EXPLAINER
A brand new safety drive within the Pink Sea is introduced amid new spherical of ceasefire voting on the UNSC – listed here are main updates.
Right here’s how issues stand on Tuesday, December 19, 2023:
The most recent developments
- On Monday, United States Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin introduced a “multinational security initiative” to guard commerce within the Pink Sea after a collection of assaults by Yemen’s Houthi rebels compelled a number of delivery firms to droop operations. The US, United Kingdom and Bahrain are a few of the nations within the 10-nation drive.
- Hamas posted a video to its Telegram channel on Monday of three captives pleading to Israel for his or her rapid launch.
- Iran claimed on Monday that the Israel-linked group Predatory Sparrow was behind a cyberattack that disrupted providers at greater than 70 p.c of Iran’s petrol stations.
- Israel’s chief rabbi David Lau has introduced a particular courtroom to assist ladies streamline divorce proceedings in the event that they misplaced their husbands within the Gaza battle, the Jerusalem Publish reported on Tuesday.
Human impression and preventing
- No less than 29 folks have been killed after Israeli forces focused residential buildings in Rafah in southern Gaza, beforehand declared a protected zone.
- Following Israeli assaults on Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, World Well being Group Director-Normal Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on Monday that the hospital’s “ability to function has deteriorated drastically since WHO’s last visit on 7 December”.
- US Central Command reported two assaults on Pink Sea vessels from Houthi-controlled areas on Monday. Swan Atlantic, a Cayman Islands-flagged tanker and M/V Clara, a cargo ship, have been focused.
- In the meantime, Israeli forces carried out an intense in a single day raid in Nablus, firing stun grenades and tear fuel, arresting two males from the city, and blowing up a multi-storey construction, in response to the Palestinian Wafa information company and movies verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit, Sanad.
Diplomacy
- The United Nations Safety Council member nations are anticipated to vote on Tuesday on a ceasefire draft decision launched by the United Arab Emirates.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the persevering with Houthi assaults on industrial delivery in a name with Saudi International Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Monday, in response to a White Home readout. Saudi Arabia has fought the Houthis since 2015 on behalf of the Yemeni authorities.
- The Israel-Gaza battle might be on the agenda as UK International Secretary David Cameron heads to France and Italy for conferences on Tuesday. A press release from his workplace stated Cameron would reiterate his name for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza, which has been ravaged by greater than two months of Israeli bombardment. Practically 19,000 folks have been killed within the bombardment.
- Italian International Minister Antonio Tajani criticised Israeli forces on Monday for allegedly capturing and killing folks in a Christian compound within the Gaza Strip, reported Reuters.
