A vessel sailing off southern Yemen reported an explosion nearby on Sunday, a British maritime security agency said, the latest incident as Houthis continue to attack shipping on the vital Red Sea route. United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations said a commercial ship "has reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel", causing no casualties or damage. The blast hit as the ship was sailing "85 nautical miles east of Aden" in Yemen, and the vessel was "proceeding to its next port of call", said UKMTO, which is run by the Royal Navy.
Former Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel called for increasing pressure on the Houthis in Yemen and their backers in Iran to stop their attacks against ships in the Red Sea. He said the Houthi attacks have become a major problem, advising U.S. President Joe Biden to increase American military presence in the region in the hopes of raising the pressure on the Houthis. Votel, who served as CENTCOM commander from 2016 and 2019, noted that the U.S. managed to deter Iran from continuing attacks by its militias against American forces in Iraq and Syria. So, Washington could certainly do the same to deter Iran in Yemen.
The U.S. and British naval forces conducted four airstrikes on the Yemeni port city of Al-Hudaydah after midnight on Sunday, Houthi-controlled media reported. The strikes targeted the southern district of Durayhimi in the city, and no immediate details on casualties or damage were reported. Since November last year, the Houthis have initiated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, citing retaliation for Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip as their motive. In response, the United States and Britain have conducted air and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since mid-January.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed international pressure on Sunday and said he would keep on with the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where aid agencies say famine is looming, while ceasefire talks were set to resume. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel would push into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war. "We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen," he said, without clarifying if he meant the assault would last for weeks or would begin in weeks. Israel's air and ground campaign in the enclave has killed more than 31,600 people say health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza,
