US denies Houthi claim that it attacked American ship in Gulf of Aden - report US officials have said the claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true. A US defense official, speaking to Fox News, dismissed the report as a Houthi propaganda, adding that the US military is not seeing or tracking any attacks at this time. Summary of the day Here’s a recap of the latest developments: The Gaza Strip has been plunged into another communications blackout on Monday, the Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel said, with internet and phone service cut off across the besieged territory for the 10th time since 7 October. Communication services in Gaza partially returned on Friday after a weeklong blackout – the longest communications outage since the start of the war. US officials have said a claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true. “The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea,” a Houthi miitary spokesperson said on Monday. The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has been criticised by one of the EU’s most senior diplomats, Josep Borrell, for not properly engaging with a summit in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East. Borrell told reporters Katz had come to the meeting to present plans for an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and a railway to India, adding: “I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, as foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats. “What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” he said a day after Netanyahu reaffirmed a hardline against any Palestinian state on the grounds it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel. Israel’s foreign ministry has denied that its foreign minister, Israel Katz, suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean during his presentation to his EU ministers in Brussels. It is understood that Katz presented a video on the concept to the 27 EU foreign ministers as an alternative to the two-state solution. EU foreign ministers were dismayed and “disappointed” that Israel Katz had come to Brussels with the suggestion to talk about plans for an artificial island off Gaza, a source said. Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital in southern Gaza and have arrested medical staff, and placed another under siege on Monday, Palestinian officials said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was “extremely worried” about the safety of their teams “trapped inside” another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, which it said was “besieged” by Israeli forces. At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since Sunday night, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said. “We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” said Ashraf al-Qidra. A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on Monday after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works. “There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has survived a no-confidence vote filed in protest at the “failure” to secure the return of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. The motion received only 18 votes, failing to receive the necessary majority to pass in the 120-strong Knesset, and was boycotted by the coalition, the heads of which said they would “not take part in political shows during wartime”. The US state department said it was devastated by the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the occupied West Bank, and called for an urgent investigation to determine how the 17-year-old died and to hold accountable those responsible. The death of Tawfiq Ajaq in the West Bank, where about 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since 7 October, came as tensions have been rising between Israel and the US. The British prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East. Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Netanyahu’s insistence that there would be no two-state solution was “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying”. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people. Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said. The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations, it said, after Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders. Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said. US denies Houthi claim that it attacked American ship in Gulf of Aden - report US officials have said the claim by Yemen’s Houthi forces that it carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden is not true. A US defense official, speaking to Fox News, dismissed the report as a Houthi propaganda, adding that the US military is not seeing or tracking any attacks at this time. The US state department said it was devastated by the death of a Palestinian American teenager in the occupied West Bank. In a statement, reported by Reuters, the US state department called for an urgent investigation to determine how the 17-year-old died and to hold accountable those responsible. The death of Tawfiq Ajaq in the West Bank came as tensions have been rising between Israel and the US, and drew an immediate expression of concern from the White House. Ajaq was fatally shot on Friday in the West Bank, where about 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since 7 October. His cousin, Mohammad Ejak, 16, said Tawfiq was shot while driving to a grove of olive trees owned by the family near their village, the Washington Post reported. He said: We did not throw any rocks at anyone’s car, and we didn’t even get out of our own car before the shots were fired at us. The Israeli foreign minister has been criticised by one of the EU’s most senior diplomats for not engaging fully with a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East. Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative, told reporters that Israel Katz had come to the meeting and presented two videos to the bloc’s foreign ministers. One was for an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and another on a railway linking the Middle East to India. Borrell said: This didn’t have much to do with what we were discussing. He added: I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry has denied that its foreign minister, Israel Katz, suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean during his presentation to his EU ministers in Brussels. Israel’s foreign ministry told the Times of Israel: He never said such a thing, and there is no such plan. The outlet cites a spokesperson as saying that Katz mentioned that housing could be placed on the island as well, but did not mention anything having to do with relocating Palestinians there. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has told his visiting French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, that attacks against Hezbollah will continue until Israel can guarantee the security of its citizens living near the border. An Israeli readout of the meeting in Tel Aviv said Gallant briefed Lecornu “on the [Israel Defense Forces]’s progress in achieving the goals of the war – namely the destruction of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities, and the return of hostages.” The Israeli minister was quoted as saying: A war in the north will be challenging for Israel, but devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. Israel will not cease fire until it can guarantee the safe return of the [evacuated] northern communities to their homes following a change in the security situation along the border. An attack by Iranian-backed militants on an air base housing US and Iraqi troops in western Iraq on Saturday was “a larger scale attack than we have seen before”, the Pentagon has said. Multiple missiles were fired at Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province, injuring two US personnel and one Iraqi security forces member, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said today. The US personnel have returned to duty, she said. The attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition that includes militias backed by Iran. Houthis say they attacked US ship in Gulf of Aden Yemen’s Houthi movement have said its forces carried out an attack against a US military cargo ship, Ocean Jazz, in the Gulf of Aden. A statement from the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, reported by Reuters: The Yemeni armed forces continue to retaliate to any American or British aggression against our country by targeting all sources of threat in the Red and Arab Sea. Diplomatic sources have expressed bemusement at what some interpreted as the Israel foreign minister’s suggestion that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean as part of the peace solution talks being held by foreign ministers in Brussels today. They said the video was “largely ignored” by foreign ministers and it was not clear whether Israel Katz meant it would be used to house Palestinians or just a new port facility, which he proposed back in 2017. The EU’s chief diplomat is just about to host a press conference where he is expected to provide details on exactly what was said behind closed doors. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said three of its soldiers were killed on Monday in southern Gaza. Phone and internet down in Gaza in 10th communications blackout of war The Gaza Strip has been plunged into another communications blackout on Monday, the Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel said, with internet and phone service cut off across the besieged territory for the 10th time since 7 October. In a social media post, Paltel said: We regret to announce that telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost. Gaza is blacked out again for the 10th time since October 7th due to the ongoing and escalating aggression. Communication services in Gaza partially returned on Friday after a weeklong blackout – the longest communications outage since the start of the war. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has survived a no-confidence vote filed in protest at the “failure” to secure the return of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. The motion received only 18 votes, failing to receive the necessary majority to pass in the 120-strong Knesset, the Times of Israel reported. The Labor party announced last week that it would submit a proposal for a vote of no confidence in Netanyahu’s government because of its inability to return hostages from the Gaza Strip. The vote was boycotted by the coalition, the heads of which said they would “not take part in political shows during wartime”. EU foreign ministers were dismayed and “disappointed” that Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, had come to Brussels with the suggestion to talk about plans for an artificial island off Gaza. One source said: Ministers ignored it and went ahead with what they were there to talk about. Nobody engaged with it. Katz first unveiled a plan for an island off Gaza in 2017 when he was transport minister. Palestinian foreign minister dismisses Israeli counterpart"s artificial island suggestion The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, has dismissed his Israeli counterpart’s suggestion that an artificial island could be built off the coast of Gaza as part of the solution to the conflict in the Mediterranean. Arriving to make his own presentation to the 27 ministers gathered in Brussels to progress a peace plan for the Middle East, Maliki said he expected his EU counterparts to end their summit on Monday by calling for a ceasefire. He also wants the EU to contemplate sanctions against the Israeli prime minister and to issue a strong condemnation of Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition in the past week to the creation of a Palestinian state. He urged the EU to reflect on the “responsibility” it had to drive Israel to peace and to show the “leadership and courage” needed. He said: I think the collective responsibility of the EU right now lies in this particular moment is that they have to show leadership and courage, and really to take the right position. I will say it very openly, very clearly to my European colleagues. I expect from you to call for a ceasefire and to work for it. I expect from you to condemn the statement that was made by Netanyahu about rejecting the two-state solution. I expect from you to start contemplating sanctions against Netanyahu. The life of Palestinians really matters, and we cannot accept that, you know. The life of Palestinian children are being really treated less than the life of children anywhere in the world. This is really very essential and very important. Summary of the day so far Here’s a recap of the latest developments: Israeli troops have stormed the al-Khair hospital in southern Gaza and have arrested medical staff, and placed another under siege on Monday, Palestinian officials said. Troops advanced for the first time into the al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, where the hospital is situated. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was “extremely worried” about the safety of their teams “trapped inside” another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, which it said was “besieged” by Israeli forces. At least 50 Palestinians were killed and 100 have been injured in Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis since Sunday night, a Gaza health ministry spokesperson said. “We believe that many victims are trapped under the rubble and in areas the occupation forces had invaded where the medical teams are unable to reach to them,” said Ashraf al-Qidra. A total of 25,295 Palestinians have been killed and 63,000 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. Palestinians are digging makeshift graves in the grounds of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to bury some of those killed by the latest Israeli military strikes. The hospital, the largest hospital still functioning in Gaza, is crowded with wounded people, many of whom waited many hours for transport to reach the place, only to find few beds or supplies and doctors who have not slept in more than 24 hours. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pushed back on Monday after speculation that a new release of Gaza hostages was in the works. “There is no real proposal by Hamas. It’s not true,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling representatives of hostage families after some relatives stormed a committee session in parliament, demanding a release deal. A Hamas official said on Sunday that Netanyahu’s rejection of its conditions meant there was “no chance” of returning the remaining hostages held by the militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu had earlier dismissed the militant group’s conditions to end the war, which he said included leaving Hamas in power and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the territory. A Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the Israeli prime minister’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza meant there was “no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives”, which are estimated to be 130 in number. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, as foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats. “What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” he said a day after Netanyahu reaffirmed a hardline against any Palestinian state on the grounds it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel. Borrell added that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse”. The British prime minister’s official spokesperson said Downing Street was “disappointed” to hear of Netanyahu’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, as the UK government vowed to continue its support for a two-state solution in the Middle East. Ireland’s foreign minister, Micheál Martin, said Netanyahu’s insistence that there would be no two-state solution was “unacceptable”. Meanwhile, Stéphane Séjourné, France’s new foreign and European affairs minister, described Netanyahu’s remarks as “worrying”. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called on Hamas to end its terror on Israel and on Palestinian people. Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will visit Pakistan on 29 January, the foreign ministry has said. The countries will swap ambassadors and resume normal relations, it said, after Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders. Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been declared dead after a 10-day search failed to locate them, the US military has said. Gazans sheltered Monday from intense bombing and shooting in the city of Khan Younis, as pressure built on Israel for an eventual two-state solution involving statehood long sought by Palestinians, the Agence France-Presse reports. Witnesses reported deadly strikes and fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants overnight in the southern city that has become the latest centre of the war. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Monday that more than 120 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours. Artillery shelling has not stopped since 5am,” said Yunis Abdel Razek, 52, sheltering with his family at the city’s al-Aqsa University. Mahdi Antar, 21, had sought refuge at al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. The situation is terrifying. Tonight and today are very difficult, bombing and shooting. I do not know what to do. I think they will storm the hospital,” he said. Victims of the latest Israeli strikes were brought to the hospital, at least one on a hand-pulled cart. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces were “besieging” its ambulance centre “and targeting anyone attempting to move in the area”. At one building that had been hit, men walked over broken concrete with only torches casting a dusty light to help them search in the darkness for survivors. The strikes came as European Union foreign ministers held meetings in Brussels with top diplomats from the warring sides and key Arab states. Palestinians are digging makeshift graves in the grounds of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to bury some of those killed by the latest Israeli military strikes. Venturing outside the hospital grounds to try to reach a cemetery is deemed too dangerous. The hospital is crowded with wounded people, many of whom waited many hours for transport to reach the place, only to find few beds or supplies and doctors who haven’t slept for more than 24 hours. Israel"s foreign minister suggests Palestinians could be housed on artificial island in the Mediterranean - sources The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean, according to sources at the meeting of EU ministers in Brussels. It is understood that Katz presented a video on the concept to the 27 EU foreign ministers as an alternative to the two-state solution. He told them the video referred to a plan made some years ago when he was a transport minister. Katz had previously raised the idea of an offshore port island, although that was not part of a plan to rehouse Palestinians. Israel’s government has not backed such a plan. The intervention has caused dismay in Brussels where the EU representatives were meeting as part of a mission to lay the ground for a “comprehensive peace plan”. They also heard from foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The US has issued new sanctions targeting individuals linked to Hamas, and an individual linked to Iraq’s Fly Baghdad airline, the treasury department’s website showed. The treasury has previously announced sanctions against certain officials who advance Hamas’ agenda abroad and help manage its finances. In a brief statement, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, told reporters his main mission in Brussels was to “bring back our hostages” and that he would also be seeking continued support from the EU for Israel’s offensive against Hamas. “Our brave soldiers are fighting in very hard conditions for those two aims to bring back our hostages and restore security for the citizens of Israel,” Katz said. At Nasser hospital, the only major hospital still accessible in Khan Younis and the largest still functioning in Gaza, video showed the trauma ward overwhelmed with injured people. Reuters reports: A young man, Rabie Salem, sat on the floor cradling a small wounded girl in his arms. They had finally reached the hospital in the morning after waiting for an ambulance through the night, while his mother lay dying. She had told him not to worry about her and help the rest of the family, he said, weeping: “Now she is gone.” Ahmed Abu Mustafa, an emergency doctor, said he hadn’t slept for 30 hours and was treating 10-11 patients in an intensive care unit with four beds. Outside, men were digging graves inside the hospital grounds because it was no longer safe to venture out to the cemetery. A man placed the tiny body of a toddler wrapped inside a white shroud into a shallow hole in the sand. Authorities said 40 people were buried there. Israeli nationals residing in Germany can remain in the country until 26 April without having to apply for a residence permit or an extension to their visa-free stay after the 7 October attack by Hamas, the German interior ministry said on Monday. Israeli citizens can stay in Germany for 90 days without a visa. From 26 January to 26 April, they will now be exempt from the requirement for a residence permit to stay, the ministry added, Reuters reports. “With our regulation, we are enabling Israeli citizens to stay in Germany for a further three months without having to apply for a residence permit. This is pragmatic and unbureaucratic help for people who we want to support in this difficult situation,” said the interior minister, Nancy Faeser.