Live Updates: Netanyahu rejects Gaza captives release deal — local media

Thursday, January 18, 2024

05:17 GMT - Netanyahu rejects proposed Gaza captives release deal

The Israeli government prepared a proposal to initiate new negotiations with the Palestinian group Hamas for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the offer, according to local media.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that unnamed Israeli ministers outlined the general framework of a deal in recent days aimed at securing the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Negotiations were expected to proceed through an unnamed mediator, but Netanyahu reportedly rejected the move.

04:51 GMT - US fires wave of missiles on Yemen as Gaza's toll rises

The US military has fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-run sites, US officials said, marking the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israel's war on Gaza continues to spill over in the Middle East.

The strikes come after a one-way attack drone was launched from a Houthi-run area in Yemen and struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

On Wednesday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera TV the group would keep up its attacks on Red Sea shipping following a US decision to put the group back on a list of "terrorist" entities.

03:54 GMT - Houthis vow to continue targeting Israel-linked ships

US and UK forces launched a fourth round of strikes in four areas of Yemen, the Houthi group has said, pledging to continue its strikes on Israel-linked shipping.

"The American-British aggression targeted the governorates of: Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, Dhamar, Al-Bayda and Saada," the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV said, referring to the port of Hudaida, the city of Taez and elsewhere.

"We will continue to target Israeli ships heading to the ports of occupied Palestine, no matter how the American-British aggression tries to prevent us from doing so."

03:12 GMT - Gaza collects more bodies as Israel pummels besieged enclave

Israeli bombardment on the southern, central and northern Gaza has killed several Palestinian civilians and wounded many others, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

"The occupation warplanes carried out sporadic strikes on Khan Younis, in the southern Strip, especially in the vicinities of Qizan an Najja and Batn al Sameen areas, as well as shelled a new residential square in the centre of the city," it said.

"In Rafah City, in the south, the Israeli jets targeted a group of civilians, resulting in the killing of two civilians and the wounding of others," WAFA reported.

02:30 GMT - UK urges Iran to stop arming Houthis

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and urged Tehran to stop backing the Houthi group in Yemen.

"Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea," Cameron, attending the World Economic Forum, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others' sovereignty. I made this clear to FM @Amirabdolahian."

02:00 GMT - US confirms Houthis hit its ship in Gulf of Aden

The US military has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi group targeted a US-owned carrier ship in the Gulf of Aden with a drone.

"At approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time) Jan. 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS (unmanned aircraft system) was launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden," the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

The Marshall Islands-flagged M/V Genco Picardy is a US-owned and operated bulk carrier ship.

For our live updates from Wednesday, January 17, click here.