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An image obtained from the US Department of Defense shows guided missile destroyer USS Carney in the Middle East region on December 6, 2023.
AFP
It’s the 140th day of the war in Gaza, and as the international community steps up calls for restraint in the devastated enclave, Yemeni Houthi rebels continue to run amok in the Red Sea.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech that the rebel militia will add new “submarine weapons” in its arsenal as it expands attacks in the Red Sea. The Yemeni terror group also threatened to shut down commercial shipping at the turbulent Bab El-Mandeb Strait after it claimed a drone attack on a U.S. destroyer.
In Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah, one of many paramilitary groups backed by Iran, claimed it attacked a “house” in the Metula area where soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gathered.
Back in Gaza, heavy bombardment has been reported in the southern part of the enclave as world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been an ally of Israel since the war started, called on Israel to refrain from launching a ground operation in Rafah unless civilian protection is ensured.
Meanwhile, talks for a new ceasefire deal continue as an Israeli delegation is expected to join negotiations in Paris. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel was not prepared to “pay any price” for the release of some 130 remaining hostages in Gaza under Hamas’ “delusional” demands.
The intense fighting in the Gaza Strip stems from a longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict that ultimately blew up on Oct. 7, when Hamas operatives launched a surprise invasion of Israel, murdering more than a thousand people and abducting some 250 Israelis and foreign nationals.
