The UK wants to “de-escalate tensions” in the Red Sea and it joined US-led air strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen as a “last resort,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said ahead of his statement to Parliament on Monday. 

Israel insists its campaign against Hamas won’t end before the Palestinian militant organisation capitulates and returns all the people it took captive more than three months ago, a senior official said, despite mounting international pressure to wind down the offensive.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked his country’s officials to skip the World Economic Forum in Davos this week over its organisers’ stance on Israel’s war against Hamas, according to people familiar with the matter.

US merchant vessel struck as shippers told to avoid Red Sea

Houthi militants hit a US-owned commercial vessel with an anti-ship ballistic missile on Monday, underscoring warnings that the world’s most important trade artery remains too risky for navigation.

The Gibraltar Eagle, sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, was struck at about 4pm local time in the Gulf of Aden, US Central Command said on X. Nobody was injured, the vessel avoided significant damage and was able to continue its journey, it said.

The strike underscores warnings from the US, reported by a top industry trade group, that ships should steer clear of the Red Sea. The Department of Transportation also issued a warning to US merchant ships on Monday telling them to avoid the area until further notice. 

US and UK forces bombed targets in Yemen over the past several days following months of attacks on commercial ships by Houthi militants, who had been targeting vessels with any kind of connection with Israel. The Houthis warned of reprisals against US and UK ships for the bombing.

Eagle Bulk Shipping, operator of Gibraltar Eagle, confirmed the ship was hit by a projectile and suffered limited damage to a cargo hold before sailing away from the area. It was carrying steel products. 

Sunak says UK aims to ‘de-escalate tensions’ in the Red Sea   

The UK wants to “de-escalate tensions” in the Red Sea and it joined US-led air strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen as a “last resort”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said ahead of his statement to Parliament on Monday. 

“We faced an escalating series of attacks from the Houthis on commercial shipping, including an attack on a Royal Navy warship,” Sunak told reporters during a visit to Essex. “That’s unacceptable.”

Read more: Rishi Sunak faces UK Parliament on decision to strike Yemen

Sunak was preparing to address members of Parliament for the first time since the air strikes on Iran-backed Houthis, amid criticism from some legislators who said they should have been consulted before any military action. Still, the main opposition Labour Party said it supported the move, a position that is likely to take much of the political heat out of Sunak’s appearance.

Houthi fighters have been attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for weeks, in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The attacks have disrupted global trade as many vessels have either paused transit through the Red Sea or decided to sail thousands of miles around Africa to avoid the dangerous waters.  

Earlier, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said there was “no precise recipe” for determining if the strikes had deterred the Houthis. “We’re monitoring whether there are shipments or whether we detect intelligence and the rest of it,” he said on Monday. He told the BBC the UK would “look again” at further strikes against the group if the attacks in the Red Sea do not stop. 

Israel will end war in Gaza only with ‘total surrender of Hamas’

Israel insists its campaign against Hamas won’t end before the organisation capitulates and returns all the people it took captive more than three months ago, a senior official said, despite mounting international pressure to wind down the offensive.

“We have to have the total surrender of Hamas, we have to have our hostages back,” Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday. “Hamas has to raise a white flag.”

Israel has suggested it has little appetite to ease off the offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas attacked from the territory on 7 October, killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking around 230 hostages. The military pulled some forces out of Gaza earlier this month and said it had accomplished much of what it set out to do in the northern part of the Hamas-controlled territory.

Even so, fighting continues to rage in the enclave and Israeli officials have said it could continue for months, if not longer. Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble and more than 24,000 people have died, according to health officials there.

Israel’s focusing most of its ground and air offensive on the centre and south of the strip at the moment.

Barkat, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, sees “no other alternative” to the complete defeat of the group, designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union.  

“We have to look at somebody out there that is going to recognise Israel, that doesn’t want to slaughter and kill and wipe Israel off the map,” Barkat said.

Hamas is committed to Israel’s destruction and does not recognise the Jewish state.

Barkat said it’s “difficult to tell” if there would be elections in Israel this year. Netanyahu’s poll numbers have dived since Hamas’s attack and his coalition, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, contains many extremist parties unwilling to countenance any steps toward an eventual two-state solution with the Palestinians, something the US and Israel’s European allies are calling for.

Read more: Israel’s war with Hamas may help Netanyahu hang on to power

“Leave all this to the end of the war,” he said. “Everyone here understands that we’re all united. We’re focusing on one major thing: winning the war and bringing our hostages back.” 

