First Civilian Casualties Reported in U.S.-UK Airstrikes on Yemen
At least one person was killed and eight others injured in the latest US-UK airstrikes on the capital Sana'a and other Yemen's provinces, the Sanaa-based Ministry of Health said. The ministry pointed out that the American-British raids on the Maqbana district in Taiz province led to the death of a citizen and the injury of six others. Moreover, the ministry said two citizens were injured in the raids on the al-Nahda neighborhood in the al-Thawra district in the capital, Sana'a. This is the first time civilian casualties have been reported due to US-UK airstrikes on sites in Yemen since January 12 to degrade the Houthi military capabilities.
Four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti have been struck out of commission in recent months, presumably as a result of attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis, according to media reports. The targeting of the four cables, which are believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN systems, marks a serious disruption of communications between Europe and Asia. Globes said most of the immediate harm would be absorbed by the Gulf states and India. The AAE-1 cable connects East Asia to Europe via Egypt, connecting China to the West through countries such as Pakistan and Qatar. Houthis previously denied that they had intentions to target any communications cables, affirming that they only seek to target Israeli ships or forces backing Israel or the Israeli war on Gaza.
The Yemeni government said today that it has assigned a specialized team to assess the situation of the "Rubymar" ship, which was targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, causing an oil spill stretching 18 nautical miles. According to Yemeni government officials, the ship's cargo of fertilizers and oils poses a catastrophic environmental risk. The Minister of Water and Environment in the Yemeni government, Tawfiq Al-Sharjabi, said that a specialized team from the General Corporation for Maritime Affairs and Environmental Affairs has been assigned, in cooperation with the Coast Guard, to assess the situation of the ship and study the possibility of dealing with the catastrophe in the event of its sinking. Houthis say they would allow efforts to rescue the vessels if aid is delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.
On Monday, the UN chief warned that an invasion of Rafah in far-southern Gaza would "put the final nail in the coffin" of aid operations after Israel said its army had prepared a plan to move civilians out of the city. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Rafah — where 1.4 million Palestinians live in crowded shelters near the Egyptian border — is also "the core of the humanitarian aid operation" in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel's military campaign has killed at least 29,782 people in Gaza, primarily women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
