Russian missile strikes hit Kyiv and other cities on Wednesday morning, causing at least one death and several injuries, Ukrainian authorities reported.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a downed Russian missile damaged power lines and some households in the capital were without electricity.
One man was killed in the southern city of Mykolaiv, according to officials.
The whole country was put under air alert around 06:00 (04:00 GMT).
Mayor Klitschko said nine people were wounded in the capital, including a pregnant woman.
In Mykolaiv, one person who was taken to hospital later died of his injuries, the city's mayor, Oleksandr Senkevich, said.
Others were treated at the scene after the attack, which damaged homes and disrupted gas and water supplies, he added.
Explosions were also heard in Kharkiv, with some damage to infrastructure reported by military authorities.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russian cruise missiles were detected above the western regions of Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Ukraine has come under frequent air attack since Russia invaded on 24 February 2022. Russian forces regularly use different types of weapons in their attacks, including drones and missiles.
Authorities expect 480 million trips to be made for the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. The volume is 40% higher compared to the previous year.
China's meteorological service has warned of the worst winter weather since 2008. The country's central region - including provinces like Hebei, Hubei, and Anhui - has borne the brunt of the freezing conditions.
On social media, Chinese people said the bitter cold spoiled their plans to reunite with family. They posted pictures of themselves stranded in trains and railway stations as power lines were cut.
The Lunar New Year falls on 10 February, a Saturday.
"When Spring Festival coincides with a snowstorm: Residents could not leave the city of Wuhan three years ago [because of the Covid-19 outbreak]. Now, three years later, we can't get into it," according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The X user posted a video showing a packed railway station which had lines of people stuck on escalators because it was too crowded for them to move.
Some users thanked those who braved the cold to deliver food and hot water to commuters stuck on the icy roads. One clip showed a lady in Xiantao, a city in Hubei province, using a pulley system to refill water bottles of those stranded on the highway. "You can just put your bottle in the basket. There is no need to pay," she said.
Getty Images
Some 255 cities across the country have seen days when average daily temperatures fall below 0C, far exceeding the conditions of previous years.
Nearly 100 highway toll stations in Anhui have blocked cars from entering because of icy conditions. On Monday, state broadcaster CCTV reported that 4,000 vehicles were stuck on the roads.
One person died and 13 others were injured in a city in Hunan province on Monday after a roof collapsed due to heavy snowfall at a local market.
China's central government said it would disburse 141m yuan ($20m; £15.6m) to fund urgent snow removal on highways and related work in 11 provinces, CCTV said.
The freezing weather is expected to abate soon, with authorities lifting the most severe blizzard warning on Wednesday. Snow will continue in south and central China, but the weather is expected to turn warmer by Friday, according to reports.
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By Tom Bateman, State Department Correspondent & Kathryn Armstrong in London
BBC News
Hamas says it has given its response to a framework proposal for a new ceasefire in Gaza.
The details of the deal - set out by Israel, the US, Qatar and Egypt - have not been released.
It was earlier reported to include a six-week truce, when more Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and the US have both said they are reviewing Hamas's response.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is currently in the Middle East, said he would discuss Hamas's response with officials in Israel on Wednesday.
While Mr Blinken has given no indication of how the US views the response, President Joe Biden described it as "a little over the top" - suggesting the Israeli leadership will not easily agree to what the group is asking.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC the group had presented a "positive vision" in response to the framework but had asked for some amendments relating to the rebuilding of Gaza, the return of its residents to their homes and the provisions for those who had been displaced.
The official said Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and other countries - had also asked for changes relating to the treatment of those injured, including their return home and transfer to hospitals abroad.
The conflict in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,300 people were killed and about 250 others taken hostage.
More than 27,500 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, which has been governed by Hamas and blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
During a week-long ceasefire in late November, 105 Israeli and foreign hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The timing of any new deal could be complicated by claims briefed earlier this week by Israeli defence officials that the military is "making progress" in its hunt for Hamas's leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
A growing sense of regional crisis also adds to the urgency Mr Blinken brings to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, as he arrives seeking progress on the deal.
The US is increasingly trying to stem a widening regional escalation after last week's drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.
Washington retaliated with air strikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq and is warning more will come.