Xi stays clear of Red Sea battle despite risks to China trade

As the US and UK launch airstrikes to stop Iran-backed Houthi fighters from attacking ships in the Red Sea, China again finds itself happily sitting on the sidelines.

It’s not because the world’s second-biggest economy doesn’t have a lot at stake: China imports about half of its crude oil from the Middle East, and it exports more to the European Union than the US. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index last week rose to the highest level since September 2022, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, reflecting the added costs of potentially needing to divert ships around the tip of Africa. 

But for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the costs aren’t yet high enough to outweigh the risks of getting involved and the benefits of doing nothing. He can sit back and let the US and its allies fight the Houthis, stoking anti-US sentiment in parts of the Middle East, while portraying himself as a neutral arbiter and keeping the bulk of his forces ready to fight in Taiwan or the South China Sea.

“They don’t see much to gain from taking a stronger position,” Jennifer Welch, chief geo-economics analyst at Bloomberg Economics, said of Chinese leaders. “It’s similar to their approach to the Russia-Ukraine war, where they’re calling for peace but refusing to condemn or back away from Russia, or substantially contribute to efforts to advance peace.” 

EU watches for Red Sea attacks’ economic impact 

Tensions in the Red Sea as Houthi militants attack commercial vessels may start to have an impact on energy prices and inflation in the coming weeks, according to the European Union’s economy chief.

“We know that we’re starting this year with subdued growth, some good news on the labour market, but increasing concern on the downside risks caused by geopolitical tensions, and especially what is happening in the Red Sea,” Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said.

This “is not for the moment apparently creating consequences on energy prices and inflation, but we think that it should be monitored very closely because these consequences could materialise in the coming weeks,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Brussels on Monday. 

Turkey skips Davos over forum organiser stance on Israel war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked his country’s officials to skip the World Economic Forum in Davos this week over its organisers’ stance on Israel’s war against Hamas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek was planning to attend the annual gathering of political and business leaders until Erdoğan — who’s criticised Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza — stopped him from going, the people said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

A spokesperson on behalf of the World Economic Forum said that “serious security and humanitarian situation in the Middle East will be a key focus”, of the summit.

“We will be providing a platform for key stakeholders from the region and beyond to share views on how to de-escalate and find ways back to diplomacy. In this respect, we will also have over 50 leaders from the Arab world, including a Palestinian high-level representative,” the WEF said. 

Turkey releases Israeli footballer detained over Hamas war message

An Israeli footballer playing in Turkey has left the country after being temporarily detained over a goal celebration referencing Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel, the latest diplomatic spat between the two nations over their opposing stances on the war in Gaza.

Sagiv Jehezkel, who plays for Turkish Antalyaspor and his country’s national team, left Turkey as of 5.15pm local time on Monday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.

Turkey’s state-run TRT withdrew an earlier article that had said Jehezkel would be deported. It is unclear whether Jehezkel (28) will be tried in absentia.

After scoring an equaliser during a match in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on Sunday, Jehezkel pointed to his bandaged wrist, where “100 days” was written next to the Star of David and the date of the incursion by the Palestinian militant group, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 100 taken hostage.

The player was released on Monday pending trial, according to Turkish media. The Israeli denied charges of “inciting enmity and hatred” and said he just wanted the war to end, CNN Turk television reported, citing his testimony. His contract with Antalyaspor will be cancelled, Anadolu Agency said.

Another Israeli player, Eden Karzev, also faces a disciplinary probe by his Turkish club Basaksehir over social media posts related to the war, Sabah newspaper reported on Monday. 

Israel’s original tech entrepreneur wants an end to war

Yossi Vardi, an investor who helped pioneer Israel’s tech economy in the 1990s, wants the war with Hamas to end, taking an unusual stance on a conflict that remains broadly popular domestically. 

“I would like to see the war ending,” Vardi said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The war is not good for anybody.”

Vardi is an outlier in Israeli society, which has come together to support the war effort. Two-thirds of people surveyed in late December said the country shouldn’t agree to US demands to ease the bombing campaign in Gaza, according to a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute.  

Vardi said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government must maintain democratic institutions or the country could face an exodus of tech talent. Israel’s Supreme Court recently overturned legislation that sought to restrain its powers, in a blow to the government’s controversial plan for judicial reforms. 

“If the democratic nature of Israel is not protected there will be bad consequences,” said Vardi, a veteran businessman who was founding investor of the company that created pioneering instant messenger ICQ. “This will have effect on high tech, on the conflict and on everything.” DM

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