Houthi-affiliated media reports two dead in Israeli strike

Al Masirah has reported two people were killed and 42 otehrs were wounded in an Israeli strike on a cement factory in the city of Bajil.

Israel has said it targeted the port of Hodeidah and the Bajil factory with 20 fighter jets.

That came a day after the Houthis launched an attack on Ben Gurion air port in Tel Aviv.

What is Israel’s strategy for fighting on all fronts?

Chatham House’s Yossi Mekelberg says that as Israel ramps up military attacks on opponents throughout the Middle East, the core issue at the heart of the situation is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“The problem is this vicious cycle can escalate very quickly into a full-blown war with no winners,” he told Al Jazeera. “Instead of scaling down and reaching a ceasefire, it’s going to escalate the situation in Gaza, and probably after President Trump’s visit to the region, it will use even more force.”

The question for Israel is what is its strategy for fighting on all fronts, said Mikelberg, noting it plans to fully take control of the territory.

“This is unsettling not only for the Palestinians, it’s unsettling for the region. And right now, you don’t see forces in the region that can stop it … and restore some logic in Gaza.”

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Here are the latest developments:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel’s expansion of its war in Gaza will be “intensive” and could include an indefinite military presence in the enclave and the forced displacement of its population of 2.3 million people.
• European leaders and the head of the United Nations have voiced alarm over Israel’s plan.
• Israel’s air force has struck Yemen’s Hodeidah, saying it has targeted the city’s main port and a concrete factory.
• Gaza’s Government Media Office warns that hospitals could run out of fuel in two days, saying access to fuel stores in some areas is being blocked.
• A former commander of Israel’s ground forces has called on the government to put an expiration date on the expanded Gaza offensive, saying “enough with the prolongation of the war”.

Gaza media office says hospitals two days away from collapse

Within 48 hours, hospitals across Gaza will be on the “brink of collapse”, according to the Gaza media office, which blamed Israeli forces for refusing to allow the UN and other international organisations to access some fuel stores in the enclave.

“We warn in the strongest terms of an imminent disaster threatening the lives of thousands of sick and wounded in the Gaza Strip,” the office said.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said last week that aid workers have been repeatedly blocked from accessing fuel in “restricted” areas.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the systematic crime of the occupation of Gaza by preventing fuel from reaching hospitals,” the media office said.

“We consider it a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, a blatant breach of the Geneva Conventions, and a direct contribution to deepening the ongoing health catastrophe,” it said.

Israeli military confirms strikes targeted Hodeidah port, concrete factory

In a statement posed on X, the Israeli military confirmed the series of air strikes, saying they were “in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the state of Israel”.

The statement did not specifically cite the targeting of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday. It said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” at the Hodeidah seaport, as well as a concrete factory east of Hodeidah.

The factory served as an important “economic resource” for the Houthis and is “used to build tunnels and military infrastructure”, it said.

The Houthis have been operating “with Iranian guidance and funding to harm Israel and its allies, undermine regional order, and disrupt global freedom of navigation”, it added.

Netanyahu: Gaza population to be moved in intensive Israeli attack

The Israeli prime minister says a new offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip will be an intensive military assault aimed at defeating Hamas but stopped short of detailing just how much of the enclave’s territory would be seized.

Netanyahu said Gaza’s population “will be moved for its own protection”.

Netanyahu also said Israeli soldiers would not go into Gaza, launch raids and then retreat. “The intention is the opposite of that,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Expanded Gaza war? Situation already ‘catastrophic and tragic’

Gaza residents say they don’t expect Israel’s expanded assault will make any significant change to the already dire humanitarian situation in the territory.

“Israel has not stopped the war, the killing, the bombing, the destruction, the siege and the starvation – every day – so how can they talk about expanding military operations?” Awni Awad said.

Awad, 39, who lives in a tent in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis after being displaced by Israeli orders to leave his home, said his situation is already “catastrophic and tragic”.

