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The Houthis have fired an anti-ship missile "in retaliation" for US and UK strikes on the rebel group's positions in Yemen, said General Douglas Sims of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, reports AFP.
"We know they fired at least one missile in retaliation," General Douglas Sims told reporters, adding that the missile had not hit any ships.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani "strongly condemned" the air strikes carried out overnight by the US and UK against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, denouncing a "flagrant violation of that country's sovereignty," reports AFP.
After Friday prayers in Tehran, hundreds of people gathered in support of the Palestinian and Yemeni people, chanting slogans against the US, the UK and Israel, according to an AFP journalist.
The Israeli air force launched attacks on the Lebanese villages of Labbouneh (Sour district), Ramaya and Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), said the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman Avichay Adraee on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
"Several terrorist infrastructures used by Hezbollah were destroyed in these attacks," he said, adding that several shells fired from Lebanon targeted localities in northern Israel today.
"Forces bombarded the sources of the shelling, as well as other areas in Lebanon," he concluded.
Israel criticized the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today for failing to call for the release of hostages held in Gaza in its statement of the day, reports AFP.
"Not a word to call for the release of hostages held in Gaza," said Israel's representation to the UN in Geneva on social network X (formerly Twitter).
"A call for a ceasefire, without demanding the release of our hostages and the disarmament of Hamas, is a call for the victory of terrorism," it added.
BREAKING: Israel reaches agreement with Qatar allowing delivery of medicine to Hamas hostages in Gaza, says Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, quoted by Reuters.
The statement said medications would be given to the hostages "in the next few days."
Israeli artillery hit the northern outskirts of the town Marwahine (Sour district), residents tell our correspondent.
Three Israeli artillery shells fell near Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district), local residents report to our correspondent.
Britain's Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO) has reported that a missile was fired at a ship around 170 km southeast of the island of Aden, according to Reuters.
The UKMTO report says that the missile landed in the water 400-500 meters from the ship and was followed by three small boats.
No injuries were reported.
Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis gathered — responding to a call from the Houthis — to demonstrate in Sanaa against US and UK strikes targeting the rebels in retaliation for their attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, according to AFP.
Crowds filled the large Sabine Square in central Sanaa under a forest of Yemeni and Palestinian flags and numerous portraits of rebel leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
"Death to America, death to Israel," chanted the demonstrators, supporters of the rebels who control the capital Sanaa and several regions of Yemen. Some were brandishing AK-47 assault rifles, according to an AFP correspondent.
(Photo credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
The UK defended today the 'legality' of military strikes carried out by its army with the US against rebels in Yemen, repeating that it had acted in "self-defense," according to AFP.
The strikes, carried out on Thursday night in response to weeks of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis, were "necessary, legal and proportionate," insisted diplomatic chief David Cameron in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter).
"It must be clear to the Houthis that we mean business when we say that their actions targeting British and other ships are completely unacceptable," he added.
Amal movement's Head of Political Bureau Jamil Hayek condemned the attacks on Yemen and hailed "the steadfastness of the Yemeni people and their efforts to defend the cause of Arabs, Muslims and Palestine."
"The American-British aggression against Yemen clearly reflects double standards," he stated.
Hayek accused the US and the UK of "siding with the Zionist entity and regarding it as an exceptional entity, above the law and international legitimacy."
Hezbollah claimed in statements today to have targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Manara locality and the Assi and Hanita positions at 3:50 p.m., "with appropriate weapons."
The party said it had succeeded in "directly hitting" these targets.
Danish shipping company Torm has announced that it is halting all transit through the southern Red Sea due to attacks on commercial vessels by Yemen's Houthi rebels, according to AFP.
"Torm has decided today to halt all transits through the southern Red Sea until further notice," a company spokeswoman told AFP in an email.
Around 12 percent of the world's maritime trade normally passes through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which controls access to the southern Red Sea, but since mid-November the number of containers has fallen by 70 percent, according to shipping experts.
Internet and telephone services were once again completely cut off in the Gaza Strip today, the Palestinian operator Paltel announced on X (formerly Twitter), in the midst of the Israeli army's offensive against Hamas in the besieged territory, reports AFP.
"We regret to announce that all telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip have been interrupted due to the ongoing aggression. Gaza is once again cut off from the world," said the company.
The UAE expressed its "deep concern" about the consequences of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the official Emirati news agency said on Friday, quoted by Reuters.
The agency added that the UAE stressed the importance of "maintaining security in the region" and the interests of its countries.
Several rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel, the occupied Shebaa farms and Kfar Shuba heights, a security source told our correspondent.
Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Alma Shaab, Yarin and Dhaira (Sour district), according to local residents.
In addition, sirens sounded at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in Naqoura, according to local residents.
Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese border village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), local residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, in a statement, says that it targeted an Israeli position in Malkia, adjacent to the southern Lebanese border village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), at 2:30 p.m. using "suitable weapons" and "directly hitting" the target.
Israeli artillery struck the outskirts of Houla (Maerjayoun) with four shells, local residents told L'Orient Today.
European Union countries will discuss next week sending a European naval force to help protect ships in the Red Sea against attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, diplomats said Friday, AFP reported.
A civilian was found shot in one of his legs in Tallet Hamamis, south of the southern Lebanon border village of Khiam (Marjayoun), and was taken to Marjayoun Public Hospital around 1:45 p.m. by the Red Cross, the Lebanese Army, and UNIFIL, a source at the Red Cross told L'Orient Today. A security source told L'Orient Today that the area was shot at earlier today by the Israeli army but could not surely link the injury to the Israeli attack.
Displaced Palestinians ride a three-wheel vehicle on Jan. 12, 2024, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Credit: AFP)
Gaza's health ministry says that at least 23,708 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Reuters.
The ministry added that 60,005 have been wounded and 151 were killed and 248 injured in the last 24 hours.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel had repeatedly failed to respect international humanitarian law since launching its Gaza offensive, according to Reuters.
“We have repeatedly highlighted Israel's recurring failures to respect the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality and precautions in the conduct of attacks,” said Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “The High Commissioner stressed that failure to comply with these obligations risks liability for war crimes and also warned of the risks of other atrocity crimes.”
With an average of 250 deaths per day according to its calculations, the average lethality rate of the Israeli offensive in Gaza is "significantly higher" than that of "any other recent conflict," "in Syria (96.5 deaths per day), in Sudan (51.6), in Iraq (50.8), in Ukraine (43.9), in Afghanistan (23.8) and in Yemen (15.8)," according to Oxfam.
In a press release, the NGO notes that the already catastrophic humanitarian situation of the 2.4 million inhabitants is further aggravated by the drop in temperatures.
NATO said on Friday that airstrikes carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom against the Houthi rebels in Yemen were “defensive,” calling on the latter to end their attacks.
“These strikes were defensive and aimed at preserving freedom of navigation in one of the most important sea lanes in the world,” said Dylan White, spokesperson for the alliance. “The Houthi attacks must end,” he added.
The Israeli army bombed the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, where it claimed to have killed dozens of "terrorists," with Gazan authorities reporting at least 59 deaths overnight, AFP reported.
Hezbollah announces that it targeted at 11:15 a.m. a military brigade around an Israeli position facing the southern Lebanon border village of Dhaira (Sour) and said they "directly hit the target."
The United States and the United Kingdom carried out 73 strikes against rebels in Yemen on Friday, killing five and wounding six, the Houthi military spokesperson said.
"The American-British enemy...carried out 73 strikes, targeting the capital Sanaa and the governorates of Hodeida, Taiz, Hajjah and Saada. These raids resulted in the death of five martyrs and injured six other members of our armed forces," declared Yahya Saree on his X account, affirming that this "aggression...will not go unanswered."
Hamas condemned the American and British attack on Yemen last night and called it a "horrific crime against Yemen's sovereignty."
