U.S., UK strike Houthi targets in Yemen again, Israel continues pounding Gaza

The U.S. and the UK struck dozens of targets in Yemen on Saturday in response to repeated attacks on shipping by the Iran-backed Houthi group that have disrupted global trade and put lives at risk.

It is the third time that British and American forces have jointly targeted the Houthis and the U.S. has also carried out a series of air raids against them on its own, but the Houthi group's attacks have persisted.

The latest strikes hit "36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea," the U.S., the UK and other countries that provided support for the operation said in a statement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes "are intended to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to conduct their reckless and destabilizing attacks."

The Houthis have launched more than 40 attacks against Israel and Israeli-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023.

The Houthis said their attacks came in support of the Palestinian people, and demanded Israel end its military operation in and siege on Gaza.

The Houthi group, which controls the Yemeni strategic province of Hodeidah on the Red Sea, has vowed to launch more attacks against Israel, U.S. and UK commercial vessels and navy ships in the Red Sea. 

Houthi leaders have said the U.S.-UK air strikes on the group's sites in northern Yemen will not deter them from launching more attacks on the shipping lines.

Israel pounds Gaza, truce talks continue

Israel pressed ahead with its blistering Gaza assault on Saturday as fears grew over a push into a southern area teeming with displaced Palestinians and Hamas said a truce deal was not yet within reach.

As fighting raged, mediation efforts to halt the nearly four-month conflict have gathered pace, though a Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said a proposed framework was missing some details.

Hamas needed more time to "announce our position," Hamdan said, "based on our desire to put an end as quickly as possible to the aggression that our people suffer."

Air strikes and tank fire rocked Khan Younis, southern Gaza's main city that has been the focus of Israel's offensive.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza's 2.4 million people displaced by the fierce fighting have fled to Rafah during the conflict, with their tents crammed along streets and in parks.

The city that had been home to 200,000 people now hosts more than half of Gaza's population, the United Nations said.

Civilians who fled to Rafah have been pushed up against the border with Egypt, trying to avoid parts of the city exposed to bombardment and fighting in nearby Khan Younis.

"We are exhausted," said displaced Gazan Mahmud Abu al-Shaar, urging "a ceasefire so that we can return to our homes."

Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed at least 27,238 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's Health Ministry.

(With input from agencies)