CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani have provided assistance to Iran’s military wing and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. A representative from the firm was not immediately available.
The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated three leaders and supporters of an Iran-aligned militia in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah, as well as a business that it says moves and launders funds for the organization.
Fly Baghdad denied the U.S. allegations and said it would take legal action to demand compensation for losses resulting from the sanctions “as it is clear that the decision was based on misleading and false information and cannot stand before the law.”
SAUDI ARABIA SAYS IT WON’T RECOGNIZE ISRAEL WITHOUT A PATH TO A PALESTINIAN STATE
JERUSALEM — Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat says the kingdom will not normalize relations with Israel or contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction without a credible path to a Palestinian state. That’s a nonstarter for Israel’s government.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s remarks in an interview with CNN broadcast late Sunday were some of the most direct yet from Saudi officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting domestic pressure over the plight of Israeli hostages, including an angry protest inside a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday.
He has rejected Palestinian statehood and described plans for open-ended military control over Gaza. The dispute over Gaza’s future pits Israel against its top ally, the United States, as well as much of the international community.
ANTI-WAR PROTEST BRIEFLY DISRUPTS AUSTRALIAN OPEN MATCH
MELBOURNE, Australia — A pro-Palestinian protester threw papers onto an Australian Open court and briefly disrupted a match between Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie on Monday before being stopped by other spectators.
Olympic champion Zverev said he didn’t feel unsafe but questioned why it took several minutes for security to react, leaving it to tennis fans to intervene.
“When something like this happens, it shouldn’t be another fan dragging the other person out,” he said, noting that security at Melbourne Park was usually very tight, including for the players. “It should be the security guys ... there quite quickly.”
Protesters threw anti-war pamphlets onto at least two courts and also near the entrance to the tournament site.
At Zverev’s match, a woman wearing a face mask threw anti-war pamphlets from the stands onto the court behind the baseline during the sixth game of the third set on Margaret Court Arena.
Printed in black on the white pages was the message “Free Palestine” and “While you’re watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza.”
Ball kids gathered up the papers and the match continued after security escorted the protester away.