Middle East crisis live: Blinken heads to Egypt in effort to seek ‘enduring end’ to Israel-Gaza war | Middle East and north Africa

The US military says it’s carried out more strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, hitting what it describes as “explosive uncrewed surface vehicles or USV’s”, which Reuters says are explosive-laden drone boats.

US central command (Centcom) posted on X a few hours ago that:

U.S. forces identified the explosive USVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region. These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy vessels and merchant vessels.

The US military also said they had carried out airstrikes against five missiles in Yemen on Sunday – one designed for land attack and the others for targeting ships.

Late Saturday, US and UK forces carried out their third wave of joint strikes, which hit 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations, according to a statement by the United States, Britain and other countries that provided support for the operation.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the next day that “these attacks will not deter us from our … stance in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Agence France-Presse reports.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is heading to Cairo next to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

It’s a day after Blinken started his latest tour of the Middle East by meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh.

Blinken and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, according to the state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that’s triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.

Blinken did not answer reporters’ questions as he returned to his hotel, says Reuters.

The talks come as the US military confirms that it’s struck explosive uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) operated by Houthi rebels in Yemen – what Reuters describes as “essentially explosive-laden drone boats”.

Blinken’s diplomatic push has been given fresh urgency with Israeli forces pressing farther south towards Rafah, a Palestinian city on the southern border with Egypt where more than half the population of the Gaza Strip has taken shelter. Reuters says Palestinians are hoping the meetings will put in place a truce before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah.

It’s Blinken’s fifth trip to the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas and Blinken is later expected to visit Israel as well as Qatar.

It’s 7:48am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and Cairo. I’m Reged Ahmad and welcome to our latest blog on the Middle East crisis. I’ll be with you for the next while.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken is due to fly to Egypt on his next stop as he continues his fifth tour of the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. In Cairo, Blinken is scheduled to met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken started his visit in Riyadh where he has held talks with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. They discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, said state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.

Meanwhile, the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has reported in its latest update an “increase in strikes in Rafah on 4 and 5 February” as well as an increased influx of internally displaced people into the area.

More on that in a moment but first, a summary of the latest developments so far:

• Six allied Kurdish fighters were killed late Sunday by a drone attack on a base also housing US troops in eastern Syria in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the US launched strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among US troops. Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibilty.

• US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on his fifth visit to the region since October in the coming hours. He will visit Israel as well as Egypt and Qatar. Speaking Monday after meeting in Washington with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said there was “real hope” for success of a “good, strong [ceasefire] proposal”. Jake Sullivan, president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Blinken would press Israel to allow more food, water, medicine and shelter in to Gaza, which has been left in rubble by nearly four months of bombardment.

• In its latest operational update the Israeli military claims it has killed “dozens of terrorists” in the central and northern Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli bombardment continues in Khan Younis, with large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah also being targeted. At least 20 Palestinians were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes on Rafah, the city previously designated a safe zone by the Israeli military and to where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had fled, according to the UN agency humanitarian agency Ocha.

• The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported on social media that Israeli forces have detained the general manager and the administrative director of the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis.

• A 14-year-old Palestinian child was shot dead by Israeli security forces near occupied East Jerusalem after what they claimed was an attempted stabbing attack.

• Spain will send the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA an additional €3.5m (£3m / $3.8m) in aid, foreign minister José Manuel Albares told lawmakers on Monday. The agency has warned of a significant funding shortfall after several large donors suspended funding after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel.

• Russia summoned Israel’s ambassador in Moscow over comments Simona Halperin made in an interview. She had criticised Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust and said Russia was being too friendly with Hamas.

• A former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, is to lead an independent review of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel that at least 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. The review was ordered by Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), last month before the publication of the Israeli allegations and a subsequent mass exodus of donors led by the US and UK.