Greek-owned bulk carrier MT Zografia with 24 crew on board was hit by a missile off Yemen, according to two Greek shipping ministry sources who told news agency Reuters on Tuesday, confirming reports that the vessel was hit while transiting northbound in the Red Sea.
The vessel was sailing empty of cargo from Vietnam to Israel, one of the sources said, adding that there were no injuries.
The US military said it has also seized Iranian-made missile parts en route to Houthis from a boat in the Arabian Sea, the first such operation since the start of Houthi attacks against commercial ships last year.
The strikes have raised fears of a regional escalation, as exchanges of fire continued over Israel’s border with Lebanon.
Israel said one of its troops was “slightly injured” in an exchange of fire along the country’s border with Egypt late Monday, which Cairo attributed to drug smuggling. One person in Egypt was killed. Ties between the two countries have been strained since 7 October.
In Gaza, health authorities reported that the death toll had surpassed 24,000, as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes under intense international pressure to end the fighting as civilian deaths soar and the humanitarian crisis deepens.
Gaza’s press office said Tuesday morning that Israeli strikes had killed another 78 people overnight.
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