A ceasefire deal in Gaza is seen by the US as the most realistic way to reduce tensions further afield.
On Tuesday, Israel confirmed that 31 of the 136 remaining hostages in Gaza had been killed.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said their families had been informed and that the authorities would continue to push for the return of the remaining captives.
"This is a moral obligation, national obligation and international obligation and this is our compass and this is how we will continue operating," said Mr Hagari.
Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity and can be prosecuted on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, a US court has ruled.
Mr Trump had claimed in the landmark legal case that he was immune from criminal charges for acts he said fell within his duties as president.
But Tuesday's unanimous ruling in Washington DC struck down that claim.
It is a setback for Mr Trump who has for years cited presidential immunity while battling multiple cases.
"We cannot accept former President Trump's claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power - the recognition and implementation of election results," the three-judge appeals court panel wrote in its opinion.
It added: "For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defences of any other criminal defendant."
In a statement shortly after the ruling, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the former president "respectfully disagrees with the DC Circuit's decision and will appeal it".
If an appeal is filed, the case could ultimately go to the Supreme Court where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority. Mr Trump has until 12 February to do so.
"If immunity is not granted to a president, every future president who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party," Mr Cheung said. "Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function."
US Special Counsel Jack Smith has charged Mr Trump, 77, with conspiring to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election and committing fraud to stay in office.
The trial in that case was initially scheduled for 4 March, but was postponed pending a ruling on the immunity claim. It could be delayed for weeks, if not months, if the case ends up before the Supreme Court.
Last month, a panel of three judges heard the case at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
The argument from Mr Trump's lawyer hinged on the idea that a president who is not convicted for impeachment by Congress cannot be subject to criminal proceedings. Mr Trump, they noted, was impeached by the House of Representatives but never convicted by the Senate.
The judge presiding over the trial had already rejected this argument in December. Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote at the time that the presidency "does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass".
At the hearing, the judges - two Democratic appointees and one Republican appointee - were sceptical of the former president's argument.
One, Judge Florence Pan, suggested that immunity would allow a president to sell state secrets or order the assassination of a political rival without being concerned about criminal prosecution.
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The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is heading to Cairo next to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
It’s a day after Blinken started his latest tour of the Middle East by meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh.
Blinken and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, according to the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that’s triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.
Blinken did not answer reporters’ questions as he returned to his hotel, says Reuters.
The talks come as the US military confirms that it’s struck explosive uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) operated by Houthi rebels in Yemen – what Reuters describes as “essentially explosive-laden drone boats”.
Blinken’s diplomatic push has been given fresh urgency with Israeli forces pressing farther south towards Rafah, a Palestinian city on the southern border with Egypt where more than half the population of the Gaza Strip has taken shelter. Reuters says Palestinians are hoping the meetings will put in place a truce before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah.
It’s Blinken’s fifth trip to the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas and Blinken is later expected to visit Israel as well as Qatar.
At least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed and 66,978 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday.
127 Palestinians were killed and 143 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken landed in Cairo on Tuesday for his meeting with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as the US works to advance a Gaza truce and hostage deal mediated by the Egyptians and Qataris, Reuters reports.
Blinken departed Riyadh shortly after sunrise for what is set to be a marathon day visiting Egypt and Qatar before flying to Israel to discuss hostage negotiations, postwar Gaza plans and the prospect of Israel and it's neighbours normalising ties.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have said they fired naval missiles at two ships, Star Nasia and Morning Tide, in the Red Sea, Reuters reports.
According the news agency, the group’s military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech that the ships targeted were US and British flagged.
However, records from shipping trackers show they are flagged to the Marshall Islands and Barbados.
Here are some of the latest images coming through from Gaza and Israel:
It’s currently 9:09am in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Cairo. Here are the latest events so far in the Middle East crisis:
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is heading to Cairo next to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. It’s a day after Blinkenstarted his latest tour of the Middle East by meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh. Blinken and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, according to the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The US military says it’s carried out more strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, hitting what it describes as “explosive uncrewed surface vehicles or USV’s”, which Reuters says are explosive-laden drone boats.
A UK ship travelling through the southern Red Sea has been attacked by a drone but no one has claimed responsibility as yet. The British military’s United Kingdom maritime trade operations says the attack happened west of Hodeida, Yemen, and caused “slight damage” to the ship’s windows on the bridge. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added.
