Houthis claim latest US-UK Yemen strikes won’t go unanswered as Israel says 21 soldiers killed in Gaza - live
Attack comes 10 days after first US-UK retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen
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Houthi rebels have vowed that the latest round of US and UK strikes against them in Yemen will no go unanswered - as their allies Hamas killed nearly two dozen Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
The US launched their eighth attack on Houthi positions in western Yemen overnight, firing up to 30 munitions. UK defence secretary Grant Shapps said four Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons were involved in the strikes.
Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s supreme revolutionary committee wrote on X, after the joint strikes by the US and the UK: “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
It comes as 21 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the deadliest attack on Israel’s forces since the 7 October Hamas raid that triggered the war, the military has said.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the soldiers but vowed to press ahead with the offensive until "absolute victory" over Hamas was achieved.
The soldiers were killed after a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank stationed next to two buildings being prepared for demolition. The area was packed with explosives.
Downing Street: Initial strikes on Houthis were effective
Downing Street has insisted the UK’s initial strikes were effective against the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, “degrading their capabilities”.
Questioned about why more strikes were necessary, if the first acted as deterrents, Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said the first attack would never be “sufficient to completely stop these indiscriminate attacks”.
And the spokesman insisted that the “evidence so far” is that Monday night’s strikes were also effective.
No10 said they destroyed targets and degraded the capabilities of the Iran-backed Houthis.
Sunak lays out plan for Houthi conflict
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has laid out his four-part plan for dealing with continue Houthi strikes in the Red Sea.
Addressing the House of Commons, he said: “First, we are increasing our diplomatic engagement as we recognise the deep concerns and the complexities of the current situation.
“Second, We must end the illegal flow of arms to the Houthi militia. We must disrupt and deter the supply of weapons.
“Third, we are going to use the most effective means at our disposal to cut off the Houthis financial resources where they are used to fund these attacks. We plan to announce new sanction packages in the coming days.
“Fourth, we need to keep helping the people of Yemen who have suffered so terribly as a result of the country’s civil war. We will continue to deliver humanitarian aid and support a negotiated peace in that conflict, not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because we need to show the people of Yemen that we have no quarrel with them, as the Yemeni government understands.”
He added: “We will keep all other tools under close review as well.”
UKMTO receives reports of uncrewed aerial system activity in the vicinity of Yemen's Mokha
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Tuesday that it received a reports of uncrewed aerial system activity in the vicinity of 46 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Mokha.
Authorities are investigating, UKMTO added.
Gaza health ministry updates death toll
A total of 25,490 Palestinians have been killed and 63,354 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said.
At least 195 Palestinians were killed and 354 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Mediation efforts on Gaza ongoing, Qatar foreign ministry says
Mediation efforts on ending the war in the Gaza Strip are ongoing, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman has said.
Separately, he added that escalation in the Red Sea represented a “big danger”, speaking a day after US and British forces carried out fresh strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi fighters who have disrupted global shipping in protest over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
US and UK strikes won’t stop Houthi attacks in Red Sea, experts warn
US and UK strikes on Houthi fighters in Yemen will not deter the Iranian-backed group from attacking ships in the Red Sea, experts have warned, as tensions spike across the Middle East.
While the US has launched at least seven rounds of strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen – with the UK also involved in the first strikes last week – experts have told The Independent that the strikes amount merely to a short-term solution to a problem that requires a long-term answer.
US and UK strikes won’t stop Houthi attacks in Red Sea, experts warn
The US has struck Houthi targets in Yemen in at least seven rounds of attacks
ICYMI: UK and US launch fresh airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen
Officials say the joint operation by British and American warplanes took out Houthi missile storage sites and launchers, in the second set of coordinated strikes against the Iran-backed militants since they began attacking international shipping in the Red Sea.
In a joint statement, the governments of the US, UK, Bahrain, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands said the “precision strikes” were “intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners”.
US Central Command also said the strikes targeted “areas in Houthi-controlled Yemen used to attack international merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region,” including such specific targets as “missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities”.
The joint airstrikes follow a telephone conversation between prime minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden on Monday evening, with the two leaders undertaking to “continue efforts alongside international partners to deter and disrupt” attacks by Houthis.
UK and US launch fresh airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen
The strikes are the second joint operation carried out by US and British forces in recent weeks against the Iran-backed Houthis
Houthi leader promises ‘response’ to latest airstrikes
Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s supreme revolutionary committee wrote on X, after the joint strikes by the US and the UK: “Trust well that every operation and every aggression against our country will not be without a response”.
Mohammed Albukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ ruling council, insisted the group will continue its attacks and defy the West.
“The American-British aggression will only increase the Yemeni people’s determination to carry out their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the oppressed in Gaza. The war today is between Yemen, which is struggling to stop the crimes of genocide, and the American-British coalition to support and protect its perpetrators,” he said.
Which fighter jets and bombs are being used to strike Houthi rebel sites?
The UK’s Royal Air Force joined US forces in bombing military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen for a second time.
Four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a pair of Voyager tankers, joined US forces in a strike against Houthi sites. The aircraft used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to strike multiple targets at two military sites in the vicinity of Sanaa airfield.
Here the PA news agency looks at the powerful fighter jets, weapons and warships the UK military has sent to the region:
Which fighter jets and bombs are being used to strike Houthi rebel sites?
The UK’s Royal Air Force has joined US forces in bombing military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen for a second time.
Watch: RAF Typhoon jets take off from Cyprus
The MoD has released footage of RAF Typhoon and voyagers taking off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to conduct precision strike operations against Houthi military targets in response to further attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The strikes on Monday (22 January) were launched against the Iranian-backed group after they started targeting ships in the Red Sea, a key international trade route, and follow bombings on Houthi sites on 11 January.
RAF Typhoon jets take off from Cyprus to conduct second ‘targeted strikes’ in Yemen
RAF Typhoon and voyagers take off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to conduct precision strike operations against Houthi military targets in response to further attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The strikes on Monday (22 January) were launched against the Iranian-backed group after they started targeting ships in the Red Sea, a key international trade route, and follow bombings on Houthi sites on January 11. Four Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a pair of Voyager tankers, joined US forces in a strike against Houthi sites. The aircraft used Paveway IV precision-guided bombs to strike multiple targets at two military sites in the vicinity of Sanaa airfield.
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