Israel-Hamas war: Biden says Hamas biggest truce 'hang-up'

A twin missile strike launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen hit a cargo carrier in the Gulf of Aden, severely injuring a civilian mariner, the US Central Command said.

The US CENTCOM said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that two anti-ship cruise missiles struck M/V Verbena, a Palauan-flagged, Ukrainian-owned, Polish-operated bulk cargo carrier.

The ship was traveling from its last stop in Malaysia to Italy, carrying wood construction material. It reported damage and subsequent fires on board.

The injured mariner was evacuated to a "partner force ship nearby" to receive medical care, the US CENTCOM said. It condemned the Houthis' "continued reckless behavior," saying it was endangering mariners' lives across the Red Sea.

"The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are targeting and threatening the lives of third country nationals who have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza," the US CENTCOM said. 

"The ongoing threat to the ability to safely transit the region caused by the Houthis makes it harder to deliver critical assistance to the people of Yemen as well as to Gaza."

In a statement on X, the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on Verbena, as well as two other attacks they said they carried out on ships, Seaguardian and Athina, traveling across the Red Sea during the past 24 hours.

US President Joe Biden criticized the Palestinian militant group Hamas, describing it as the "biggest hang-up" to the cease-fire deal he had unveiled almost two weeks ago.

Speaking during the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday, Biden accused Hamas of refusing to sign up to the deal, which he had initially said was proposed by Israel.

"I've laid out an approach that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, by the G7, by the Israelis, and the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar," he told reporters at the G7 summit.

Earlier during the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also called on the militant group to accept the deal.

Both Washington and Berlin list Hamas as a terrorist organization, alongside other countries, including Israel.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed on Thursday his government's support for the cease-fire plan presented by US President Joe Biden in late May, in an effort to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the G7 summit in Italy, Scholz commended the United Nations Security Council resolution backing the cease-fire plan.

"We therefore call on Hamas in particular to give the necessary consent so that this can now work," he said, following similar critical comments about Hamas' slow and inconsistent response to the proposal from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the previous day.

Biden revealed nearly two weeks ago a three-phase plan to end the fighting in Gaza, saying it was an Israeli proposal.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency says it has received a report of an explosion near a vessel 82 nautical miles (about 94 miles, or 152 kilometers) northwest of the Yemen port of Hodeida. 

It is the latest reported attack on shipping in the Red Sea.

A merchant vessel captain reported an explosion near the vessel, but no damage was reported with all crew members safe, UKMTO said in an updated advisory note.

"The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call," the UKMTO added.

Since November, the Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly launched drone and missile strikes on ships in the vital shipping channels that run up and down the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthi militia says it's a response to the conflict in Gaza and that they target Israeli or Israeli-affiliated assets at sea. Observers question how they could identify the ships or their owners from afar, and argue that many of the vessels targeted do not have apparent links to Israel.

The development has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys, and has raised fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to further destabilize the Middle East.

Another ship, Greek-owned, was hit earlier today, about 68 nautical miles southwest of Hodeida. That attack involved the use of a boat loaded with explosives, ballistic missiles and drones that seriously damaged the vessel. 

The UK's opposition Labour Party, far ahead in polls ahead of the country's July 4 election, has pledged to recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process.

"Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people," read Labour's election manifesto — the collection of policies it would enact if it forms the next UK government. 

Party leader Keir Starmer unveiled the manifesto on Thursday.

"We are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state," the passage in the manifesto reads.

Labour's position is not that dissimilar to that of the current Conservative-led government, which recently said that Britain might formally recognize a Palestinian state before the conclusion of any peace process.

Spain, Ireland, and Norway in May officially recognized a Palestinian state, prompting critical reactions from Israel.

Iraq's foreign minister has warned of the dangers of conflict expanding in southern Lebanon and its repercussions across the Middle East.

Cross-border fire between Lebanese-based militants and Israeli forces has occurred on a nearly daily basis since the Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering the war in the Gaza Strip. 
However, the exchanges between Israel and Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which is an ally of Hamas, have intensified in recent days following the death of a Hezbollah commander.

Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday, without any reported casualties. The Israeli military said it responded with strikes against several targets in southern Lebanon.

"If southern Lebanon is attacked, it will affect the entire region," Iraq's top diplomat Fuad Hussein said at a press conference with Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, who also expressed concern about a regional escalation. 

"The expansion of the war is a danger, not only for Lebanon but for the entire region," Hussein said. 

The Iraqi minister also repeated his call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Western areas of Rafah came under heavy Israeli fire overnight from the air, sea, and land, residents said on Thursday.

Israeli ground forces have been conducting operations to pursue Hamas Palestinian fighters in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, since early May.

The armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization in Israel the United States and the European Union, said its fighters were battling Israeli troops in the streets. 

Israel says its assault is aimed at wiping out Hamas' last viable combat units in Rafah, and it denied claims that its military had launched strikes inside the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, near the sea.

The Gaza death toll has now reached 37,232, according to figures from the territory's Health Ministry, an agency in the Hamas-controlled government, on Thursday.

Ministry officials also said a total of 85,037 Palestinians have been injured in the Israeli campaign that has now been going on for over eight months. Israel launched its Gaza operation after Hamas carried out terror attacks in southern Israel on October 7. 

At least 30 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

The toll does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the UN and multiple humanitarian organizations consider the numbers to be broadly reliable.

Around half of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants are children and the UN says the majority of civilians killed have been women and children. 

Yemen's Houthi rebels Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack on a Greek-owned commercial ship near the Red Sea rebel-held port of Hodeida.

The attack involved the use of a boat loaded with explosives, ballistic missiles and drones that seriously damaged the vessel.

"The impact of the [unmanned surface vessel] caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room," the US Central Command said regarding the attack.

Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have stepped up attacks in the Red Sea corridor, one of the most important maritime trade routes in the world, ever since the Israel-Hamas war began following Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would continue to work with regional partners to "close the deal" on a cease-fire plan in Gaza after Hamas asked for changes to the plan.

Blinken said that a truce between warring parties in Gaza and a hostage deal was still possible, as he wrapped up his eighth diplomatic trip to the Middle East on Wednesday.

Blinken said some of the changes proposed by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by many countries, "are workable and some are not."

In a statement on Thursday, Hamas said that while US officials have said Israel has accepted a cease-fire proposal outlined by President Joe Biden on May 31, "we have not heard any Israeli official confirm this acceptance."

The proposal laid out by Biden at the end of May was endorsed by the UN Security Council at the beginning of this week, putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to agree to it without conditions.

mfi/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)