China News Service, Beijing, February 21 Comprehensive news: Yemen's Houthi rebels issued a statement on the 20th, saying that the group launched attacks on a number of Israeli and American targets in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on the same day.
Al Jazeera reported that Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said on the 20th that the group fired several missiles at an Israeli ship named "Mediterranean Silver" sailing in the Gulf of Aden on the same day, and also used drones to attack the Red Sea city of Eilat in southern Israel and a number of US ** ships sailing in the Red Sea.
The British maritime security company Ambury responded that the "Mediterranean Silver" was a Liberian-flagged container ship with an original destination at a Somali port. The ship's operators work closely with an Israeli shipping company and often sail to Israeli ports, which could lead the Houthis to designate it as an "Israeli vessel."
On the 18th and 19th, the Houthis attacked commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. ** Command confirmed on the 20th that the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles on the 19th to the US-owned bulk carrier "Sea Champion" flying the Greek flag and sailing to the port of Aden. One of the missiles was in the vicinity of the ship**, causing minor damage.
Two U.S. ** said on the 20th that a U.S. MQ-9 "Reaper" drone was shot down by the Houthis near Yemen on the 19th. The drone's main purpose is to collect intelligence, and each one costs tens of millions of dollars.
The Associated Press believes that although the U.S.-led campaign against the Houthis has been going on for more than a month, the recent attacks have shown that the group still has the ability to carry out major attacks.
The official Palestinian news agency "Wafa" 20** said that the Israeli army intensively bombed many areas in the Gaza Strip on the same day, killing a total of 103 people and injuring 142 in the past 24 hours. Since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have caused more than 2910,000 deaths, more than 690,000 people were injured.
The Associated Press reported that the United Nations Security Council voted on a draft resolution put forward by Algeria on behalf of Arab countries on the 20th calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Of the 15 members of the Council, 13 voted in favour, the United Kingdom abstained one and the United States voted against. The draft resolution could not be adopted because the United States is a permanent member of the Council and has the right of veto. The US Permanent Representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that the US side understands the desire to take urgent action, but believes that the draft resolution will have a "negative impact" on the negotiations on the hostage agreement.
The Times of Israel reported that the White House said on the 20th that White House Middle East and North Africa Affairs Coordinator Brett McGurk will visit Egypt and Israel this week to seek to advance the hostage agreement and prevent Israel from attacking Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. (ENDS).