Live updates | More Houthi attacks on shipping threaten to expand war

Yemen’s Iran-backed

Houthi rebels are still able to launch attacks

in a crucial Red Sea corridor despite a month of U.S.-led airstrikes.

The rebels claimed more attacks Tuesday night after seriously damaging a ship and apparently downing an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars in recent days. The Houthi have said they aim to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea until Israeli ends its war in the Gaza Strip, but few of the ships targeted have any direct links to Israel.

Their guerrilla-style attacks show the difficulty of suppressing asymmetrical warfare, and the U.S.-led campaign to protect the shipping route has boosted the rebels’ standing in the Arab world, despite the Houthi rebels' own human rights abuses. And analysts warn of a greater risk to the global economy, the longer their attacks continue.

So far, no U.S. sailor or pilot has been wounded, but the U.S. continues to lose drones worth tens of millions of dollars and fire off million-dollar cruise missiles to counter the Houthis, who are using far-cheaper weapons that experts believe largely have been supplied by Iran.

Based off U.S. military’s statements, American and allied forces have destroyed at least 73 missiles of different types before they were launched, as well as 17 drones, 13 bomb-laden drone boats and one underwater explosive drone over their monthlong campaign, according to an AP tally. Those figures don’t include the initial Jan. 11 joint U.S.-U.K. strikes that began the campaign. The American military also has shot down dozens of missiles and drones already airborne as well since November.

Currently:

—

US vetoes

Arab-backed UN Security Council cease-fire resolution

—

Israel orders new evacuations

in northern Gaza, where UN says 1 in 6 children are malnourished.

—

South Africa

tells top UN court that it’s accusing Israel of apartheid against Palestinians.

— Israel says

Brazil’s president unwelcome

until he apologizes for comparing Gaza war to Holocaust.

— Find more of AP’s coverage at

https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's the latest:

BRITAIN'S PRINCE WILLIAM LAMENTS ‘SHEER SCALE OF HUMAN SUFFERING’

Prince William, the heir to the British throne,

called Tuesday for an end to fighting in the Gaza Strip

as soon as possible, lamenting the “terrible human cost” since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel and the “desperate need for increased humanitarian support for Gaza.”

William stopped short of calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as the House of Commons prepares for a vote on that issue on Wednesday. The message, written in white on a black background, was placed under William’s cypher on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home,’’ William said.

William used careful language focused on universal humanity rather than taking sides. The prince plans to meet with aid workers active in the region and, separately, join a discussion at a synagogue with young people of different faiths who are fighting antisemitism.

“Even in the darkest hour, we must not succumb to the counsel of despair,″ William said. “I continue to cling to the hope that a brighter future can be found and I refuse to give up on that.”

US VETOES ARAB-BACKED UN CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION

The United States vetoed an Arab-backed U.N. resolution Tuesday demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the

Israel-Hamas war

in the embattled Gaza Strip.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide global support for ending the more than four-month war that started with Hamas’ surprise invasion of southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Since then, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority are women and children.

It was the third U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.

The Biden administration had said it would veto the resolution because of concerns it would interfere with efforts to arrange a deal between the warring parties aimed at bringing at least a six-week halt to hostilities and releasing all hostages.

In a surprise move ahead of the vote, the

United States circulated a rival U.N. Security Council resolution

that would support a temporary cease-fire in Gaza linked to the release of all hostages, and call for the lifting of all restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid. Both of these actions “would help to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities,” the draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press says.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told several reporters Monday that the Arab-backed resolution is not “an effective mechanism for trying to do the three things that we want to see happen — which is get hostages out, more aid in, and a lengthy pause to this conflict.”

UN AID AGENCY SAYS ISRAEL HASN'T SHOWN EVIDENCE ITS WORKERS JOINED RAMPAGE

JERUSALEM — The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says the United Nations still has not received any evidence from Israel supporting its claims that 12 of the agency’s employees participated in the Oct. 7 rampage that sparked the war.

Israel released a document last month identifying the 12 workers along with the allegations against them, and accusing some of participating in kidnappings. But it has released little of the evidence collected against the workers.

The allegations prompted key donors, including the United States, to suspend funding to the main provider of aid in Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA, has dismissed the 10 surviving workers; the agency says the other two were killed in fighting. The U.N. has also opened two investigations into UNRWA’s operations.

In a podcast Tuesday, Lazzarini said Israel still has not presented formal evidence to the U.N.

“The UN has never, never, ever received any written dossier, despite our repeated call for cooperation from the Israeli authorities,” he said. He added that agency investigators are looking into the allegations, and called on anyone with evidence to share it with the investigation team.

Israel has long accused UNRWA of tolerating Hamas activities in and around U.N. facilities and in some cases even cooperating with the militant group. Lazzarini has denied this and says his agency has safeguards to discipline any employee who violates the U.N. ideals of neutrality.

UNICEF SAYS 1 IN 6 CHILDREN ARE ACUTELY MALNOURISHED IN NORTHERN GAZA

One in six children are acutely malnourished in the isolated and largely devastated northern Gaza, according to a UNICEF study, while Israel has vowed to expand its five-moth offensive against Hamas to the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The report by the Global Nutrition Cluster says more than 90% of children under 5 in Gaza eat two or fewer food groups a day, known as severe food poverty. A similar percentage are affected by infectious diseases, with 70% experiencing diarrhea in the last two weeks. More than 80% of homes lack clean and safe water, with the average household having one liter (quart) per person per day.

The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire on Tuesday, but the U.S. said it would veto it because it’s trying to arrange a deal on its own that would bring a truce and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The number of Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza has risen to 29,195, according to

the Health Ministry in Gaza

, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties in its count. A quarter of

Gaza’s residents are starving

. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 abducted in Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the war.

WHO SAYS 32 CRITICAL PATIENTS TRANSFERRED FROM SOUTHERN GAZA

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says 32 patients in critical condition have been transferred from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza to the European Gaza Hospital to the north and field hospitals over the last two days.

The U.N. health agency said Tuesday that four Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulances carried out the transfers after Nasser became “non-functional” following a weeklong siege and a military raid on the complex on Wednesday.

“Nasser Hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease,” WHO said in a statement. Some 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.

WHO reiterated its call that medical personnel, patients, health infrastructure and civilians should be protected, and that hospitals must not be militarized or attacked.

“The dismantling and degradation of the Nasser Medical Complex is a massive blow to Gaza’s health system,” WHO said. “Facilities in the south are already operating well beyond maximum capacity and are barely able to receive more patients.

LEBANESE WAREHOUSE HIT IN ISRAELI STRIKE BURNS FOR THE SECOND DAY

GHAZIEH, Lebanon — Firefighters in southern Lebanon were battling a diesel fuel fire in a warehouse that was struck by Israeli jets for a second day Tuesday.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the attack Monday targeted a weapons warehouse that belonged to the militant group Hezbollah.

The strike that wounded 14 people was one of the largest near a major Lebanese city since clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border erupted after the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

Mohamad Khalifa, the owner of the warehouse, denied allegations that the facility belonged to Hezbollah.

“This is a company registered for 11 years that works with electricity generators, open from morning until night, receiving customers all day,” he told The Associated Press. “There is nothing hidden here. The claim that this has weapons is a lie.”

The airstrike reduced the warehouse to scraps, with fuel fires slowly burning.