“I call on the world to witness the famine that grows and spreads every day,” he said.

Aya al-Skafy, a resident of Gaza City, said her baby died because of malnutrition and medicine shortages last week.

“She was four months old and weighed 2.8kg [6.2lb]. Because of severe malnutrition, she suffered from blood acidity, liver and kidney failure, and many other complications. Her hair and nails also fell out due to malnutrition.”

Hamas condemns Israeli attacks on Yemen as ‘brutal aggression’

The Palestinian group has denounced the air strikes, saying they targeted civilian sites in the city of Hodeidah and its port.

“This brutal aggression constitutes a war crime and systematic state terrorism,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

The attacks come after failed attempts by Israel “to dissuade Yemen and brothers in Ansar Allah [the Houthis] from their heroic role in supporting Gaza in the face of the ongoing genocide against innocent civilians”, it said.

The Israeli military said earlier that the air strikes were “in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the state of Israel”.

It said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” at the Hodeidah seaport as well as a concrete factory.

Palestinian Mujahideen Movement slams Israel attacks on Yemen

The air strikes that targeted the port of Hodeidah as well as civilian facilities and installations are “a blatant assault on Yemeni sovereignty”, a statement by the Palestinian group says.

“This brutal aggression reflects the profound Zionist-American failure and impotence in the face of the steadfast Yemeni will and their inability to break the naval and air blockade imposed by Yemen on the Zionist entity in support of the oppressed Palestinian people.”

Israel and the US have conducted new attacks on various targets in Yemen in response to a missile attack by the Houthi rebels on Sunday that hit the perimeter of Israel’s main international airport.

Bluffs by poker players’: Israel again ups rhetoric on Gaza war

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rami Khouri, a fellow at the American University of Beirut, says Israel is following a familiar playbook in its announcement of expanded attacks and an indefinite occupation of Gaza.

Israel is upping its rhetoric in hopes of getting concessions despite repeatedly failing to meet the goals set out in its threats, he said.

“Israel is trying constantly to achieve impact through its statements that it has not been able to achieve either through the negotiations or through its military acts,” Khouri said.

“Netanyahu laid out his goals early on, and he hasn’t achieved any of them. He doesn’t seem to care any more about the lives of Israeli hostages. … The negotiations don’t seem to be moving very well. He has not eliminated Hamas, and he has not expelled the Palestinians in another ethnic-cleansing process to get them out of Gaza,” he said.

“The statements … should be seen as bluffs by poker players. It’s not all bluffs, but the moves are designed to be intimidating to the opposition and to get some kind of reaction.”

Pro-Palestinian activists allow inspector aboard Freedom Flotilla boat

Pro-Palestinian activists aboard a damaged vessel allowed a Maltese surveyor to inspect it and six crew members have agreed to disembark.

Prime Minister Robert Abela previously said Malta could tow the stricken vessel Conscience to port for repairs once a maritime expert was allowed to board the ship and study the results of Friday’s alleged drone attack.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition planned to pick up supporters, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, in Malta then sail on to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian victims of Israel’s blockade and renewed military assault.

A fire broke out on board the vessel after what the group says was a double drone strike, which the activists said was most likely launched by Israel.

Neither Israel nor Malta, whose vessels intervened to help douse the fire, have confirmed the attack.

Trump talks to Turkiye’s Erdogan on situation in Gaza, Syria

The US president says he has had a “very good and productive” telephone call with his Turkish counterpart over a number of hot-button global issues.

“I just had a very good and productive telephone conversation with the President of Turkey Recep [Tayyip] Erdogan concerning many subjects, including the War with Russia/Ukraine, all things Syria, Gaza, and more,” the US president said in a social media post shared on multiple platforms.

“The president invited me to go to Turkey at a future date and, likewise, he will be coming to Washington, DC,” he added.

US did not participate in Israeli attack on Yemen: Defence official

A defence official has denied the US military took part in Israel’s air strikes on Hodeidah.

