Yemen’s Houthis Suspected of Missile Attack Targeting a Ship in Bab al-Mandeb 

Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
TT

Yemen’s Houthis Suspected of Missile Attack Targeting a Ship in Bab al-Mandeb 

Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)
Armed Houthis sit in the back of a pick-up vehicle while on patrol in a street in Sanaa, Yemen, 07 February 2024. (EPA)

A ship came under attack by two missiles in the key Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Monday, the latest assault believed to have been carried out by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias.

No one was wounded in the attack and the ship was continuing on its journey, the British military’s United Kingdom Trade Operations center said in a statement.

It wasn’t clear how much damage was done to the ship.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, but it often takes them several hours to acknowledge their assaults.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That has disrupted shipments through the waterways and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects them.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
TT

US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.