Denmark's Maersk continues to pause all cargo shipments through the Red Sea

The Houthi group, which controls parts of Yemen after years of war, in November started attacking international ships traversing the Red Sea, saying it was a response to Israel's assault on Gaza

Denmark’s Maersk said on Tuesday it would continue to pause all cargo shipments through the Red Sea following a weekend attack on one of its ships. Maersk on Sunday paused all Red Sea sailings for 48 hours following attempts by the Iranian-backed Houthis to board its Maersk Hangzhou vessel, although US military helicopters ultimately repelled the attack and killed 10 militants.

The Houthi group, which controls parts of Yemen after years of war, in November started attacking international ships traversing the Red Sea, saying it was a response to Israel's assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
 

Major shipping groups, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd , have stopped using Red Sea routes, instead taking the longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope.

 

Israeli forces attacked Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes on Tuesday, residents said, and Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants also battled in other parts of the shattered Palestinian enclave.

Major shipping groups, including container giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd had last month stopped using Red Sea routes and the Suez Canal, rerouting instead to a longer journey around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.

Israel said its troops had killed dozens of militants in Gaza's north in the past day. Residents said Israeli tanks had shelled parts of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central area. The Gaza health ministry said 207 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recorded Palestinian death toll to more than 22,000 in nearly three months of warfare in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the operations in the south around Khan Younis were focused on areas above the tunnel network where Hamas leaders were believed to be hiding.

“We are reaching them all ways. There already is engagement and there are hostages there too sadly,” he told troops in Gaza in footage shown on Israeli television. “This will continue as high intensity efforts in the heart of Khan Younis,” he said.

The latest fighting took place after Israel announced plans to pull back some troops, signalling a new phase in the war against Hamas. Israeli bombardments have reduced much of the territory to rubble and engulfed its 2.3 million residents in a humanitarian disaster in which many thousands have been left destitute. 

Israel will defend itself before the United Nation against charges that it has engaged in genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, officials said, a rare engagement with the world body, which Israel often denounces as biased against it.