Drone strike attack on cargo ship: Israeli-linked vessel damaged

The Liberia-flagged chemical products tanker was attacked on Saturday and was linked to Israel, according to maritime security firm Ambrey.

The attack caused structural damage to the tanker, sparking a fire on-board that was later extinguished.

Roughly 20 crew members were on board at the time, all of which have escaped the incident unharmed.

An aircraft and warships were sent by the Indian navy to offer assistance.

The incident took place 200 nautical miles (370km) southwest of Veraval, India according United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

Indian media outlets have identified the tanker as the crude oil-carrying MV Chem Pluto, on track to India from Saudi Arabia.

It is not clear who is behind the attack, as there has been no claim of responsibility.

Ambrey said the event, which is the first of its kind so far away from the Red Sea, fell within an area the firm considered a “heightened threat area” for Iranian drones.

It comes after a series of drone and rocket attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The group, which controls much of Yemen say they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels in solidarity with Gaza.

More than 100 drone and missile attacks have been carried out by the group on 10 vessels, according to US officials.

Prominent shipping companies including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and MSC have suspended operations in the Red Sea due to the increased risk of attacks.

The US has accused Iran of being “deeply involved” in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The Iranian minister Ali Bagheri deputy has denied these claims, saying the Huthis act on their “own decisions and capabilities”.

There also have been cross-border skirmishes between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement which, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.

200 people killed according to Gaza officials

More than 200 people were killed in 24 hours of Israeli strikes, Gaza officials said Saturday, and Israel announced the death of five soldiers after the UN failed to call for a ceasefire.

Eleven weeks into the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli forces pressed on with their offensive, a day after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution for more aid to flow into the besieged Gaza Strip.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported 201 deaths in the past 24 hours across the territory, updating the death toll since the start of the war to 20,258, most of them women and children.

On Saturday the army said five of its soldiers were killed in combat, bringing the total number of troop deaths to 144 since the ground offensive on October 27.

‘Lost contact’ with hostage guards

After Friday’s Security Council vote, Israel insisted the battle will go on until Hamas is “eliminated”, with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen saying the war was legal and just.

He also said the remaining 129 hostages held in Gaza must be freed.

It came as the Hamas’s armed wing said it “lost contact” with militants tasked with guarding five hostages, including three elderly men who appeared in a video from captivity the group released this week.

“We believe that those hostages have been killed” in Israeli strikes, said spokesman Abu Obeida without providing evidence.

The Israeli army said meanwhile a Friday strike which the Palestinian health ministry said killed four members of the same family including a girl in Rafah had targeted a Hamas arms procurement official.

Hassan al-Atrash was responsible for weapons purchase and manufacturing for Hamas’s armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and helped smuggle arms into Gaza, the army said.

Displaced again

The Palestinian health ministry reported several strikes on Saturday, including one on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp that killed 18 Palestinians.

Israel’s allies, including the United States, have urged that civilians be spared in the fighting.

A truce took hold for just a week, mediated by Qatar, during which 80 Israeli hostages were released from Gaza captivity in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Gazans have been displaced repeatedly during the fighting, and on Friday were told by Israel to evacuate central Gaza and move south to Deir al-Balah city “for their own security”.

But UN officials have said they are still being bombed and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said most of the displaced are going “entire days and nights without eating”.

“Famine is looming,” he said.

The UN estimates 1.9 million Gazans are now displaced, with people struggling to find food, fuel in water, living in crowded shelters or tents.

With AFP