Israel-Hamas war: WHO warns of West Bank health crisis

The crew of a cargo carrier that was damaged in a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden has abandoned the ship, according to the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM).

CENTCOM said in a statement on the platform X, formerly Twitter, that the crew of the MV Verbena issued a distress call and "abandoned ship due to continued fires and an inability to control them." 

It said the ship, which was attacked on Thursday, was a "Palauan-flagged, Ukrainian-owned, Polish-operated bulk cargo carrier." The missile attack had severely injured a mariner, who was evacuated by US forces.

Another cargo ship, the Anna Meta, rescued the crew.

A Houthi spokesperson referred to the ship in a statement on Saturday, saying the "operations are dedicated… to our brothers fighting in Gaza."

He renewed the group's "warning to all companies about the consequences of dealing with Israel."

The Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023. The group has said the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war between Israel and the Hamas militant Islamist group in Gaza.

There is a "very real" risk that a miscalculation along Lebanon's southern border with Israel could trigger a wider conflict, two UN officials warned.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who is the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, and Aroldo Lazaro, who heads the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, said they were "deeply concerned" about the recent escalation along the border.

"The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real," the two officials said in a written statement.

Fighting between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military has intensified in recent weeks.

On Saturday, the Iran-backed group said it targeted the Meron base in northern Israel with "guided missiles," and sent "attack drones" toward another Israeli base.

Israel's military confirmed the attack, reporting "no injuries or damage to the unit's capabilities."

It comes after Hezbollah commander Taleb Abdallah was killed in an Israeli strike in the village of Jouaiyya on Tuesday.

The hostilities broke out after Hamas and other militants carried out terror attacks on Israel on October 7. 

Hezbollah has announced its support for Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by many countries, including the US and Germany.

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the only way it would return Israeli hostages is if Israel withdrew from Gaza, ended its offensive, and reached a deal for exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The spokesman of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, made the remarks in a video posted on Telegram.

Islamic Jihad is a smaller ally of the militant Islamist group Hamas, which led a rampage in southern Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 100 hostages are believed to remain captive in Gaza, although at least 40 have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.

At least 37,296 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign to eliminate Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said US President Joe Biden is undergoing "a test of sincerity" in his handling of the Gaza war.

In an interview with reporters on his way back from the G7 Summit in Italy, Erdogan said Biden is expected to demonstrate that the Gaza cease-fire plan is not a calculated electoral tactic but a sincere effort to end the war.

He also said that Germany has softened its stance on sales of Eurofighter jets to Turkey.

In November, Turkey said the country was in talks with the United Kingdom and Spain to buy Eurofighter Typhoons, though Berlin objected to the idea. 

"Eurofighters are important to us," Erdogan added.

Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in an attack in southern Gaza, Israel's military said on Saturday.

Only one of the dead troops was identified by the military, but no further information was immediately available.

According to Israeli media outlets, the soldiers were killed while traveling in an armored personnel carrier that was hit by an explosion.

Earlier, the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas said it had ambushed an armored personnel carrier in the Tel Al-Sultan area in the west of Rafah.

It was the deadliest attack on Israeli forces since January, when 21 Israeli troops were killed in a single attack by militants in Gaza.

A total of 307 Israeli troops have been killed in the war against Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the EU, Germany and others. 

Israel's bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza, who don't differentiate between civilians and militants in their tallies. 

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 37,296 people have been killed in the territory during more than eight months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes at least 30 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said.

It added that a total of 85,197 people had been wounded in Gaza since the war began on October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the United States and others.

The US military said it has destroyed seven radars, one drone and two uncrewed surface vessels belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the past day.

The move comes two days after a Greek-owned ship was damaged in an attack by Houthi militants and left drifting in the Red Sea.

"These radars allow the Houthis to target maritime vessels and endanger commercial shipping," US Central Command said on the social media site X, formerly Twitter.

The Houthis have staged dozens of attacks on shipping off Yemen and Saudi Arabia since November.

The group, which controls large parts of war-torn Yemen, says the attacks are in response to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Since the conflict began, maritime traffic along the vital waterway between Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal has halved, due to the risk of attack.

Many commercial ships are instead taking the much longer route around the Horn of Africa.

CENTCOM also destroyed two bomb-laden drone boats in the Red Sea, as well as a drone launched by the Houthis over the waterway, it said.

The United States said it would temporarily relocate a pier it set up to provide humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip due to stormy weather.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the pier, which was only finished last month, would be towed to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away.

"The safety of our service members is a top priority and temporarily relocating the pier will prevent structural damage caused by the heightened sea state," the command said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

CENTCOM said the pier would be returned to Gaza as soon as the weather improved.

The pier was damaged by bad weather in May, shortly after its completion. Strong waves during the storm caused US military ships to break free from their nearby moorings.

CENTCOM said over 3,500 metric tons of aid have been delivered via the pier over the past month.

Cargo ships bring aid from Cyprus to a floating platform off the coast of Gaza. The aid is then moved onto smaller ships that dock at the pier, before being loaded onto lorries for distribution by land.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the spike in violence in the West Bank is worsening a healthcare crisis in the occupied territory.

During the 8-month conflict that erupted when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel, health facilities in both Gaza and the West Bank have repeatedly come under attack.

Between October and the end of May, the WHO said it had documented 480 such attacks in the West Bank, including attacks on ambulances, while health workers and patients have been detained.

The UN health body warned that curbs on movement, violence and the attacks have obstructed residents' access to medical attention.

The WHO said in most areas of the West Bank, primary care clinics and outpatient specialty clinics are now operating two days per week, and hospitals are at approximately 70% capacity.

In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, the WHO called for the immediate and active protection of civilians and health care in the West Bank.

The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has experienced a surge in violence for more than a year, and especially since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began.

The WHO said 521 Palestinians have died and more than 5,200 injured since the Hamas terror attacks in Israel on October 7.

This was adding to "the growing burden of trauma and emergency care at already strained health facilities," the agency said.