“US forces did not participate in the Israeli strikes on Yemen today,” the official told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity and referring further questions to the Israeli military.

Several news reports earlier said the bombing was a joint US-Israeli operation.

UN chief ‘alarmed’ by Israeli military plan for Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “alarmed” by Israel’s decision to expand military action in Gaza and seek the “conquest” of the territory, according to a spokesman.

“This will inevitably lead to countless more civilians killed and the further destruction of Gaza,” Farhan Haq said. “Gaza is, and must remain, an integral part of a future Palestinian state.”

Netanyahu said earlier that the war’s expansion would be “intensive” after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the enclave as a whole.

Israeli minister predicts little push back from Trump on Gaza plans

Minister Ze’ev Elkin has downplayed the prospect of US President Donald Trump pushing back on plans for Israel’s military to indefinitely occupy Gaza following the war.

“I don’t feel that there is pressure on us from Trump and his administration – they understand exactly what is happening here,” said Elkin.

Trump has previously called for the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.

The White House has not yet responded to Israel’s recent expansion of its military assault on the enclave.

Israeli attack on Yemen will be ‘massive and sustained’

Rami Khouri from the American University of Beirut says Israel’s attack on Yemen was “pretty much inevitable” after Houthis bombed Ben Gurion airport on Sunday.

“Like all Israeli strikes, it’s going to be massive and sustained, destroy a lot of civilian stuff and kill a lot of people who are not involved in the military,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

“It’s designed to send a message that anybody who hurts Israel is going to get hurt with much greater intensity. This is how Zionism and then the state of Israel has always behaved. They have the power now to do almost anything they want militarily across the Middle East.”

He added: “The combination of the US and Israel, there is no stronger pair of military forces in the world.”

Hodeidah strikes target cement factory

Israeli media report the strikes on Hodeidah have targeted a concrete factory used to support Houthi military industries.

No casualties have been reported so far. Neither Israel nor the Houthis have released official statements on the attack.

Israel Hayom, quoting an unnamed Israeli security source, said the attack on Yemen was carried out in eight waves. Channel 12, also quoting an unidentified official, said 48 bombs were dropped and the port of Hodeidah suffered “a severe blow”.

Why is Israel attacking Yemen?

The Houthis, an Iran-allied Yemeni rebel group, fired a ballistic missile that hit the perimeter of Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Sunday, damaging a road and vehicles and lightly wounding eight people.

In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree warned airlines that Ben Gurion is “no longer safe for air travel”. The attack led to a brief suspension of flights at the airport outside Tel Aviv.

The armed group has been carrying out attacks against Israel in stated opposition to its war and blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Writing on social media, Netanyahu said attacks from the Houthis ultimately “emanate from Iran”.

“Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters,” Netanyahu said.

Nine sites reportedly hit in Yemen attacks

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem has reported that Houthi-affiliated media say a total of nine sites have been hit in the port city of Hodeidah.

Israeli media said at least 30 Israeli fighter jets were involved in strikes on Yemen, which come a day after the Houthis attacked Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv with a missile landing near the facility.

A senior US official told Axios news the raids are being carried out in coordination with the US. Al Jazeera could not immediately confirm that information.

The ballistic missile was fired toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson said in a televised statement.

Sirens sounded in several areas of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces said. No injuries have been reported and the IDF says the missile was stopped before entering Israel.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency said Israeli strikes early on Thursday have killed at least 10 people.

Israel has extended its ground operations in Gaza, after launching a wave of air strikes that the Hamas-run health ministry says killed more than 430 people in two days.

The air strikes on Thursday reportedly targeted six homes east of Khan Younis, a spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defence agency said, and also injured dozens of people.

“A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF prior to crossing into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol,” the Israeli military said in a statement, referring to its air force.

The Houthi group have vowed to retaliate, including against Israel, after the US carried out deadly strikes against them in recent days.

The Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy, controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally recognised government.

The Houthis said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it will face “dire” consequences if Yemen’s Houthis continue to attack international shipping lanes.

