Live: UN chief Guterres says ‘no alternative’ to ‘indispensable’ UNRWA

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim attack on ship in Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Red Sea

The attack ended an 18-day lull in reported assaults attributed to the Houthis, who have been attacking ships traveling through the Red Sea corridor for nearly a year now over the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip. The violence has disrupted international shipping through the region, once valued at $1 trillion in goods annually. 

The ship’s captain reported two explosions near the ship, though “the vessel and all crew are reported as safe,” the UKMTO added. The private security firm Ambrey also described the attack as involving “two close proximity explosions.” It said the vessel wasn’t transmitting its position at the time, and it had a private armed security force on board, which many ships have chosen to do amid the Houthi attacks. 

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack late Monday night. He identified the ship as the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Motaro and claimed without offering evidence the rebels hit the vessel. He also claimed two other unreported attacks in the Arabian Sea, but offered no evidence they took place.

UNRWA is ‘indispensable’, has ‘no alternative’, says UN chief Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the implementation of a law banning the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from operating in Israel “could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable.”

“There is no alternative to UNRWA,” he said in a statement. “The implementation of these laws would be detrimental for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for peace and security in the region as a whole. As I said before, UNRWA is indispensable.”

Guterres said he would bring the matter to the attention of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly.

CIA boss floats 28-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, Axios reports

CIA Director Bill Burns floated a deal for a 28-day Gaza ceasefire, the freeing of around eight

hostages by Hamas and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, Axios reported on Monday, citing three Israeli officials.

Burns discussed the idea during a meeting on Sunday with Israeli and Qatari counterparts, Axios said.

Pentagon chief and Israel’s Gallant discuss regional de-escalation

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant discussed “opportunities for regional de-escalation” during a telephone call on Monday, the Pentagon said, amid the continuing conflict

in the Middle East.

• Israel and Iran accused each other of endangering Middle East peace, in a heated exchange at a UN meeting called after Israel attacked Iranian military targets.

• Israeli lawmakers passed two laws that could threaten the work of UNWRA by barring it from operating on Israeli soil, severing ties with it and deeming it a terror organisation.

• At least 2,710 people have been killed and 12,592 injured in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry reported.

• At least 43,020 Palestinians have been killed and 101,110 injured in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry