00.29 GMT
It's almost 2:30 a.m. in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and 3:30 a.m. in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and we're about to close this blog. Our live coverage of the Middle East crisis continues later today. All of our coverage can be seen here. Below you will find a summary of the latest developments. Thank you for reading.
Updated at 00.42 GMT
23.47 GMT
Experts have warned that nightly bombing raids by the US and Britain on Thursday were unlikely to deter the Houthis from attempting some form of retaliation, which would in turn risk further airstrikes against one of the world's poorest countries.
Fabian Hinz, A Middle East expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said the scale of the US attacks was “clearly not symbolic,” but:
If you look at the drones and missiles the Houthis have used against international shipping, they are mobile and compact, and the Houthis are experts at hiding them.
Before the bombing of the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said: “Any American attack will not go without response.” Hinz said:
They talk as if they are in a war with the USA and they will not want to escape from it.
Updated at 23.47 GMT
23.34 GMT
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has defended this UK and USA Decision to launch attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The attacks launched overnight were intended to “disrupt and impair the Houthis' ability to continue their reckless attacks on ships and commercial shipping,” Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council in New York today.
It said the attacks were necessary and proportionate, noting that “they were consistent with international law and occurred in the exercise of the United States' inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.” She said:
Yesterday's strike was the latest in a series of self-defense measures taken by the US along with other countries and which came against a broad diplomatic backdrop of global condemnation.
More than 2,000 ships have been forced to leave the Red Sea since November amid Houthi threats, she said, adding:
As long as one of our ships is vulnerable, all of our ships are vulnerable.
Thomas-Greenfield stressed that the US does not want another conflict in the region and that the goal is “simple – to reduce tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea while upholding the fundamental principles of freedom of navigation.”
Updated at 23.34 GMT
23.28 GMT
In Israel, despite Houthi threats of retaliation against Israeli targets, there was little immediate reaction to a possible escalation in Yemen.
Fighting in Gaza and against Hezbollah in the north poses a more pressing threat to Israel, and the attack came on the eve of the Jewish day of rest as the country focused on its legal battle over genocide charges at the International Court of Justice.
The newspaper's military correspondent Yedioy Aharonot welcomed the attacks as a sign of solidarity. Ron Ben Yshai wrote:
The attack in Yemen makes it clear that the US, Britain and the entire West are firmly on their side and are even risking spreading the fighting to other regions in the Middle East, which they have not done so far.
However, he argued that despite the Houthi focus on Israel's war in Gaza, the attack was more about the U.S. geopolitical rivalry with Tehran and the threat to global shipping.
Israel is not the main story here, but rather the warning signal: US patience is running out, and therefore Tehran, and not just the Houthis, could also suffer the consequences.
The Israeli military did not respond to questions about whether it was making additional preparations to protect the country from possible Houthi attacks.
Updated at 23.28 GMT
23.09 GMT
Netanyahu warned of impending violence in West Bank – report
Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, warned against it Benjamin Netanyahu to act to prevent an impending outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank, according to a report.
The agency has submitted a document strongly warning Israel's prime minister that the West Bank is on the brink of major unrest, the Times of Israel reported, Channel 13 reported.
Similar warnings were issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen Dear Halevi, and other senior military commanders, according to Channel 12.
Netanyahu and other members of his war cabinet, including defense ministers, Yoav GallantAnd Benny Gantz, have been warned that Israel is risking a new front in the West Bank given the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and ongoing clashes with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on the northern border, it said.
According to the Times of Israel, the heightened concern is due to Israel withholding hundreds of millions in tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and also denying about 150,000 Palestinian workers the return to their jobs in Israeli settlements.
Because of this Israeli policy, the Palestinian Authority has been unable to adequately pay its employees, including members of its security services, for months. The Shin Bet document warns that this could lead to PA troops turning their weapons against Israeli forces, the report said.
Updated at 23.22 GMT
22.43 GMT
According to a report, the CIA uncovered information about senior Hamas leaders and the location of hostages in the Gaza Strip and passed that information to Israel as it wages its war in the territory.
The creation of the CIA task force came in the days after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 with the priority of gathering intelligence on Hamas' leadership, the New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials.
According to the report, the US does not provide Israel with information about low- or mid-level Hamas operatives.
According to the report, US officials believe so Yahya Sinwar, The suspected perpetrator of the October 7 Hamas attacks is hiding “in the deepest part of the tunnel network” under Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar is also believed to be surrounded by hostages and using them as human shields, “making a military operation to capture or kill significantly more difficult,” the report said.