Six allied Kurdish fighters were killed late Sunday by a drone attack on a base also housing US troops in eastern Syria in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the US launched strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among US troops. Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibilty.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on his fifth visit to the region since October in the coming hours. He will visit Israel as well as Egypt and Qatar. Speaking Monday after meeting in Washington with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said there was “real hope” for success of a “good, strong [ceasefire] proposal”. Jake Sullivan, president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Blinken would press Israel to allow more food, water, medicine and shelter in to Gaza, which has been left in rubble by nearly four months of bombardment.
In its latest operational update the Israeli military claims it has killed “dozens of terrorists” in the central and northern Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli bombardment continues in Khan Younis, with large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah also being targeted. At least 20 Palestinians were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes on Rafah, the city previously designated a safe zone by the Israeli military and to where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had fled, according to the UN agency humanitarian agency Ocha.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported on social media that Israeli forces have detained the general manager and the administrative director of the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis.
A 14-year-old Palestinian child was shot dead by Israeli security forces near occupied East Jerusalem after what they claimed was an attempted stabbing attack.
Spain will send the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA an additional €3.5m (£3m / $3.8m) in aid, foreign minister José Manuel Albares told lawmakers on Monday. The agency has warned of a significant funding shortfall after several large donors suspended funding after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel.
Russia summoned Israel’s ambassador in Moscow over comments Simona Halperin made in an interview. She had criticised Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust and said Russia was being too friendly with Hamas.
A former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, is to lead an independent review of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel that at least 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. The review was ordered by Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), last month before the publication of the Israeli allegations and a subsequent mass exodus of donors led by the US and UK.
Israel has given some further detail on Hamas’ Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says that Sinwar is “moving from hideout to hideout” and no longer leading the group’s military actions, reports Agence France-Presse.
“He has now become a terrorist on the run from being the leader of Hamas” in the Palestinian territory, Gallant told a televised briefing Monday, but did not elaborate on Sinwar’s presumed current location.
Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the 7 October attack on Israel that triggered the war, nearing its fifth month.
A UK ship travelling through the southern Red Sea has been attacked by a drone but no one has claimed responsibility as yet.
The British military’s United Kingdom maritime trade operations says the attack happened west of Hodeida, Yemen, and caused “slight damage” to the ship’s windows on the bridge. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added.
The private security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but since November, Yemen’s Houthis have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying it is over Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But the group has frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and Europe.
The US military says it’s carried out more strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, hitting what it describes as “explosive uncrewed surface vehicles or USV’s”, which Reuters says are explosive-laden drone boats.
US central command (Centcom) posted on X a few hours ago that:
U.S. forces identified the explosive USVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels.
The US military also said they had carried out airstrikes against five missiles in Yemen on Sunday – one designed for land attack and the others for targeting ships.
Late Saturday, US and UK forces carried out their third wave of joint strikes, which hit 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations, according to a statement by the United States, Britain and other countries that provided support for the operation.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the next day that “these attacks will not deter us from our … stance in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Agence France-Presse reports.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is heading to Cairo next to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
It’s a day after Blinken started his latest tour of the Middle East by meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh.
Blinken and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, according to the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that’s triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.
Blinken did not answer reporters’ questions as he returned to his hotel, says Reuters.
The talks come as the US military confirms that it’s struck explosive uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) operated by Houthi rebels in Yemen – what Reuters describes as “essentially explosive-laden drone boats”.
Blinken’s diplomatic push has been given fresh urgency with Israeli forces pressing farther south towards Rafah, a Palestinian city on the southern border with Egypt where more than half the population of the Gaza Strip has taken shelter. Reuters says Palestinians are hoping the meetings will put in place a truce before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah.
It’s Blinken’s fifth trip to the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas and Blinken is later expected to visit Israel as well as Qatar.
It’s 7:48am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and Cairo. I’m Reged Ahmad and welcome to our latest blog on the Middle East crisis. I’ll be with you for the next while.
US secretary of state AntonyBlinken is due to fly to Egypt on his next stop as he continues his fifth tour of the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. In Cairo, Blinken is scheduled to met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken started his visit in Riyadh where he has held talks with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. They discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, said state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.
Meanwhile, the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has reported in its latest update an “increase in strikes in Rafah on 4 and 5 February” as well as an increased influx of internally displaced people into the area.
More on that in a moment but first, a summary of the latest developments so far:
Six allied Kurdish fighters were killed late Sunday by a drone attack on a base also housing US troops in eastern Syria in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the US launched strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among US troops. Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibilty.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on his fifth visit to the region since October in the coming hours. He will visit Israel as well as Egypt and Qatar. Speaking Monday after meeting in Washington with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said there was “real hope” for success of a “good, strong [ceasefire] proposal”. Jake Sullivan, president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Blinken would press Israel to allow more food, water, medicine and shelter in to Gaza, which has been left in rubble by nearly four months of bombardment.
In its latest operational update the Israeli military claims it has killed “dozens of terrorists” in the central and northern Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli bombardment continues in Khan Younis, with large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah also being targeted. At least 20 Palestinians were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes on Rafah, the city previously designated a safe zone by the Israeli military and to where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had fled, according to the UN agency humanitarian agency Ocha.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported on social media that Israeli forces have detained the general manager and the administrative director of the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis.
A 14-year-old Palestinian child was shot dead by Israeli security forces near occupied East Jerusalem after what they claimed was an attempted stabbing attack.
Spain will send the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA an additional €3.5m (£3m / $3.8m) in aid, foreign minister José Manuel Albares told lawmakers on Monday. The agency has warned of a significant funding shortfall after several large donors suspended funding after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel.
Russia summoned Israel’s ambassador in Moscow over comments Simona Halperin made in an interview. She had criticised Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust and said Russia was being too friendly with Hamas.
A former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, is to lead an independent review of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel that at least 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. The review was ordered by Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), last month before the publication of the Israeli allegations and a subsequent mass exodus of donors led by the US and UK.
Pentagon knows who’s responsible for Jordan drone attack
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A British-owned cargo ship has been attacked in the Red Sea this morning, just days after the UK and the US jointly launched a fresh bout of airstrikes targeting Houthis in Yemen.
The ship suffered minor damage after being hit by a projectile while scaling off the coast of Yemen’s Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
The US military, just hours before, conducted a strike in self-defence against two Houthi drones in Yemen after a drone attack hit a base housing US troops in Syria.
“US forces identified the explosive USVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” US Central Command said in a post on X.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday will meet president Abel Fattah El-Sisi in Egypt to hold talks seeking an “enduring end” to the crisis in Gaza.
This is Mr Blinken’s fifth visit to the Middle East since the onset of Israel’s war in Gaza, which began in October last year.
On Monday, Mr Blinken met Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, said state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Mr Miller said they spoke about the “urgent need to reduce regional tensions”.
What to know about the situation in the Middle East this week
The United States and Britain have struck Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, while Israel presses ahead with its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Here is what to know about what is happening in the region now, and why:
On Friday, the US struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers at a US base on the Syria-Jordan border. At the same time, Washington emphasized that it doesn’t want to escalate the conflict with Iran into outright war.
US troops maintain a presence in the area to fight the Isis. They returned to Iraq in 2014 after the extremists overran much of the country’s north and started a genocidal campaign against the Yazidis, a religious minority.
The US military has released video of American warships firing on Houthi drones.
Footage shared to X, formerly Twitter, by US Central Command (CENTCOM) showed missiles being fired from USS Gravley, USS Carney and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. It then showed a fighter jet taking off from a warship in the Red Sea.
According to CENTCOM, at approximately 10.30am (Sanaa time) on 2nd February, USS Carney shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen. At 9.20pm F/A-18s from the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier engaged and shot down seven UAVs over the Red Sea.
The US military has released video of American warships firing on Houthi drones. Footage shared to X, formerly Twitter, by US Central Command (CENTCOM) showed missiles being fired from USS Gravley, USS Carney and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. It then showed a fighter jet taking off from a warship in the Red Sea. According to CENTCOM, at approximately 10.30am (Sanaa time) on 2nd February, USS Carney shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen. At 9.20pm F/A-18s from the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier engaged and shot down seven UAVs over the Red Sea. The US and UK, supported by six Allied countries, struck at least 36 Houthi targets in Yemen just hours after the US conducted retaliatory airstrikes on more than 85 sites in Iraq and Syria due to the killing of three American soldiers in Jordan.
