Houthis and US both vow escalation after wave of deadly American airstrikes in Yemen – Middle East crisis live | World news

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East.

The US and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen are both vowing escalation after the US launched a wave of deadly airstrikes on Saturday with the stated aim of deterring the rebel group from attacking Red Sea shipping.

Updating an earlier death toll, Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi said 53 people had been killed including “five children and two women”, and that 98 people had been injured.

The airstrikes hit in the capital of Sanaa and other provinces, including Saada, the Houthi rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Houthi rebels claimed on Monday to have twice attacked an American aircraft carrier group within 24 hours, calling it retaliation for the deadly US airstrikes.

The Houthis initially said they launched 18 missiles and a drone at the “aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships” in the Red Sea, before hours later claiming to have fired a second round.

The Houthi rebels say they will continue to target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continued its attacks on Yemen.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Houthis cease their attacks on Red Sea shipping, and warned that Tehran would be held “fully accountable” for their actions.

The Houthis, an armed movement who have taken control of most of Yemen over the past decade, say they have targeted international shipping in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.

The attacks stopped when a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire took hold in January – a day before Trump took office – but last week the Houthis said they would renew attacks against Israeli vessels after Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza this month. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

In other key developments:

• The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, has warned that 1 million children in Gaza “are struggling to survive without basic necessities” amid the ongoing Israeli blockade on all aid. At the beginning of the month, Israel cut off humanitarian supplies to Gaza, claiming it was part of an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a change in the ceasefire agreement to allow for the release of hostages without an Israeli troop withdrawal. “Hundreds of thousands lack clean water and sanitation. Water is a basic human right that no one should be denied,” Unicef said in a post on X on Monday.

• Iran will respond to a letter by Donald Trump “after full scrutiny,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. Last week, an Emirati official brought a letter from the US president proposing nuclear talks with Tehran, which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected, saying such a proposal was “deception” from Washington.

• The Lebanese army has said three Syrians were killed yesterday evening after fighting on the Lebanon-Syria border near the Qasr-Hermel area. “Military units responded to the sources of the fire with appropriate weapons, reinforced their deployment, and maintained security,” the Lebanese army said. “Contacts continue between the army command and the Syrian authorities to maintain security and stability in the border area.”