The Pentagon said it had struck 30 targets in Yemen since Saturday, in the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump returned to the White House.

The Houthi group first tried to attack the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea on Sunday following deadly US strikes on Yemen.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had moved in up to the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

The renewed assault on Gaza marks the end of the fragile ceasefire deal that had been in place since January.

Earlier, the UN said two people – including one of its staff – had been killed after an explosion at its compound in Deir al-Balah.

The 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel saw about 1,200 people killed and the capturing of 251 hostages – 25 of whom were released alive during the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry says, as well as causing large-scale destruction to homes and infrastructure.

He said the Iranian leadership would be held responsible for “every shot fired by the Houthis”, which have long been backed by Tehran. The group later said it had targeted a US aircraft carrier three times in the past two days.

The Houthis first tried to attack the USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea on Sunday following deadly US strikes on Yemen.

The Pentagon said it had struck 30 targets in Yemen since Saturday, in the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump returned to the White House.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday: “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN.

“And IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

The US president accused Iran of supplying the group with funding, weapons and intelligence, which Tehran denies.

In a letter on Monday to the UN Security Council, Iran’s UN envoy denied it was in violation of a UN arms embargo on Yemen, and said it was not involved in any destabilising activities in the region.

Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani accused the US of “baseless accusations” against Iran, Reuters news agency reported.

In a briefing on Monday, Pentagon officials said the US attacks on Yemen were directed at a broader range of targets than the strikes authorised under former President Joe Biden.

Lt Gen Alex Grynkewich said that Houthi drone experts were among those targeted.

He added that there had been “no credible indications of any civilian casualties”.

Washington has said some key Houthi figures were among the dead, although the group has not confirmed this.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the US was not seeking regime change.

“This campaign will be relentless to degrade their capability and to open up shipping lanes in the region and to defend our homeland,” he said.

On Sunday morning, the Houthis launched drones and missiles targeting the USS Harry S Truman.

US fighter aircraft shot down about 11 of the drones, a US official told the BBC’s US partner CBS.

The Houthis also launched a ballistic missile that crashed into the water well short of the USS Harry S Truman, the official added.

On Monday, the group said that it had launched a third attack on the ship in just 48 hours – disrupting US military strikes that were preparing to launch.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the BBC when asked about the group’s latest claims. Earlier on Monday, Pentagon officials said that one missile fired at the ship by the Houthis missed by over 100 miles (160km), and denied that any of the Houthi attacks have been successful.

The Houthis said at least five children were among 53 people killed in the US air strikes on Yemen’s Al Jaouf and Hudaydah areas, casualties that the BBC has not independently verified.

The US also launched airstrikes against the group on Saturday and Sunday.

The Houthis said they would continue to target Red Sea shipping until Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza.

The group has claimed – often falsely – that they only target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

The group controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally recognised government.

“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform, adding this had cost “billions of dollars” and put lives at risk.

The Houthi-run health ministry said at least nine had been killed and nine injured in the strikes.

The group – which began targeting shipping in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza – told Arab media that it would continue its attacks.

Trump said that it had been more than a year since a US-flagged ship had sailed safely through the Suez Canal – which the Red Sea leads to – and four months since a US warship had been through the body of water between east Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

These attacks, he said, “will not be tolerated”.

“We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”

Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Houthi’s “benefactor”, Iran, was “on notice”.

The Houthis are an Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy. It has launched numerous attacks on commercial vessels travelling through the Red Sea since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Initially, the group said they were attacking ships connected with Israel, or heading to or from there. However, many of the vessels have no connection with Israel.

For more than a year major shipping companies were forced to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and instead used a much longer route around southern Africa instead.

Trump urged Iran to cease its support for the Houthis, warning that the US “will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it”.

He also accused the previous White House administration under Joe Biden of being “pathetically weak” and allowing the “unrestrained Houthis” to keep going.

