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Red Sea strike kills crew
Saudi Arabia is weighing whether to back a Yemeni ground campaign to retake the Red Sea coast from the Houthis, an offensive that would test forces Riyadh has spent seven months assembling out of rival Yemeni militias.
“Ballistic missiles hit the commercial vessel Tihama on Tuesday in Bab-el-Mandeb, the strait at the southern mouth of the Red Sea, killing four of its crew.”
The Houthis’ attack on the commercial vessel Tihama in Bab-el-Mandeb on Tuesday killed four crew members, with Yemen's Transport Ministry saying three missiles struck the Tihama in succession and naming the dead as three Pakistanis and an Indonesian.
The coast guard put the toll at six dead and 10 wounded, including two Yemeni rescue personnel it said were also targeted, while the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported three.
The Reuters account also said the Tihama was neither Saudi-owned nor Saudi-operated and had sailed from Mocha on Saturday, and it noted the first crew deaths from a Houthi attack since the American and Israeli war with Iran began in February.
Lebanon condemns destruction
In southern Lebanon, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned what he said was Israel’s “systematic destruction,” calling it a violation of international law as Defense Minister Israel Katz said its military was “destroying all the houses” there.
Salam said Israeli “attacks, incursions, demolitions and the systematic destruction of homes, infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship” represent “a serious violation of the principles and rules of international law and international humanitarian law.”
Katz visited southern Lebanon on Wednesday, vowing to keep troops in the IDF’s buffer zone and saying the military was “destroying the underground infrastructure” in the area and “destroying all the houses in the area.”
A State Department official rebuked Katz’s remarks, saying “the US expects all parties to act in any manner consistent with the framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambition in Lebanon.”
Hezbollah disarmament mechanism
Separately, Reuters reported an agreement between Lebanon and Israel on a mechanism to disarm Hezbollah with international participation, with a short list of potential contributors including Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and Indonesia.
“Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and Indonesia, as possible participants”
The sources said the list emerged during talks held in Rome last week under American auspices and would form part of the latest round of negotiations to implement last June’s agreement linking Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Lebanon to Hezbollah disarmament.
Reuters also said the proposed mechanism would verify the absence of weapons in southern villages through on-site inspections, while Israel seeks to extend verification to include private properties and homes.
The Israeli army is stationed about 10 kilometers inside southern Lebanon and regularly states it will not withdraw unilaterally until Hezbollah is disarmed, while the Lebanese army has resisted pressure to inspect private properties, for fear of triggering tensions in the south or clashes with Hezbollah.