Middle East crisis live: Houthis hit ship in latest Red Sea attack

  (The Guardian) : Andromeda Star targeted with three missiles, UK Maritime Trade Operations security agency said See all our coverage of the Middle East crisis Ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels caused “minor damage” to a Panama-flagged oil tanker travelling through the Red Sea on Friday, authorities said. The attack follows an uptick in assaults launched by the Houthis in recent days after a relative lull in their campaign over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, AP reported. Hamas said it was studying the latest Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza, a day after a delegation from mediator Egypt reportedly arrived in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been unsuccessfully trying to seal a new truce deal in Gaza ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. An official briefed on the Egyptian delegation’s meeting with Israeli counterparts on Friday said Israel had no new proposals to make. However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 hostages would be released by the Islamist movement Hamas, instead of the 40 previously under discussion. Aid shipments to Gaza from Cyprus resumed late on Friday, a Cypriot source said, with a ship carrying food to the besieged Palestinian enclave after a pause following Israel’s killing of seven aid workers. The World Central Kitchen NGO paused aid to review its activity in the territory ..