Blinken returns to Mideast in push for hostage deal and postwar plan for Gaza
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday on his fifth visit to the region since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, hoping to press ahead with a potential cease-fire deal and postwar planning while tamping down regional tensions.
But on all three fronts he faces major challenges: Hamas and Israel are publicly at odds over key elements of a potential truce.
Israel has dismissed US calls for a path to a Palestinian state, and Iran’s militant allies in the region have shown little sign of being deterred by US strikes.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas has begun to re-emerge in some of the most devastated areas after Israeli forces pulled back, an indication that Israel’s central goal of crushing the group remains elusive.
Video footage from the same areas shows vast destruction, with nearly every building damaged or destroyed.
A British-owned cargo ship has been attacked in the Red Sea this morning, two days after the UK and the US jointly launched a fresh bout of airstrikes targeting Houthis in Yemen.
The ship suffered minor damage after being hit by a projectile while scaling off the coast of Yemen’s Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
The ship, located 57 nautical miles west of Hodeidah, said a projectile was fired at its port side and a small craft was seen on its port side.
The projectile passed over the deck and caused slight damage to the bridge windows, the UKMTO note said after receiving the report just after midnight.
The Barbados-flagged general cargo ship incurred physical damage from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while sailing south east through the Red Sea, according to maritime security firm Ambrey.
No injuries were reported, the ship performed evasive manoeuvres and continued its journey.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
US vows more strikes against Iran-backed rebels in Middle East
The US has vowed to take more retaliatory action targeting Iran-backed militants in the Middle East following the death of three US troops in Jordan.
The US military launched its offensive in Iraq and Syria over the weekend in retaliation against the attacks on its bases. It separately targeted the Houthis in Yemen amid the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea.
“Part of the purpose of these strikes is to take away capabilities from the Iranian-backed militants in Iraq and Syria that are attacking our forces,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News.
The strikes had a “good effect” in degrading the capabilities of the militias and the Houthis, he said.
“There will be more steps. Some of those actions will be seen, some may not be seen.
“There will be more action taken to respond to the tragic death of the three brave US service members.”
US defends rights to counter-attack as Russia slams Biden administration at UN
Russia and the US sparred at the UN Security Council on Monday over Washington’s latest bout of attacks targetting Iran-backed militants in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the US of violating international law and continuing “to sow chaos and destruction in the Middle East”.
US ambassador Robert Wood countered that America had an absolute right to self-defence against attacks on its forces and that the actions it had taken were “necessary and proportionate”.
He told the council that since 18 October, Iran-backed militia groups have attacked US and coalition forces over 165 times in Iraq and Syria. A drone attack on a Jordanian facility hosting US forces fighting Isis extremists on 28 January killed three US army members and injured many more.
The US responded with 85 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria this month which both countries claimed resulted in civilian deaths, injuries and property destruction.
Those countries condemned the attacks as violations of their sovereignty – as their ambassadors did again at Monday’s council meeting.Mr Wood stressed that the US doesn’t want more conflict in a region where it is “actively working to contain and de-escalate the conflict in Gaza”.
“And we are not seeking a direct conflict with Iran,” Mr Wood said, adding: “But we will continue to defend our personnel against unacceptable attacks. Period.”
He accused Iran of failing “to rein in its extremist proxies”.
US and Russia clash at UN over Middle East attacks
Russia, the closest ally to the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, used a UN Security Council meeting last night to accuse the US of attacking Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in order to preserve Joe Biden’s image ahead of the US elections this year.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the US of violating international law and continuing “to sow chaos and destruction in the Middle East”.
He said violence by the US and its allies has escalated from the Palestinian territories to Lebanon, the Red Sea and Yemen and is “nullifying international efforts to reestablish peace in the Middle East”.
The Russian ambassador claimed the US was attempting “to flex muscles ... to justify and salvage the image of the current American administration ... in the light of the upcoming presidential pre-election campaign”.
And he claimed the Americans were undertaking military action in an effort “at any price to preserve their dominating position in the world”.
