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US Navy seizes attackers who held Israel-linked tanker
A US Navy warship has captured armed men who seized an Israeli-linked tanker off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, US defence officials say.
The assailants attempted to escape on a boat but were chased by the US warship.
US Central Command reported that two missiles were then fired towards the warship from rebel Houthi-controlled territory in the country. The Houthis have promised to target Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched its retaliatory campaign after the 7 October attack in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage. Since then, more than 14,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, roughly 40% of them children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Houthis declare themselves part of an “axis of resistance” of Iran-affiliated groups. The tanker attacked on Sunday was identified as the Central Park by the vessel’s company. Central Park is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered international ship management company owned by Israel’s Ofer family.
Zodiac Maritime said that among the 22 crew were Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals, as well as a Turkish captain.
The rebels are reported to have threatened to attack the tanker, which was carrying phosphoric acid, if it did not divert to a Yemeni port.
In a statement, the US military said the USS Mason, with help from allied ships, demanded that the commercial ship be released by the attackers. Five armed individuals then tried to escape on a fast boat but were chased by the USS Mason and they eventually surrendered, the statement added.
The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen’s official government – backed by Saudi Arabia – since 2014.
(BBC)
| Date | Match |
|---|---|
| May 3 | 1st ODI |
| May 6 | 2nd ODI |
| May 9 | 3rd ODI |
| May 12 | 1st T20I |
| May 14 | 2nd T20I |
| May 15 | 3rd T20I |
[Cricbuzz]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his government to begin direct talks with Lebanon, he said in a statement on Thursday.
Netanyahu said the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese political and militant group, and establishing peaceful relations.
A US State Department official confirmed it would host a meeting next week “to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon”.
Lebanese officials called for a ceasefire before the talks begin, but Netanyahu in a subsequent address to residents of northern Israel said: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.”
The Israeli military continued to strike Lebanon on Thursday – targeting what it described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south. It also issued a new evacuation warning for residents in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that this included the Jnah area, which includes two major hospitals.
“At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,” he said.
Among those being treated at the hospitals, Tedros added, were some of the 1,150 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were wounded in Wednesday’s massive wave of Israeli strikes. At least 303 people were killed.
Tedros also said that the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health, which “hosts five shelters accommodating more than 5,000 people”, is in the evacuation area.
That ceasefire began with confusion over whether Lebanon, Israel’s second front, was to be included. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan said it was, US and Israeli officials said clearly that it was not.
Amid the confusion, the wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon – the heaviest since the conflict began six weeks ago – prompted Iran to declare that Israel was break8ng the terms of the ceasefire, once again halt passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and to threaten retaliatory strikes.
Israel’s military continues to occupy a large part of the south of Lebanon, where it has destroyed villages in recent days. Without a commitment to a temporary ceasefire at least, it is not clear how productive talks could proceed between the two sides.
(BBC)
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