In a statement, Hamas said that the region "will not experience security and stability except with the ending of the Israeli occupation of our Palestinian and Arab land. It requires Washington and London to rethink their colonizing policies and to respect the sovereignty and interest of Arab countries which will not stand still against the monstrous zionist crimes that the Palestinian people are suffering from as well as the violations of our sacred Muslim and Christian territories most importantly of which is the al-Aqsa mosque."
The Israeli army shelled the outskirts of the southern Lebanon border village of Dhaira (Sour), residents of the village told L'Orient Today.
South Lebanon Water Establishment called on people residing in its area of operation to ration their use of water until the electricity supply gets back to normal as it is currently suffering from more cuts which is affecting the water supply.
Water pumps necessary for water supply rely on electricity.
Residents of Mais al-Jabal released a statement criticizing the "neglect" of Lebanese authorities towards border villages. The statement criticized the fact that telecommunications services have been completely cut for days. They also complain about the complete electricity cuts that the village has been experiencing sometimes for entire days.
"Border villages are a part of this country, unfortunately, we have to always remind people of this," the statement said. The head of the municipality of the village Abdel Menaem Shkeir told L'Orient Today that in addition to electricity and telecommunications, the residents of the village are struggling from water cuts since water tanks which usually people order in the case of water cuts are not able to reach the village because of the daily Israeli attacks on border villages.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen, targeted by American and British airstrikes, bear through their attacks on ships in the Red Sea "extremely heavy responsibility for regional escalation," Paris estimated on Friday.
France, which has deployed a frigate in the area, “demands that the Houthis immediately end” their attacks and recalls that states have “the right” to react, according to a press release from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China said, on Friday, it was “concerned” by the escalation of tensions in the Red Sea after airstrikes carried out overnight by the United States and the United Kingdom against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Find here the statement from Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Israeli artillery fired at least three mortars at Tallet al-Hamames, south of Khiam (Marjayoun), residents told our correspondent.
The outskirts of Houla, also in the Marjayoun district, came under artillery fire, according to residents.
Israeli artillery shelled several areas of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), residents reported to our correspondent in southern Lebanon. In the southwest of the village, the strike set fire to a house that had previously been targeted, while several other rockets fell on the north of the town, near the government hospital.
The spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry condemned the strikes carried out overnight in Yemen by the United States and the United Kingdom against the Houthi rebels, denouncing a measure leading to “escalation” and having “destructive objectives.”
Hezbollah in a statement condemned the last night's "horrific" American and British attack on Yemen.
"The American aggression proves once again that the US is the full partner in the massacres and tragedies that the zionist enemy is doing in Gaza and the region. [The US] is working on supporting it and supplying it with killing and destruction machines and is covering up for its aggression and crimes and is attacking everyone that is supporting the Palestinian people that are victims across the region."
Last night in southern Lebanon:
According to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, a security source only mentioned three Israeli missiles launched on the outskirts of Blida (Marjayoun) at 10:30 p.m. and the overflight of towns in the Zahrani region by Israeli aircraft around 4 a.m.
The UN deplored the obstacles put in place by Israeli authorities for the delivery of humanitarian aid, stressing that each delay costs lives.
“Between Jan. 1 and 10, only three of the 21 deliveries of humanitarian aid” planned in the north of the Gaza Strip “were possible,” detailed Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
Starting at 11 a.m. Lebanese time, Israel will respond on Friday to what the country describes as "atrocious" allegations that it is committing "genocide" in Gaza, in a historic legal case before the highest court of the UN.
South Africa last month urgently filed a claim with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague, arguing that Israel is violating the United Nations Convention on Genocide, signed in 1948 following the Holocaust.
Pretoria wants judges to order Israel to “immediately” stop the military campaign launched in Gaza after the deadly Hamas attack on October 7.
Before we get started, take a look at the Morning Brief to ensure that you are caught up with what has been happening.
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