Updated at 22.43 GMT
22.12 GMT
Patients will die within hours, doctors warn after a key hospital in Gaza lost power
doctors at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza have warned that patients will soon die after electricity was cut off on Friday because the main generator ran out of fuel.
The blackout came shortly after the hospital in Deir al-Balah warned that its fuel supplies would soon run out.
The facility, which serves as the main hospital in central Gaza, said the United Nations had said a fuel shipment was expected but that it had not arrived as of Friday evening.
The hospital went black after dark, and staff kept ventilators and incubators running during the day using solar-charged batteries, AP reported.
A doctor, Taiseer Abu Sweirih, told the news agency:
If the power and oxygen don't come back, these patients you see here will die in two hours or less.
Updated at 22.12 GMT
21.55 GMT
Rishi Sunak said the UK acted in “self-defence” with military strikes in Yemen to “de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the region”, as he faced calls for greater parliamentary scrutiny.
From Ukraine, Sunak said that “we will always stand up for the rule of law” in the face of this aggression, following a series of attacks by Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea.
The Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, have called on the prime minister to recall Parliament to seek approval for the military strike, while warning of the risk of escalation in the Middle East. Labor has called for legal advice relating to the strikes to be made public.
Rishi Sunak addressed the US and UK attacks on Yemen during a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine. Photo: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
The prime minister said he would make a statement to MPs on Monday on “limited and necessary” military strikes in Yemen. Grant Shappsthe defense minister, briefed MPs on a call on Friday but did not answer questions.
A leading Conservative, David Davis, said it appeared to be “sensible” self-defense, but if the British government intended to expand and intensify military action in an aggressive manner, the prime minister should seek Parliament's approval through a vote of MPs.
The military action was supported by all Conservatives and the Labor Front Keir Starmer His party “fully supports” the campaign.
Updated at 21.55 GMT
21.33 GMT
UN chief calls on Houthis to immediately stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has urged countries to avoid escalation in the Red Sea, a day after the US and Britain launched strikes in several parts of Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping.
In a statement from his spokesperson: Stéphane Dujarric, The UN chief warned that the Houthis must “immediately cease all such attacks” on international shipping in the Red Sea.
These attacks are “unacceptable as they threaten the security of global supply chains and have a negative impact on the economic and humanitarian situation worldwide,” he said.
He said countries defending their ships from Houthi attacks must do so in accordance with international law and not escalate the situation. The statement continued:
The Secretary-General emphasizes the need to avoid actions that could further deteriorate the situation in Yemen itself. He calls for every effort to be made to ensure that Yemen follows a path to peace and that the work done so far to end the conflict in Yemen is not lost.
Updated at 21.40 GMT
21.15 GMT
Israeli forces killed three Palestinian men who attacked a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
An IDF statement said its soldiers came under fire during a patrol in the settlement of Adora, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
The soldiers searched the area and “three attackers were identified and neutralized by security forces,” the statement said.
A 34-year-old Palestinian man involved in the attack was shot in the leg, Israeli emergency services said.
In a separate incident in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a man was killed after being severely beaten by Israeli forces in Zeita, north of the town of Tulkarm, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Updated at 21:15 GMT
20.20 GMT
Biden says airstrikes in Yemen are 'a success'
Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the US-UK airstrikes, said they were “a success”.
The US President spoke very briefly before an event on Friday afternoon EmmausPennsylvania to advance its economic policies.
“We will ensure we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior, alongside our allies,” he said.
Asked by a reporter whether he thought the attacks were a success, Biden replied: “Yes. Very. I don't think there are any civilian casualties. That’s another reason why it’s a success.”
The president then offered reporters coffee and said he would speak more about the military action after the campaign rally.
Updated at 20.28 GMT
20.10 GMT
According to the US military, 30 targets in Yemen were attacked
Airstrikes by American and British forces on Houthi targets in Yemen hit nearly 30 targets and used more than 150 munitions, the Pentagon said.
The number is higher than previously announced, Portal said.
Lieutenant General Douglas SimsDirector of the Joint Staff told reporters at a briefing Friday afternoon that he did not expect a high number of casualties from Thursday's attacks because the targets included people in rural areas.
Five people were reportedly killed and six injured in the attacks.
Sims added that Washington expected a retaliatory attempt by the Houthis, adding that the group had fired an anti-ship ballistic missile earlier in the day, but it did not hit any ships.
Updated at 20:10 GMT