• It is the 119th day of the war: over 27 thousand people killed in Gaza. In Israel, 1,200 died in the October 7 attack.
• Condemnations from Iraq and Iran for US raids. Moscow requests Council meeting. Borrell: Prevent the situation from becoming explosive
• «120 days in the hands of Hamas», Israel returns to the streets
07.47 am – USA warns the Houthis: «Cease hostile actions»
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said attacks against the Houthis in Yemen will continue if the rebels do not cease their hostile actions. “It is a collective action,” he said in reference to the operation conducted late in the evening by the US and the UK against Houthi targets in Yemen, which “sends a clear message to the Houthis”: there will be “further consequences if they do not put an end to their illegal attacks against international maritime vessels and military vessels”.
The United States and the United Kingdom confirm that the raids launched last night hit 36 targets of the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in 13 different locations in Yemen. A joint statement explains that missiles were launched from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, from which over twenty fighters also took off, some armed with bombs weighing over 900 kg, and precision guided missiles. The “precision raids”, we read in the statement, “targeted sites associated with underground arsenals, at great depths, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems and radars”. With the aim of “disrupting and diminishing” the capabilities used by the Houthis to attack shipping in the Red Sea, threatening global trade and the crews operating on these vessels. The new raids are therefore defined as «a response to the series of illegal, dangerous and destabilizing actions carried out by the Houthis after the previous coalition raids on 11 and 22 January, including the attack on 27 January which hit and caused a fire in on board the tanker M/V Marlin Luanda”.
07.13 am – Houthis: we will respond to US-GB escalation with escalation
“American-British aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered and we will respond to escalation with escalation.” Thus Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, member of the political office of the Houthis in Yemen, responds in a post on «The bombing of some Yemeni provinces by the US-British coalition will not change our position and we affirm that our military operations against Israel will continue until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and the siege is lifted on its inhabitants, regardless of the sacrifices it will cost us,” says Al-Bukhaiti. And again: “Our war is moral and if we had not intervened to support the oppressed of Gaza, humanity would not have existed among men.”
06.10 am – USA, Houthi anti-ship missile destroyed in Yemen
A Houthi anti-ship missile has been destroyed in Yemen. The BBC reports it. The United States Central Command (Centcom), in a post on social media, says that its forces «conducted an attack in self-defense against a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile ready to be launched against ships in the Red Sea. U.S. forces identified the cruise missile in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that it posed an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.”
Ore 03:58 – Media Houthi: raid americani-britannici su Sanaa
Media affiliated with the Houthi rebels say that the Yemeni capital “Sanaa has been targeted by American-British raids”. Al Jazeera reports it. Previously the US Central Command announced that it had targeted 6 anti-ship missiles in areas under Houthi control in Yemen.
03.23 am – Moscow requests UN Security Council meeting on US raid
Russia has called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on US strikes in Iraq and Syria. This was announced by the Moscow mission at the Glass Palace, adding that the session has been set for Monday, according to Tass reports.
02.42 am – Thousands call for Netanyahu’s resignation and release of hostages
Thousands of Israelis marched in squares across the country demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the release of the hostages still held captive in Gaza almost four months after the Hamas attack. The most important demonstrations were held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva. In the capital, in what has been nicknamed “hostage square”, the relatives of the 136 Israelis captured on October 7 chanted the slogan “120 days underground”, in reference to the Hamas tunnels in the Palestinian enclave where they are believed to be locked up, asking the prime minister for greater commitment to their release and holding him responsible for the mismanagement that allowed the Hamas attack and for the failure to release them. “For my generation to believe in this country, my cousin and everyone else must return now!” said a 15-year-old girl, cousin of hostage Itay Chen, who turned 20 in captivity this week, according to the newspaper Israeli Haaretz. In reality, according to Israeli intelligence data, of the 136 alleged prisoners, at least 27 are already dead.
02.19 am – «Biden is holding back those who call for a hard line. In Gaza we must insist on achieving two states”
(by Giuseppe Sarcina) The American reaction was “inevitable and necessary”. Charles Kupchan, former advisor to Barack Obama and professor of International Relations at Georgetown University in Washington, remains convinced that “the United States must not strike Tehran directly”. American bombings in Iraq and Syria can trigger an escalation in the entire Middle East.
01.58 am – Borrell: southern Gaza was safe for Israel but bombs fall
«Israel continues its military activities in the south, pushing people to the Egyptian border. There are one million people in southern Gaza who have been progressively moved towards the Egyptian border. Israel had said that they were safe areas but in reality we see that the bombings targeting the civilian population continue and are creating a very serious situation. Ministers will have to discuss it.” Josep Borrell said this on the sidelines of the informal foreign affairs council.
01.20 am – High Hamas official, it is premature to talk about an agreement with Israel
A senior Hamas official in Lebanon said his movement was open to any discussions that could put an end to Israeli “aggression” in Gaza, but stressed that it was premature to talk about an agreement on a truce. A truce project between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, drawn up by Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators, provides in particular for the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel. “Hamas has reiterated its willingness to discuss any initiative (…) that puts an end to the barbaric aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza,” said Osama Hamdane during a press conference in Beirut, confirming that his movement has received the truce proposal, but there are details that according to him are missing. This «proposal is a framework agreement that needs to be studied (…) We cannot yet speak of an agreement». After the examination, “we will announce our position which will be based (…) on our desire to end the aggression against our people as quickly as possible,” he added.
00.22 am – B1 supersonic bombers from the USA were used in the raids
(by Viviana Mazza, correspondent from New York) Last night, in the space of 30 minutes, the United States struck over “85 targets” in four locations in Syria and three in Iraq, linked to the Quds Forces of the Pasdaran and pro-militias -Iranian. It is the first of a series of raids in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers at a base in Jordan, which marked an escalation in the war in the Middle East. The news arrived shortly after President Biden welcomed the bodies of the fallen to his homeland and on the eve of a new trip by Secretary of State Blinken to the region. Biden said the response “will continue at times and places we decide.” No raids occurred in Iran. Command and intelligence centers, rocket depots, missiles and drones were hit, “chosen because they were directly involved in the continuous attacks against the Americans”, said General Douglas Sims, director of joint operations of the US General Staff. General Sims explained that B1 supersonic bombers departing directly from the United States were involved in the raid. He then added that the timing was dictated by the weather conditions, to ensure precision and avoid civilian casualties. «The message is: we no longer want to see a single attack against our troops. We are not seeking conflict with Iran or in the Middle East,” reiterated John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council. “We don’t know if there were militiamen killed,” Kirby added. Iran says 10 people have died, including three Iraqis.