Live Middle East: Houthi fighters claim attacks on three cargo ships

09:08

Houthi fighters claim attacks on three cargo ships

Houthi fighters in Yemen have claimed rocket attacks in recent days on three cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. According to the US, the ships were not hit. The attacks took place on Tuesday.

The Houthis say two Panamanian-flagged container ships, the MSC Diego and the MSC Gina, were targeted with missiles. The third attack, on a ship in the Indian Ocean, has not yet been confirmed by the US, which is working with allies to repel the Houthi shelling.

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have been shelling maritime cargo traffic in the region since the Israeli invasion of Gaza. They are also trying to hit the Israeli port city of Eilat with cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles in solidarity with the Palestinians. However, attacks have decreased in recent weeks. The US and UK have bombed military bases and missiles in Yemen in recent months to stop Houthi shelling.

Steven Ramdharie

08:34

UN Ambassador Israel criticizes Biden threat

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has criticized US President Joe Biden’s threat to halt certain arms deliveries if Israel invades the city of Rafah. Biden said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that the US would no longer supply bombs and artillery shells so far used by the Israeli army in attacks on Gaza cities.

“A difficult and very disappointing comment,” Erdan told Israeli broadcaster Kan. According to the ambassador, Biden’s statements, who for the first time threatens to stop certain offensive weapons, only encourage Israel’s enemies.

Erdan: ‘Of course any pressure on Israel is interpreted by our enemies as something that gives them hope. There are many Jewish Americans who voted for the president and for the Democratic Party, and they will now hesitate.”

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, who spoke to Biden by telephone on Monday, has not yet responded. Opposition leader Yair Lapid blamed Netanyahu and his cabinet for the US change of course. According to Lapid, Biden’s threat is a result of “the Israeli government’s failed approach.”

Steven Ramdharie

01:17

Biden: no more American weapons for Israel if Rafah attack continues

The United States will no longer supply Israel with weapons if it continues the siege of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. President Joe Biden said this in an interview on Wednesday evening (local time). CNN.

It is the first time since October 7 – the Hamas attack on Israel – that the American president has threatened ally Israel with a halt to arms deliveries. Last week it became known that the US had stopped a supply of ammunition to Israel.

“I have made it clear that if they invade Rafah – that has not happened yet – if they invade Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that have historically been used to tackle Rafah, to tackle the cities, the weapons that tackle that problem Biden said. Heavy Israeli bombardments have been taking place on Rafah for days.

Bombs supplied by the US have caused civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, Biden said. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of those bombs and other ways they’re attacking population centers,” Biden countered CNNreferring to the arms supply that was previously stopped.

11:59 PM, Yesterday

Welcome to this live blog

This was the most important news of Wednesday, May 8:

• The United States has postponed a delivery of ammunition to Israel due to the planned Israeli offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed this. The delivery delay has been known since Tuesday, but Austin on Wednesday became the first representative of the US government to explicitly link that delay to Rafah.

• Israel has reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Kerem Shalom is the most important border crossing after Rafah for the delivery of food, medicine and other goods to Gaza. The Rafah border crossing has been closed since the Israeli military took it over on Tuesday.

• The construction of the temporary pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip has been completed. The temporary port is intended for the delivery of humanitarian aid to people in the Gaza Strip, but due to bad weather conditions the pier cannot yet be installed and put into use. It is not yet clear when that will happen.

Read Wednesday’s full live blog here.