Middle East crisis live: US and UK airstrikes in Yemen were ‘act of self defence’, says UK minister | Middle East and north Africa

US-UK airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen had full political support of the Netherlands

Jon Henley

The US and British armed forces’ strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen had the full political support of the Netherlands, with prime minister Mark Rutte saying on X that Houthi attacks were “a clear violation of international law and pose a threat to maritime personnel and trade flows”.

The US-British action was “based on the right of self-defence, aims to protect free passage and is focused on de-escalation”, Rutte said, adding that the Netherlands, “with its long history as a sea-faring country, places significant importance on the right of free passage and supports this targeted operation”.

A joint statement on the action by the governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the UK and the US gave no details of the practical supporting role played by the Dutch, but ministers clarified that it was non-operational.

In a letter to the lower house of parliament, foreign minister Hanke Bruins Slot and defence minister Kajsa Ollongren said that at Washington’s request, the Netherlands had provided “non operational military support” consisting of the provision of “one staff officer”, public broadcaster NOS reported.

The ministers added that “the impact of the operation on the Dutch presence and Dutch interests in the region was taken into account” during the decision-making.

Airstrikes by the US and the UK overnight against Houthi military targets in Yemen would not go without “punishment or retaliation”, said the group’s military spokesperson.

They also claimed that 73 strikes had killed five fighters and wounded six others, and said the Houthis would continue to block the passage of ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, reports Reuters.

France have condemned Houthi strikes on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, calling for those to stop immediately in the wake of US-UK attacks against Houthi military targets in Yemen.

“With those armed actions, the Houthis bear the extremely serious responsibility of the escalation in the region,” the French foreign affairs ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Israel plans to defend its war in Gaza on Friday in front of the UNs’ highest court, reports AP.

South Africa has filed a lawsuit with the UN’s top court asking judges to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the Gaza offensive, alleging that Israel’s actions in the war there amount to genocide. Israel rejects the accusations of genocide as baseless and said South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for Hamas. Israel says its military is targeting Hamas militants, not Palestinian civilians.

Although the court’s findings are considered binding, it was unclear whether Israel would heed any order to halt the fighting. If it does not, it could face UN sanctions, although those may be blocked by a US veto.

More from AP on the proceedings:

“The scale of destruction in Gaza, the targeting of family homes and civilians, the war being a war on children – all make clear that genocidal intent is both understood and has been put into practice. The articulated intent is the destruction of Palestinian life,” the lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said in opening statements on Thursday.

The case’s “distinctive feature” was “the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of the state in Israel,” he said.

Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting Hamas, the militant group whose fighters stormed through Israeli communities on 7 October and killed approximately 1,200 people, mainly civilians. The assailants also abducted about 250 people, nearly half of whom have been released.

“This is an upside down world – the state of Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting genocide,” Netanyahu said Thursday in a video statement. “The hypocrisy of South Africa screams to the heavens.”

The case strikes at the heart of Israel’s national identity and goes to the core of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

More than 23,000 people in Gaza have died during the military campaign, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

“Nothing will stop the suffering except an order from this court,” South African lawyer Adila Hassim told the judges in a packed room of the Peace Palace in The Hague.

A decision on South Africa’s request for “provisional measures” will probably take weeks and the full case is likely to last years.

Hamas said on Friday it strongly condemns the US–UK overnight attacks against Houthi military targets in Yemen, reports Reuters, citing a statement released by the group.

The US and the UK will bear the responsibility for their attack’s impacts on the security of the region, the group warned.

Overnight strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen by the UK and the US were an act of self-defence, Britain’s armed forces minister James Heappey told Times Radio on Friday.

The UK junior defence minister said the Royal Navy continues to want to protect shipping and that more action would be considered on an indiviual basis, reports Reuters. He would not confirm whether more strikes were planned but said that the warning to the Houthis remained in place, stating: “We’ll see over the course of the next few days whether the attacks stop.”

