U.S. bombs Yemen a fifth time, as Netanyahu rejects any postwar Palestinian state

The United States conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as U.S. President Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the Iran-backed militants has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario, underscoring the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel's assault on Gaza.

• Complete coverage of the Israel-Hamas war

Palestinian militants are still putting up stiff resistance across the Gaza Strip, and the war -- which shows no sign of ending -- has inflamed tensions across the Middle East.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 24,400 Palestinians have died, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people in Gaza are starving. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by militants.

Here's the latest:

ISRAELI TROOPS FATALLY SHOOT MAN IN WEST BANK CITY OF TULKAREM

RAMALLAH -- The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 27-year old man was shot dead Thursday by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, as violence flares across the Israeli occupied territory.

The Palestinian man was shot in the stomach by Israeli troops and died of his wounds shortly after, the ministry said. No further details about the shooting were immediately available.

According to the ministry, six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Tulkarem over the past 48 hours.

The Israeli army has been raiding various locations across Tulkarem refugee camp for almost two days. In a post on X, the army said Israeli forces were conducting anti-terror operations in the camp and armed fighters remained at large.

The West Bank has experienced a surge in violence since Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed 367 Palestinians in the West Bank during that time.

 

BIDEN SAYS U.S. AIRSTRIKES HAVE NOT DETERRED HOUTHIS, AS MILITARY BOMBS YEMEN A FIFTH TIME

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden said Thursday that U.S. military strikes against against Iranian-back Houthi rebels in Yemen will continue, but acknowledged that the American and British bombardment has yet to stop attacks by the militants on vessels in the Red Sea.

"When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Biden said in exchange with reporters before departing the White House for a domestic policy speech in North Carolina.

U.S. forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against the Houthis, with Navy warplanes targeting anti-ship missiles that "were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch," U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping seek to halt Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 24,400 Palestinians.

Meanwhile Thursday, the British military warned of a new attack on shipping some 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. Its United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization, which provides warnings regarding shipping across the Mideast, said four drones flew close to a vessel, with one splashing down in the water.

The U.S. military on Wednesday fired a wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-controlled sites, the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group. The U.S. strikes followed an official announcement Wednesday that the U.S. has put the Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing.

NETANYAHU SAYS HE HAS TOLD U.S. HE OPPOSES PALESTINIAN STATE IN ANY POSTWAR SCENARIO

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has informed the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario.

The announcement on Thursday exposed the deep divisions that have emerged between the close allies three months into Israel's war against Gaza's Hamas rulers.

In a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realizes a "decisive victory over Hamas." He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans.

Israel "must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River," Netanyahu said, adding: "That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?"

"The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends," he added.

Netanyahu spoke just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have "genuine security" without a pathway toward Palestinian independence.

The U.S. has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the "day after."

ISRAEL DESTROYS UNIVERSITY IN GAZA USING EXPLOSIVES

CAIRO -- Al-Israa University said Thursday that Israeli forces blew up its main campus outside Gaza City.

Video footage circulating online, apparently taken by a drone, showed the complex of buildings, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of Gaza City, being blown up in what appeared to be a controlled explosion, engulfing it in smoke. The extent of destruction could not be seen.

The university, a private institution founded in 2014, said in a statement that its main building for graduate studies and bachelor's colleges were destroyed. It said Israeli forces had seized the complex 70 days ago and used it as a base. It was unclear when the explosion took place.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment.

According to Hamas, Israeli forces have destroyed more than 390 schools, universities, and educational institutions across Gaza since launching their campaign following the militants' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

Israeli bombardment has further flattened much of northern Gaza, and Israeli troops have filmed themselves blowing up large areas in controlled detonations several times since ground troops moved in more than two months ago.

YEMEN'S HOUTHI LEADER VOWS MORE ATTACKS ON SHIPS AT SEA DESPITE US, UK RETALIATION

SANAA, Yemen -- The Houthi rebels' supreme leader vowed on Thursday that attacks by his forces on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden would continue despite recent retaliation strikes from American and British forces.

The Iran-backed group, which seized much of northern Yemen in 2014, says its attacks are aimed at backing Hamas and Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's war on Hamas. But the Houthis have also frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel.

"We will continue targeting ships linked to Israel," Abdel Malek al-Houthi said in an hour-long televised speech, and later added the Houthi operations would "also include American and British ships."

He also said his forces will continue to develop their military capabilities and that recent airstrikes by the United States and United Kingdom on Houthi targets do "not scare us."

Thursday's speech is al-Houthi's first public address since the U.S. and U.K. strikes last week.

ISRAEL'S AIR DEFENSE INTERCEPTS `SUSPICIOUS AERIAL TARGET' OVER THE RED SEA

TEL AVIV, Israel -- The Israeli army says it intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" over the Red Sea near the southern city of Eilat on Thursday. There were no reports of casualties or damage, but the launch of the interceptor set off air raid sirens in the coastal city.

The military did not say whether the object was a drone or missile, or who may have fired it. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired drones and missiles at Israel in the past, but most have fallen short or were intercepted and shot down.

In November, a drone exploded in the yard of a house in Eilat, causing no injuries.

The Houthis have attacked container ships in the Red Sea in what they portray as a blockade of Israel linked to its war against Hamas in Gaza. The attacks, which have disrupted global trade, have continued despite U.S.-led airstrikes against the rebels in recent days.

PAKISTAN LAUNCHES RETALIATORY STRIKES IN IRAN AS MIDEAST TENSIONS RISE

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's air force launched retaliatory airstrikes early on Thursday in Iran, allegedly targeting militant hideouts in an attack that killed at least nine people and further raised tensions between the neighboring nations.

The tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Pakistan this week appeared to target two Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border. However, the two countries have accused each other of providing safe haven to the groups in their respective territories.

The attacks come as the Middle East remains unsettled by Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Iran also staged airstrikes late Monday in Iraq and Syria over an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing that killed over 90 people in early January.

The strikes imperil diplomatic relations between the two neighbors, as Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks. Each nation also faces its own internal political pressures -- and the strikes may in part be in response to that.

FAMILY IN TEL AVIV WILL MARK THE 1ST BIRTHDAY OF THE YOUNGEST ISRAELI HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Family members and supporters will mark the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli held by Hamas militants in Gaza, in a somber ceremony in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

The red-haired infant, who has been in captivity for a quarter of his life, has become a symbol for the helplessness and anger in Israel over the dozens of hostages still held in Gaza after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

On Tuesday, his family gathered at the Bibas' home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near Gaza, blowing up orange balloons to hang on the walls to cover bullet holes and spatters of blood, and filling his nursery school classroom with birthday decorations.

"It's celebrating for someone who isn't here," Yossi Schneider, a cousin of Kfir's mother, Shiri, told Israel's Channel 12 TV. "He's supposed to be out here on the grass of the kibbutz, with balloons on the trees, with family and high-fives and presents and love and hugs, and none of those things will be there."

In video from the Hamas attack, Kfir and his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, are being held by their terrified mother as gunmen shout in Arabic. The boys' father, Yarden, was also taken captive and appears in photos to have been wounded. Under a weeklong temporary cease-fire, Hamas released women, children and teens, but Shiri Bibas and her sons were not included in the list.