Sana [Yemen], March 13: Houthi forces in Yemen announced on the morning of March 12 that they would begin attacking "any Israeli ship" passing through the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea, as Israel continues to block aid shipments to the Gaza Strip.
The statement came after the four-day deadline that the Houthis had asked Israel to allow aid to be restored to Gaza expired . As of yesterday afternoon, the Israeli military had not commented on the above developments, according to AP.
Hamas forces in Gaza said that the parties in Qatar on March 11 began a new round of talks on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and expressed hope that US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff would help "initiate negotiations on phase 2 of the agreement." Israel sent a delegation to attend with the hope of extending phase 1 with the content of a ceasefire and hostage/prisoner exchange, but not including a complete withdrawal from Gaza.
In another development, China's Foreign Ministry said it will hold a dialogue with Russia and Iran on the "Iranian nuclear issue" in Beijing on March 14, chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed the information and said the dialogue will focus on "developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions". In addition, Reuters quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on March 12, saying that a letter from US President Donald Trump to Iranian Muslim officials regarding the proposal to negotiate on the nuclear issue "will soon be delivered to Tehran by an Arab country".
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
