Another rocket exploded without causing any damage late Tuesday night off the side of a ship traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, authorities said.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported the attack happened about 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the coast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida. The rocket exploded several miles off the bow of the vessel, it said.
“The crew and vessel are reported to be safe and are proceeding to next port of call,” the UKMTO said.
Associated Press reports the private security firm Ambrey said the vessel targeted appeared to be a the Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier in the area at the time.
Yesterday Yemen’s Houthis announced that they would not reconsider their attacks on shipping in the area until Israel had lifted its siege of Gaza. The group have issued a ban on ships with connections to Israel, the US and the UK passing through the Red Sea.
A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
The letter, sent by correspondents and presenters from the main broadcasting outlets based in the UK, also appeals for better protection for journalists already reporting in the territory.
PA Media reports 55 journalists signed the letter from outlets including Sky News, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It said:
Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military.
We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.
We call on the government of Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah crossing.
The letter continued “It’s vital that local journalists’ safety is respected and that their efforts are bolstered by the journalism of members of the international media. The need for comprehensive on the ground reporting of the conflict is imperative.”
An unprecedented number of local journalists have been killed by Israeli military action since the conflict erupted on 7 October when Hamas launched its surprise attack inside Israel.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found at least 88 journalists and media workers have been killed. Four journalists are missing and 25 have been reported arrested.
Sherif Mansour of the CPJ has said:
CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties. Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.
Here are some more images of the stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack on 20 February.
A handout photo made available by Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV shows the Rubymar sinking. Photograph: Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV HANDOUT/EPA
A handout photo made available by Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV shows the Rubymar sinking. Photograph: Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV HANDOUT/EPA
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
UK-owned cargo ship, Rubymar, has begun to sink in the Red Sea after it was hit by a Houthi attack on 18 February.
The Rubymar is reportedly carrying 22,000 tonnes of fertiliser that. On Monday the owner of the vessel said it was looking at towing the vessel to Saudi Arabia once a leak can be fixed.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a round-up of the day’s other main events:
A Hamas official has told Reuters that US president Joe Biden’s words about a halt to fighting in Gaza are premature, and do not match the situation on the ground. Biden had seemed confident that a truce would be agreed by Monday, but as well as the words from Hamas, a senior Israeli official has also said that he does not understand where Biden’s optimism is coming from. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the country remains “upbeat and optimistic” about the prospects for a deal.
Unifil, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, has said it is witnessing “a disturbing shift” in the exchanges of fire between Israel and anti-Israeli forces across the UN-drawn blue line that separates northern Israel and southern Lebanon. On Tuesday morning Israel said it had struck several targets inside Lebanon in response to a barrage of 35 rockets fired at one of its military installations in northern Israel.
The formation of a new Palestinian technocratic government would be aided by both Qatar and Egypt and involves consultations with all Palestinian political factions – including Hamas, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has said.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in clashes in the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday. At least 400 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.
Yemen’s Houthis said they could only reconsider their missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea once Israel ends its “aggression” in the Gaza Strip. The US says it has targeted Iranian and Houthi commanders in a new round of sanctions, and the UK has also issued new sanctions against Iran and Yemen.
Israel is intentionally starving Palestinians and should be held accountable for war crimes – and genocide, according to the UN’s leading expert on the right to food. “There is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food,” Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told the Guardian.
The UN humanitarian office has accused Israeli forces in Gaza of stalling a medical evacuation convoy in Khan Younis and forcing paramedics to strip for searches before detaining them. In comments made in Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) appealed for the release of all detained health personnel.
