Israel’s war cabinet disbanded by Netanyahu
CNN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded the country’s war cabinet, an Israeli official says, just over a week after opposition leader Benny Gantz withdrew from the body. Follow for live updates.
The Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 190 attacks on commercial shipping and US Navy assets in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday. The Houthis, a militant group in Yemen, have launched attacks as recently as last week. On Wednesday the M/V Tutor, a bulk cargo carrier, was hit by a Houthi uncrewed surface vessel, resulting in the crew abandoning the ship and one civilian mariner going missing. On Thursday, another bulk cargo carrier the M/V Verbena was also struck in two missile attacks, seriously injuring at least one civilian mariner. The crew later abandoned the ship. Despite the ongoing attacks, however, Singh defended US efforts in the region as successful against the Houthis. More about the Houthis: The Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks directed at ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack. The Houthi attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes, which could potentially cause a shock to the global economy.
Several United Nations agencies are again sounding the alarm on the rapid deterioration of humanitarian conditions in much of Gaza and the civilian toll of more than a year of Israeli military operations.
France condemned the brief detention of two consulate members after it said Israeli police forced their way into a French-owned holy site in Jerusalem, in what is the latest diplomatic spat in a series of events that have sent relations between the two plummeting.
An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza killed at least 27 people, relief officials said, as the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders in the area – where it is mounting a major offensive.
If his first term in the White House is any indication, President-elect Donald Trump is likely to keep the Middle East high on his agenda.
Rights groups say journalist Reza Valizadeh has been detained, amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
A female student stripped to her underwear outside her university in Iran in what some student and rights groups say was a protest against the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Israel is at a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran, an Israeli military source told CNN, as US officials visited the Middle East for a renewed push to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Follow live updates.