Shipping giant Maersk pauses Red Sea transit after attack, raising inflation fears: Updates

Editor's Note: For the latest on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.

Shipping giant Maersk said its vessels will stop sailing on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden “until further notice” after one of its cargo ships was attacked by Houthi militants from Yemen over the weekend.

An extended pause in the Danish company’s operations in the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal in the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia, could increase the cost of delivering goods and possibly drive up inflation.

“An investigation into the incident is ongoing and we will continue to pause all cargo movement through the area while we further assess the constantly evolving situation,” Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, said in a statement Tuesday.

Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, a Maersk competitor, said it would also avoid the key shipping lane at least until Jan. 9 for security reasons, Reuters reported.

Houthi rebels have launched tens of drone and missile assaults on ships in the area since November, purportedly because they have links to Israel. The container ship Maersk Hangzhou was initially hit by a missile Saturday, then fired upon hours later by four boats in an attempted boarding.

Helicopters from two U.S. ships responded to a distress call, sinking three of the boats and driving away the fourth, the U.S. Central Command said.

Israel plan scuttled: Court nixes key part of Netanyahu judicial reform amid troop pullout

Developments:

∎ The U.S. State Department issued a statement Tuesday condemning the "inflammatory and irresponsible'' comments by two far-right Israeli officials − Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir − who recently advocated for Palestinians to leave Gaza.

∎ Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delayed his latest trip to Israel by a few days to early next week, the Times of Israel reported.

∎ The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will leave the Middle East and return to its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, in the "coming days," the Navy says. President Joe Biden ordered the ship to the Mediterranean Sea the day after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel. The amphibious assault vessel USS Bataan and accompanying warships will take the place of the carrier.

∎ Palestinian health workers were vaccinating children in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah after UNICEF said it delivered at least 600,000 doses of vaccines. UNICEF estimated that over 16,600 infants have missed one or more routine vaccinations because of fighting and evacuations.

∎ Heavy fighting was reported Tuesday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was withdrawing thousands of troops but would continue fighting until Hamas was eliminated.

∎ A majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have fled to the southern part of the region since the start of the war. More than 21,900 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants among the dead. In Israel, about 1,200 people have been killed, with around 240 people taken hostage.

∎ Following an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon that killed a senior Hamas leader, protests broke out Tuesday in Ramallah in the West Bank. Palestinians marched through streets after numerous factions called for protests in response to the strike, NBC News reported.

Saleh al-Arouri, top Hamas leader, reportedly killed in Israel strike

Deputy military chief of Hamas killed in drone strike

Saleh al-Arouri, deputy leader of the Hamas military wing, was among six people killed in an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon, according to multiple reports from the region. The attack in the suburbs of Beirut would mark a major escalation in the Israeli-Hamas war. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against any Israeli effort to target Palestinian leaders in Lebanon. The Biden administration has been laboring to keep the war in Gaza from spreading into Lebanon and across the Middle East.

The strike targeted an office belonging to Hamas in Mushrifiyah in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, the Jerusalem Post reported. Arouri, the highest-ranking Hamas figure killed in the war so far, reportedly was a prime target for Israel because of his alleged role in organizing terror attacks in the West Bank.

Speaking to reporters, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not directly mention Arouri’s death but said, “We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas.” And Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon congratulated Israeli security forces in a social media post for killing Arouri, adding, "Anyone who was involved in the (Oct. 7) massacre should know that we will reach out to them and close an account with them."

Arouri spent many years in Israeli prisons before being released in a 2010 swap. In October, Israeli forces demolished his home near Ramallah. The U.S. government has designated him as a “global terrorist."

Survivors of Hamas massacre sue Israeli forces for $56 million

Survivors of the massacre by Hamas-led militants at a rave concert Oct. 7 have filed a $56 million lawsuit against Israel’s security forces, accusing them of negligence and claiming the deadly rampage could have been averted.

The 42 plaintiffs allege the Shin Bet security service, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israel Police and the Defense Ministry failed in their duties. Haaretz has reported that top defense officials held urgent meetings Oct. 6 to discuss a possible Hamas attack. The next day militants crashed across the border from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages.

“A single phone call by IDF officials to the commander responsible for the party to disperse it immediately in view of the expected danger would have saved lives and prevented the physical and mental injuries of hundreds of partygoers, including the plaintiffs,” the lawsuit claims. “The negligence and the gross oversight is beyond belief.”

Foreign minister: Israel 'at the height of World War III'

Israel is “at the height of World War III against Iran and radical Islam,” Israel's new foreign minister said Tuesday at a Jerusalem ceremony marking his ascension to the post. Israel Katz said his top priority is bringing home the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Katz wrote on social media that "my message to the (foreign ministry) employees was succinct. ... Order of priority: hostages, hostages, hostages. This is our commitment to the people and families."

Katz also emphasized the importance of gaining global support for the war with Hamas that started after the militants' brutal border attacks on Oct. 7, pledging that “we will achieve our goal of toppling Hamas.”

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made it clear the war will continue for a long time, even if the Israeli military plans to reduce the number of its troops in Gaza by several thousand as it enters a lower-intensity phase in the conflict.

“The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect,” Gallant said. “Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East.”

Contrasting reactions to South Africa's genocide accusation

Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy said Israel will go before the U.N.'s International Court of Justice to challenge South Africa's "absurd" claim accusing Israel of genocide. Levy chastised South Africa for providing "political and legal cover" to Hamas for the attack on Israel Oct. 7.

In a televised address, Hamas supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked South Africa for bringing forth the case and rejected the Israeli and U.S. demands that Hamas not be part of Gaza's future as "mere illusions.''

“We are the ones who decide our present and future,” Haniyeh said.

Hamas denies reports that militants assaulted Israeli women

A high-ranking Hamas political leader dismissed a New York Times report accusing militants of sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Oct. 7 attacks. Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, accused the Times and other Western media of being biased to "what the Israeli propaganda says" and against the Palestinians and their resistance to Israeli occupation.

USA TODAY has also published a report chronicling similar claims against the militants. The Times report was based on a two-month investigation it said showed "the attacks against women were not isolated events but part of a broader pattern" of violence targeting women on Oct. 7.

"We ask the New York Times to revise such misleading report, and to distance itself from the Israeli propaganda and to preserve its professionalism and reputation," Naim said.

Israel captures Hamas stronghold in Gaza City

The Israeli military has seized the primary Hamas intelligence and control stronghold in Gaza City, military officials said Tuesday. The "Mizrachi Outpost," which included operations rooms to manage the fighting in the entire Gaza Strip, was spread over 37 buildings near residential structures, schools and hospitals, the Israeli military said in a statement. A network of tunnels and an underground control bunker on the site held long-term living spaces used by Hamas military commanders and an armory of weapons, the statement said.

"All the terrorists were eliminated," the statement said. "The 601st Engineering Battalion and the Yalam unit destroyed the entire route of the tunnels."

Israelis seize long-range rockets found in Gaza home

The Israeli military said it seized long-range rockets inside a family home in central Gaza and that dozens of rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons were found in civilian buildings nearby. The rockets were destroyed and the weapons were confiscated, the Israeli military said in a statement that included photos and videos of the weaponry. Israeli officials have defended their assault on Gaza − which has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians − by saying Hamas militants use civilians as human shields.

"We are here in a house of a family that lives up here with a living room, a kitchen and a children's room and a first floor − a military warehouse," the statement said. "You can see here this beehive of more long-range rockets, mortars and other equipment that was used against our forces."

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: Shipping giant Maersk pauses Red Sea transit