Because of the attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the USA is classifying the Houthi militia as global terrorists – and is thus expanding its sanctions. There should be medicine for the Israeli hostages. The overview.
The government of US President Joe Biden is putting the Houthi militia in Yemen back on the list of global terrorists. The reason was the ongoing attacks by the Iranian-backed group in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the White House announced. The classification means that more far-reaching sanctions will be imposed against the Shiite militia, which has recently repeatedly fired rockets into the south of Israel.
Meanwhile, Qatar brokered an agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas to provide urgently needed medicine to the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. In addition, aid deliveries for the civilian population in need would be brought to the sealed-off coastal strip, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
Reports: USA wants to put Houthi militia on terror list
In view of the attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Israel, Washington upgrades the Houthis to the terrorist list. “These attacks are a clear example of terrorism, a violation of international law, a grave threat to human life and global trade – and they jeopardize the provision of humanitarian aid,” said a senior US government official in Washington. When classifying terrorism, the USA distinguishes between globally active terrorists (“Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, SDGT) and foreign terrorist organizations (“Foreign Terrorist Organizations”, FTO). The distinction plays a role in the sanctions associated with the classification.
Shortly before the end of former US President Donald Trump’s term in office in 2021, his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the Houthis to be classified in both categories. Pompeo’s successor, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reversed this shortly afterwards to make it easier to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen. Civil war has been raging in the very impoverished country since 2014. A large part of the population lives in areas controlled by the Houthis. According to the UN, millions of people suffer from hunger.
According to information from Washington, the renewed terror classification of the Houthi militia will only come into force in 30 days. In the meantime, the US government wants to create special humanitarian regulations together with UN aid organizations and other actors.
EU will not put Houthi on terror list for the time being
Unlike the USA, the European Union will not classify the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization for the time being. When asked, a spokesman for the EU Foreign Service pointed out that the group supported by Iran had already been subject to sanctions from the EU and the United Nations since 2022. An additional classification of the Houthis as a terrorist militia would have primarily symbolic value in the EU. In principle, the step is comparatively difficult to implement. The reason is that inclusion on the EU terror list would require, for example, a national court decision or a prohibition order from an administrative authority.
Medication for Israeli hostages
Two planes carrying aid from Qatar and France landed in the Egyptian coastal town of Al-Arish on Wednesday, a representative of the Egyptian Red Crescent confirmed. It’s about food and medicine. According to Israeli media, some of the medicine is intended for the hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had previously said the drugs purchased in France would first be flown to Egypt on board two Qatari military planes. From there they should be taken to the Gaza Strip.
As the Al-Jazeera broadcaster reported, citing the French Foreign Ministry, 45 hostages were to receive medication for the treatment of various chronic illnesses. Accordingly, the medicine should last for around three months. An Israeli government spokesman said that a third of the remaining 132 hostages in the Gaza Strip were chronically ill.
Hamas authorities: More than 160 dead within 24 hours
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed another 163 Palestinians in 24 hours, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The number of people killed since the start of the war has risen to 24,448, the authority said. Accordingly, 61,504 people were injured. At the beginning of the month, the authorities reported that around 7,000 more people were missing under mountains of rubble. The information could not initially be independently verified.
Hamas: Leaders will not leave Gaza voluntarily
According to the Islamist organization, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip do not want to voluntarily leave the sealed-off coastal strip in view of the increased deployment of Israel’s army. “Either victory or martyrdom,” a Hamas source told the German Press Agency in Beirut. Gaza is their country and the blood of the leaders is no more valuable than that of the people. One of the Israeli military’s most important war goals is to track down Hamas leaders in the coastal area.
War weapons for 20 million euros to Israel
Last year, the federal government approved the export of war weapons worth 20.1 million euros to Israel. These included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns or other fully or semi-automatic firearms.
This emerges from a response from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to a request from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which was submitted to the German Press Agency. In total, the traffic light government approved arms deliveries to Israel worth 326.5 million euros – ten times as much as the previous year.
Von der Leyen calls on Iran to de-escalate
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Iran to de-escalate after attacks on targets in Syria and Iraq. The region is highly at risk, said von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Attacking targets in Iraq without any reason is “escalatory behavior.”
“In this respect, everything must be done to ensure that Iran also assumes its responsibility. Iran is the one that controls many of the aggressive actions in the background,” said von der Leyen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at targets in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday night amid tensions in the Middle East.
Report: Tunnel network longer than expected
According to a US media report, the Islamist Hamas tunnel network in the Gaza Strip may be longer than Israel previously assumed. It is estimated to be around 560 to 720 kilometers long, reported the New York Times, citing senior Israeli defense officials.
According to the report, as recently as December, Israeli estimates assumed that the tunnel system under the Palestinian territory was around 400 kilometers long. The Gaza Strip itself is around 45 kilometers long and between six and 14 kilometers wide. It is hardly bigger than Munich. For comparison: the subway network in the Bavarian capital covers a distance of 95 kilometers.