“Our action and the action of the Americans last night was in self-defence in order to defend against further attacks on our warships as they go about their legal and reasonable business,” Heappey said. “Of course we have an eye on the need to make sure it doesn’t cause a regional escalation,” he added.

Heappey described the strikes as a proportionate response to the crisis in the Red Sea. There was a need to see whether commercial shipping feels reassured, he said, adding that there would be an opportunity when parliament returns for the issue to be debated.

He also said that it was the case that Iranian aligned grouping across the Middle East have been very active in the last two months.

Asked about criticism from some political opponents that parliament was not given the chance to discuss the military intervention in advance, Heappey said:

The prime minister needs to make decisions such as these based on the military, strategic and operational requirements – that led to the timing. Obviously parliament is not scheduled to speak today, but there will be an opportunity when parliament returns for these things to be fully discussed and debated.

It’s 10am in Sana’a and 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here are the latest key developments:

• The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against targets linked to Houthis in Yemen. It’s the first time strikes have been launched against the Iran-backed group since it started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.

• Yemen’s Houthis spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam has posted on X that the group will continue targeting ships heading towards Israel and that there was no justification for the US-Britain attack on Yemen, according to the Reuters news agency.

• The Houthi deputy foreign minister, Hussein Al-Ezzi, has warned of a “heavy price” to be paid by the US and the UK, according to official Houthi media: “Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes … America and Britain will have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression”, he said.

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, has issued a statement saying that the country strongly condemns the US-Britain attack on Yemen’s Houthis, Nournews reports. He says “We consider it a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.”

• Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also reacted on Friday to the airstrikes and condemned them.

• Russia says it has requested an urgent meeting of the UN security council to discuss the military strikes in Yemen by the United States and Britain.

• The US air force says it struck “over 60 targets at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations, including command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defence radar systems”. It also says more than 100 precision-guided munitions of various types were used in the strikes.

• The US president has released a statement on the strikes – where he highlights the countries involved in the military action – including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Joe Biden said: These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.

• Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has also released a statement on the military action, describing it as “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence” and saying that the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain offered “non-operational support”.

• The UK’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement that “particular care was taken to minimise any risks to civilians” and that “early indications are that the Houthis’ ability to threaten merchant shipping has taken a blow”

• Ten countries were involved in the strikes, according to a joint statement released by the White House from the government’s of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States saying they will “not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways”.

• Saudi Arabia says it is monitoring situation with “great concern”. The kingdom’s foreign ministry has told Reuters news agency it is calling for restraint and “avoiding escalation” in light of the airstrikes launched by the United States and Britain.

• Israel is set to respond and present its defence at the international court of justice. South Africa has filed a lawsuit with the UN’s top court asking judges to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the Gaza offensive, alleging that Israel’s actions in the war there amount to genocide. Israel rejects the accusations of genocide as baseless and said South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for Hamas. Israel says its military is targeting Hamas militants, not Palestinian civilians.

Julian Borger

When Joe Biden gave the order for airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, he was taking a step that now imperils one of the primary aims of his own Middle East policy – to prevent a regional war.

US and allied officials argue he had little choice. Diplomacy, back-door channels, signalling and threats had failed to halt relentless Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which the Iranian-backed group has claimed are being carried out in solidarity with Gaza.

Container ships have been forced to reroute all the way around Africa, raising global transport costs and threatening to reverse the gains the Biden administration has made against inflation, just as his re-election campaign gets going.

Since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and the ferocious Israeli response against Gaza, the Biden administration has worked hard to contain the conflict, persuading the Israelis for example, not to carry out an all-out pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah in Lebanon. That has worked for now, but preventing escalation in the Red Sea is proving even harder.

Read the rest of our world affairs editor Julian Borger’s analysis on this developing story here:

Russia says it has requested an urgent meeting of the UN security council to discuss the military strikes in Yemen by the United States and Britain.

Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations told Reuters:

Russia has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on January 12 in connection with the U.S. and UK strikes on Yemen

The United States and Britain launched strikes from the air and sea against Houthi military targets in Yemen in what’s been described as a dramatic regional widening of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.