Israeli attacks killed 12 in Gaza on Saturday

Here’s a breakdown of the toll:

• At least nine people, most of them aid workers, were killed in an Israeli drone strike on northern Beit Lahiya.
• Two people were killed in an Israeli drone attack in the central town of Juhor ad-Dik.
• A Palestinian boy was shot and killed in Beit Lahiya.
• Another woman was also shot in the back in the same attack, while a second Palestinian was shot and wounded in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, west of Rafah. Eight others were also wounded after an Israeli quadcopter drone dropped a bomb on a tent belonging to the Al-Qan family in the Al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah.

Altogether, Israeli forces have killed 150 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19, according to local authorities.

‘No military or political logic’ to US attacks on Houthis

Nabeel Khoury, a former US diplomat, says Trump’s decision to launch attacks against the Houthis is misguided, and will not subdue them.

“For our president who came in wanting to avoid war and wanting to be a man of peace, he’s going about it the wrong way. There are many paths that can be used before you resort to war,” Khoury told Al Jazeera.

The danger to shipping in the Red Sea is “a justifiable reason for concern”, the former diplomat said, but added that it is a problem that could be resolved through diplomacy.

The Houthis, who have been “bombed severely all over their territory” in the past, are not likely to be subdued through “a few weeks of bombing”, Khoury said.

“If you think that Hamas, living and fighting on a very small piece of land, totally surrounded by land, air and sea, and yet, 17 months of bombardment by the Israelis did not get rid of them. The Houthis lived in a much more rugged space, mountainous regions – it would be virtually impossible to eradicate them,” he said.

“So there is no military logic to what’s happening, and there is no political logic either.”

The last Houthi attack on a US ship was in December

US  President Donald Trump ordered these attacks, saying this is to stop the Houthi raids. And the Trump administration has also sent signals that this could be a prolonged campaign.

It’s important to point out that the Houthi attacks have stopped since the ceasefire in Gaza, although the Houthis were threatening to strike again.

His other justification is saying that no US-flagged vessel has transited the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden safely in more than a year.

And then he says another reason is because Houthis attacked a US military warship.

That happened when Trump was not president.

The White House is now putting out more of a communique, saying that before the attacks, there were 25,000 ships that transited the Red Sea annually. Now it’s down to 10,000 so, obviously, sort of shooting down the president’s concept that nobody is actually transiting the region.

And it did list the number of attacks. The US commercial ships have been attacked 145 times since 2023 in their list.

The last one is was December, again, before Trump was inaugurated.

US warplanes raze four areas in Yemen

So  far, Ansar Allah (Houthi) media sources say that at least four areas have been razed by the US warplanes that targeted, in particular, a residential area north of the capital, Sanaa.

We are talking about a new escalation and a new wave of air attacks that have been ordered by the newly-appointed US President Donald Trump.

He said that the new air attacks will be different from previous attacks.

The Ansar Allah (Houthis), during the previous speech, said they have imposed a ban on the Israeli maritime vessels in the Red Sea and the Arab Sea.

They also said that this is just one step forward and that they have more options on the table.

So, they are warning that they could further escalate in case the Israeli siege on Gaza is to continue.

Death toll from US attacks on Yemen rises to 19

Earlier, the Houthis reported that at least 13 civilians were killed and nine wounded in the US attacks on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV is now reporting that six others were killed in a US raid on the northern province of Saada.

The victims included four children and one woman.

Eleven others were also wounded.

A recap of recent developments

• US President Donald Trump orders large-scale attacks on Yemen’s Houthi’s, warning “hell will rain down” on the rebel group over its threat to resume attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea.
• The US attacks, including on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, killed at least 13 people and wounded nine others, according to the Houthis.
• Israel continued bombing the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire deal, killing at least nine people, most of them aid workers, in a drone attack on northern Beit Lahiya.
• Palestinians in Gaza are facing a severe water crisis and struggling to get basic items as Israel’s blockade on the Strip enters its third week.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel is ready to resume ceasefire talks based on a US proposal that calls on Hamas to immediately free 11 living captives, as well half of those who are dead, in exchange for extending the truce until mid-April.
• Protesters in the US again took to the streets of New York in support of detained Palestinian student, Mahmoud Khalil, who is facing deportation for taking part in pro-Palestine protests on Columbia University.

