2 ships damaged by Houthi drone and missile attacks in Red Sea

 Two commercial ships were damaged during attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday. (File/AFP)
Two commercial ships were damaged during attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday. (File/AFP)
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Updated 01 October 2024
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2 ships damaged by Houthi drone and missile attacks in Red Sea

 Two commercial ships were damaged during attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday. (File/AFP)
  • Attacks mark end of a lull lasting nearly a month in the militia’s attacks on international shipping in Red Sea and other waters off Yemen

AL-MUKALLA: Two commercial ships were damaged during attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday. The Yemeni militia said it also targeted military sites in Israel with five drones in support of Palestine and Lebanon.

UK Maritime Trade Operations, an agency that monitors incidents at sea, said it received an alert on Tuesday morning from a ship 64 miles northwest of the west-coast Yemeni city of Hodeidah saying a drone hit the vessel, puncturing a port ballast tank. The ship’s master said he also observed four splashes close to the vessel, the crew is safe and the vessel is heading to its next port of call.

Also on Tuesday morning, the agency said the master of another ship, located 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, reported a missile strike that caused damage but the crew was safe.

The ship in the first incident was identified as the Panamanian-flagged crude oil tanker Cordelia Moon, which was traveling from India to an unknown location. The Houthis claim to be targeting international shipping with links to Israel, the US or the UK in support of the Palestinian people, but details of the vessel on ship-tracking websites such as www.marinetraffic.com showed no obvious connection with those countries.

Information on TankerTrackers.com, an oil shipment tracking service, indicated the ship did not have any oil on board when attacked. In a message posted on social media network X, the website wrote: “Cordelia Moon is currently empty after delivering a million barrels of Russian crude oil to India. The fact that she’s empty makes her MORE explosive (remember Pablo?) as well as a more attainable target due to her increased height above sea level.”

The Pablo was an empty oil tanker that exploded in the Malaysian waters shortly after making a delivery last year.

The Joint Maritime Information Center confirmed the Cordelia Moon had been attacked by missiles and a drone and sustained damage but did not require assistance.

“JMIC assesses that (the ship) was likely targeted due to affiliations within the vessel’s operational structure,” the organization said.

The other targeted ship was a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier heading from Oman toward the Suez Canal.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement on Tuesday that the militia attacked the “British” oil tanker Cordelia Moon with eight ballistic missiles, an unmanned aerial vehicle and a drone boat. He said the militia also attacked a ship called Marathopolis twice in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea with a missile and a drone for violating a Houthi ban on sailing to Israel.

The Houthis also said on Tuesday that they targeted a military site in the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv, with a drone and launched four drones at similar targets in the Red Sea city of Eilat.

Sarea said the attacks against Israel were “in triumph for the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, and in support of the valiant Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.”

The attacks at sea on Tuesday marked the end of a lull lasting nearly a month in the militia’s attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and other waters off the coast of Yemen.

Since November, the Houthis have seized one commercial ship and kidnapped its crew, sunk two others, and launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and drone boats at commercial and naval vessels in international shipping lanes.

They say the aim of their terror campaign is to put pressure on Israel to end its war in Gaza, and that they only attack ships linked to Israel, bound for the country, or with parent companies that do business with Israeli ports.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate said on Tuesday that Abdo Mused Al-Mudan, a journalist held by the Houthis, has been moved to the intensive care unit at a hospital in Sanaa after his health deteriorated at a militia detention facility.

Al-Mudan was one of more than 400 people abducted from their homes or the streets by the Houthis last week for commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 26, 1962, revolution or encouraging others to do so.

The syndicate said his health deteriorated as a result of mistreatment by his captors and poor conditions at the detention facility, raising concerns about the health of other journalists and activists held by the Houthis.

“The syndicate renews its demand for the immediate release of all journalists detained by the Houthi group, as well as all prisoners of conscience arrested since the beginning of last September,” the organization said.

Despite growing condemnation of their crackdown on those who celebrated the anniversary of the revolution, the Houthis refuse to release the detainees, accusing them of being US stooges who are undermining security in areas under the militia’s control in an attempt to put pressure on them to halt the attacks on international shipping.


Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman
GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
Updated 26 min 11 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.


UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
Updated 08 November 2024
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UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza

UAE delivers 288 tonnes of aid for displaced Palestinians in Gaza
  • UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far delivered 121 shipments in Gaza

GAZA: Two shipments of aid from the UAE entered the Gaza Strip this week via Egypt’s Rafah Crossing, state news agency WAM reported on Friday.

The UAE’s relief effort, dubbed Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, has so far sent 121 shipments to ease the plight of Palestinians affected by Israel’s war on Gaza.

Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians, of the 2.3 million population in Gaza, are facing a dire humanitarian crisis.

The UAE’s various initiatives include the opening of a field hospital in Rafah last year, a floating hospital in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, and a prosthetics project to support those who have lost limbs.

The latest convoys involved 20 trucks carrying over 288 tonnes of aid, including food, medical supplies, children’s nutritional supplements, clothing, shelter materials, and health kits for women.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has so far delivered a total of 17,312 tonnes of aid for Gaza residents.


Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency

Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency
Updated 08 November 2024
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Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency

Residents of Israeli settlement ‘Trump Heights’ welcome Donald’s return to US presidency
  • During his first term, Donald Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan Heights
  • Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements

RAMAT TRUMP, Golan Heights: Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights.
During his first term, Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel thanked him by rebranding this outpost after him.
But a large-scale influx of new residents never materialized after that 2019 ceremony, and just a couple dozen families live in Trump Heights, or “Ramat Trump” in Hebrew. Job opportunities are limited, and Israel’s more than yearlong war against Hezbollah militants in nearby Lebanon has added to the sense of isolation.
Trump’s election has inspired hope in the community that it will attract more members and also more funding for security improvements.
“Maybe it can raise more awareness and maybe some support to help here and help our kids here,” said Yarden Freimann, Trump Heights’ community manager.
Ori Kallner, head of the Golan’s regional council, showed off dozens of plots of land, replete with new asphalt roads, lampposts and utility lines, that residents have prepared for future housing developments.
“President Trump’s return to the White House definitely puts the town in the headlines,” he said.
Hanging on while war rages nearby
Kallner stood next to a metal statue of an eagle and a menorah, symbolizing the United States and Israel, as Israeli warplanes flew overhead. Two explosions from rockets fired from Lebanon punched the hills nearby, and just across the border in Lebanon, plumes of smoke rose into the air from Israeli airstrikes.
An enormous sign with the settlement’s name in Hebrew and English gleamed in the sun, while two large sunbaked metal flags of Israel and the United States were faded almost beyond recognition.
Surrounded by ashen ruins of villages fled by Syrians in the 1967 war, the town is perched above the Hula Valley, where Israel has amassed tanks, artillery and troops for its fight in Lebanon. Most towns in the valley have been evacuated. Trump Heights sends its kids to a makeshift daycare in a nearby settlement after the government shuttered all schools in the region in the wake of the Oct. 1 invasion of Lebanon.
“We find ourselves hanging by our fingernails to be in our own community, not be evacuated, and on the other hand, we cannot work, we cannot send our kids to any kind of an education system,” said Freimann.
Trump Heights is only about 12 kilometers from Lebanon and Syria. Alerts for incoming fire gives residents about 30 seconds’ head start to get to a bomb shelter.
Trump broke with other leaders on the Golan Heights
Israel annexed the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, in 1981 in a move that is not internationally recognized.
That changed in March 2019 when Trump, without notice, tweeted that the US would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory. His announcement drew widespread condemnation from the international community, which considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory and Israel’s settlements to be illegal. The Biden administration left the decision intact, but the US remains the lone country to recognize the Israeli annexation.
Kallner said he hopes Trump will now persuade European countries to recognize Israeli sovereignty there.
According to Israeli figures, the Golan is home to about 50,000 people — roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians under occupation.
Israel has encouraged and promoted settlements in the Golan, and the Druze residents operate farms and a tourism and restaurant sector popular with Israelis. But the area has struggled to develop because of its remoteness, several hours from Israel’s economic center in Tel Aviv.
That economic hardship has only worsened during the war as the hospitality sector cratered. On July 28, a rocket killed 12 Druze children on a soccer field in the city of Majdal Shams, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away. Israel invaded Lebanon months later.
In June 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led an inauguration ceremony for Trump Heights. The US ambassador at the time, David Friedman, noted that the ceremony came days after Trump’s birthday and said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”
As president, Trump was close with Netanyahu
The Golan recognition was among a series of diplomatic gifts that Trump delivered to Israel during his first term. They included recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the American embassy to the contested city, and a series of diplomatic agreements with Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords.
He has vowed to bring peace to the tumultuous region during his second term, but has not said how.
Netanyahu enjoyed a close relationship with Trump during his first term but ran afoul of the former president when he congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 victory. The Israeli prime minister announced Tuesday that he was one of the first foreign leaders to call the president-elect and congratulate him on his victory. An official in his office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications, said aides were upbeat and giddy.
“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” the Israeli leader said in a statement. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”
At Trump Heights, Kallner was optimistic too: “The Golan community is strong and resilient, and people that want to come and live here are from the same material. I believe we will overcome these challenging times and won’t stop growing.”