Dhe Houthi rebels in Yemen have again attacked a US merchant ship. The Iran-backed militia said on Friday night that it had attacked the tanker “Chem Ranger” with missiles in the Gulf of Aden. While the rebels said the ship had been hit, the US military said the missiles had missed their target.
The US military command center responsible for the region, Central Command (Centcom), confirmed that the “Chem Ranger” had been attacked by two Houthis anti-ship missiles. However, the ship was not hit. “The crew observed the missiles hitting the water near the ship,” the regional command said in the short message service X, formerly Twitter. There were no injuries and no damage to the ship. “The ship continued its journey.”
According to the information, the tanker sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands, is owned by a US shipping company and is operated by a Greek company. According to the specialized website Marine Traffic, it was a chemical tanker that was en route from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, British security firm Ambrey said drones had approached an unnamed chemical tanker flying the Marshall Islands flag in the region. One of the drones hit the water around 30 meters from the ship. There were no injuries or damage and an Indian warship attended the incident. The British Maritime Security Authority (UKMTO) made similar statements.
The US and Britain bombed Houthi positions in Yemen a week ago in response to the attacks. The militia continues its attacks on ships. However, a senior rebel official assured Russian and Chinese ships of safe passage. According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), twelve percent of world trade passes through the Red Sea.
All developments in the live ticker:
11:50 p.m. – USA attacks Houthi targets in Yemen again
The USA says it has again attacked Houthi targets in Yemen. The US Central Command said on the social media platform “U.S. forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they posed an imminent threat to commercial and U.S. Navy vessels in the region. “US forces then struck and destroyed the missiles in self-defense,” it said.
12:07 p.m. – Gaza Strip with almost no telecommunications services for eighth day in a row
Telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip were largely down for the eighth consecutive day on Friday. This is the longest of the nine disruptions to telephone and internet services since the start of the Gaza war more than three months ago. Most residents of the Gaza Strip have had no contact with the outside world since January 12, wrote the organization NetBlocks, which is known for monitoring Internet blocks, on the platform X (formerly Twitter). Connections to the outside world are only possible with satellite cell phones and sometimes from tall buildings in the south of the Gaza Strip with Israeli SIM cards.
11:28 a.m. – Israel’s army: Senior jihadist killed in Gaza
The Israeli army says it has killed a senior member of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Wael Abu Fanuna was deputy chief of Islamic Jihad’s propaganda unit and was killed in an airstrike on a house on Thursday, the army said on Friday. She also published an aerial view of a huge explosion at the top of a multi-story building. Among other things, Abu Fanuna was also responsible for videos of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. The information could not initially be independently verified.
10:20 a.m. – Ex-military chief: Ceasefire necessary for hostages to be released
Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot sees a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist Hamas as a condition for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. “The hostages will only return alive if there is an agreement that involves a significant break in fighting,” Eisenkot told Channel 12’s “Uvda” program on Thursday. People who said that release could be achieved through other means were spreading illusions, he said.
10:05 a.m. – China calls for an end to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea
China has called for an end to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia on merchant ships in the Black Sea. “We call for an end to threats to civilian ships to maintain the smooth running of global production and supply chains and the international trade order,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday. The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing also called for security to be restored in the Red Sea.
8:48 a.m. – The current situation
Source: OpenStreetMap; Infographic WORLD
08:21 a.m. – Conflict with Iran: National Security Committee in Pakistan meets
After mutual attacks with Iran, Pakistan’s acting Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has convened the national security committee on Friday. The afternoon meeting will be attended by the army chief of staff and the intelligence chief, according to a senior security official in Islamabad.
7:06 a.m. – Netanyahu contradicts US on Gaza war
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Palestinian state after the end of the Gaza war, in open contradiction to the USA. Referring to a two-state solution at the urging of the US, Netanyahu said: “Israel’s prime minister must be able to say ‘no’ when necessary, even to our best friends.”
6:25 a.m. – Houthis promise safe passage to Chinese and Russian ships
Russian and Chinese ships transiting the Red Sea will be granted safe passage, a senior Houthi official said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia. He further said that the waters around Yemen are safe for anyone who has no ties to certain countries, particularly Israel.
3:30 a.m. – Israel has destroyed Hamas’s most important weapons factory
Israeli forces have said they have completed the destruction of Hamas’ main weapons production facility in the center of the Gaza Strip. Here Hamas would have manufactured rockets and weapons in the central Gaza Strip. An extensive tunnel network underneath, in which some of the systems were housed, was also secured. The Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel reported. In a post on X, the newspaper also shows photos of the gunsmiths.
This came at a time when the army said it had reached the southernmost point of its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and was intensifying its operations in the south of the Palestinian territory.
Israel continued its attacks in the south of the Gaza Strip on Friday. Eyewitnesses and the Palestinian Red Crescent spoke of airstrikes and artillery shelling in the early hours of the morning in the city of Khan Yunis. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported “intense artillery shelling” near al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis.
01:54 a.m. – Pentagon spokeswoman: Are not at war with Houthi militia
Despite repeated attacks on Iranian-backed Houthi militia positions in Yemen, the United States is not at war, according to a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense. “We don’t want war. We don’t believe we are at war.” The Houthis are the ones who continue to fire cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles at innocent sailors and merchant ships in the Red Sea. “What we do with our partners is self-defense.”
01:15 a.m. – China wants to closely monitor developments in the Red Sea
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce wants to closely monitor developments in the Red Sea. “We hope that all concerned parties will restore and ensure the safety of shipping lanes in the Red Sea,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that China would like to offer support and assistance to affected export companies.
01:00 a.m. – Former military chief of Israel – I prevented the attack on Hezbollah at the time
Israel’s former military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, said he prevented a preemptive strike by Israel against Hezbollah in Lebanon following the Hamas attack on October 7th. At the time, he convinced members of the war cabinet to hold back, even though the country was on the verge of attacking Hezbollah.
This saved Israel from making a serious strategic mistake, he tells Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. There are daily clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border. However, both Israel and Hezbollah have signaled that they want to avoid war.