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The WFP said the man was one of seven Yemeni staff “arbitrarily detained” by local authorities since 23 January. It is unclear when or how he died.

His death was announced a day after the UN said it would be pausing all operations in the northern governorate of Saada, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, over safety concerns.

The UN said it followed the detention by the Houthis of eight additional UN personnel, including six in Saada. More than 60 staff from the UN, international non-governmental organisations and foreign embassies were already being held.

“This extraordinary and temporary measure seeks to balance the imperative to stay and deliver with the need to have the safety and security of the UN personnel and its partners guaranteed,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

In a post on X on Tuesday, WFP executive director Cindy McCain said the worker who died in detention was named Ahmed and that he was a “devoted humanitarian and father of 2” who had helped deliver life-saving food assistance.

According to the WFP, he had been working for the agency since 2017.

McCain said she was “heartbroken and outraged by the tragic loss”.

“Humanitarians are #NotATarget,” she added.

There was no immediate comment from Houthi authorities.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that escalated 10 years ago, when the Houthis seized control of the north-west from the internationally-recognised government and a Saudi-led coalition supported by the US and UK intervened in an effort to restore its rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 4.8 million people displaced and 19.5 million – half of the population – in need of some form of aid.

Last month, the UN said it was actively engaging with senior Houthi officials to try to secure the release of all its detained employees.

Even though they provide a vital lifeline, UN agencies have regularly had problems reaching people in more remote areas outside the major towns and cities, with Houthi officials regularly reported to have obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Human rights groups have also accused the movement of kidnapping, torturing and arbitrarily detaining hundreds of civilians.

In June, the Houthis claimed they had dismantled an “American-Israeli spy network” following the detention of 13 UN staff, as well as more than 50 NGO workers and an embassy staff member. The UN human rights chief said the allegation was baseless.

The UN Security Council is due to discuss the situation in Yemen later this week.

Last month, US President Donald Trump put the Houthis back on his country’s list of designated foreign terrorist organisations over their attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel

The “conflict-related detainees” were released in the capital, Sanaa on Saturday, and had received regular visits by the ICRC as part of detention work to ensure humane treatment of war-related prisoners, according to the organisation.

The identities of the prisoners were not disclosed.

“This operation has brought much-needed relief and joy to families who have been anxiously waiting for the return of their loved ones. We know that many other families are also waiting for their chance to be reunited. We hope that today’s release will lead to many more moments like this” said Christine Cipolla, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen.

Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the head of the Houthis’ Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said in a statement carried by Houthi-affiliated media that those released were “humanitarian cases” that included the sick, wounded and the elderly.

“The goal of the initiative is to build trust and establish a new phase of serious and honest dealing,” al-Murtada was cited as saying.

The ICRC welcomed the move as “another positive step towards reviving negotiations” under a framework agreed during the country’s civil war, which raged for years between the Houthis and a Saudi Arabia-led-coalition.

The war left more than 150,000 people killed and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters that is still continuing, with more than 18 million people across Yemen requiring assistance.

The releases on Saturday come as the Houthis continue to hold personnel working with the United Nations.

Seven UN staff members were arrested on Friday, according to the organisation, which called for their immediate release.

The  UN also suspended all travel into areas held by the Houthis after the arrests until further notice.

Another 11 UN staff were arrested last June, followed by the seizure of the Human Rights Office in the Yemeni capital in August.

The Red Cross has previously helped with prisoner releases, including one that saw some 1,000 prisoners swapped in 2020. Another exchange saw some 800 detainees released in 2023, with more than 100 freed last May.

“The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade,” an order said.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) must cut ties with partners which paid Houthi entities or “criticised efforts to counter” the Iran-backed group, which could affect humanitarian organisations.

The Houthis said the move targeted Yemen’s “entire population” over their support for the Palestinians.

“The US designation reflects the extent of the current administration’s bias toward the usurping Zionist entity,” a statement added, referring to Israel.

Former US President Joe Biden had lifted the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) designation in 2021, citing the need to mitigate one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that escalated 10 years ago, when the Houthis seized control of the country’s north-west from the internationally-recognised government and a Saudi-led coalition supported by the US intervened in an effort to restore its rule.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered a humanitarian disaster, with 4.8 million people displaced and 19.5 million – half of the population – in need of some form of aid.

Despite the dire situation, Biden relisted the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorists – less severe than an FTO – last January over their attacks on global shipping and Israel, which are linked to the war in Gaza.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

They have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

The Houthis have not been deterred by the deployment of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels, or by multiple rounds of US and British air strikes on Houthi military targets.

Israel has also carried out air strikes against the Houthis since July in retaliation for the 400 missiles and drones that the Israeli military says have been launched at the country from Yemen, most of which have been shot down.

The Houthis’ SDGT designation required US financial institutions to freeze Houthi funds and meant its members would be banned from the US.

The FTO designation means that anyone in the US or abroad suspected of providing support or resources to the Houthis could be prosecuted by under various US laws, including those banning material support for terrorism.

Human rights groups have previously said this could prevent humanitarian organisations from operating in areas under Houthi control, where the bulk of Yemen’s population lives.

Rashad al-Alimi, who chairs Yemen’s internationally-recognised presidential council, thanked Trump for the designation, which he said was “key to accountability and a step toward peace and stability in Yemen and the region”.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that the 25 crew of the Bahamas-flagged and Japanese-operated vehicle carrier – comprising nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania – had been handed over to Oman.

The Houthi Supreme Council said the decision was “in support of Gaza and the ceasefire agreement” between Hamas and Israel that began on Sunday.

The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said the crew’s release was “a moment of profound relief”.

“Today’s breakthrough is a testament to the power of collective diplomacy and dialogue, recognizing that innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims in wider geopolitical tensions,” Arsenio Dominguez said.

“It is also a return to operations in the Red Sea as we have been accustomed to, and upholding of the freedom of navigation.”

Galaxy Leader’s operator, NYK Line, said it was still trying to confirm the news, but added: “If confirmed, this would great news for us and we are relieved that the crew can return home”.

The Houthis, who control north-western Yemen, began attacking Israel and international shipping shortly after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.

The US and UK have carried out air strikes in Yemen in response to the group’s attacks on dozens of merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Israel has also carried out four rounds of air strikes against the Houthis since July in retaliation for the 400 missiles and drones that the Israeli military says have been launched at the country from Yemen, most of which have been shot down.

The Sanaa-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre (HOCC), which liaises between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators, said on Sunday that it was stopping “sanctions” against vessels owned by United States and British entities, as well as ships sailing under the two countries’ flags.

“We  affirm that, in the event of any aggression against the Republic of Yemen by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, or the usurping Israeli entity, the sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor,” it said in an email sent to shipping industry officials on Sunday.

The HOCC said the Houthis would only stop targeting Israeli-linked ships “upon the full implementation of all phases of the agreement”.

A spokesperson for the Houthis had told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the group would halt its military operations against Israel as well as commercial ships in the Red Sea if the truce came into force on Sunday.

A ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas to halt the 15-month war on Gaza took effect on Sunday and is set to unfold in three phases over several weeks.

In response to Israel’s war on Gaza, the Iran-backed Houthis carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023, sinking two vessels and killing at least four seafarers.

The Houthis targeted the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the narrow Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East – disrupting international trade on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Many of the world’s largest shipping companies suspended trips through the Red Sea last year and diverted their vessels around the southern tip of Africa to avoid being attacked.

The Houthis have also carried out direct attacks on Israel.