Israel’s retaliatory actions against Hamas have killed at least 31,490 people in Gaza (file photo)
Palestinian territories:
Senior officials from Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels held a rare meeting to discuss coordinating their actions against Israel, Palestinian faction sources told AFP on Friday.
Hamas and the Houthis belong to the “Axis of Resistance,” a collection of Iran-backed movements hostile to Israel and the United States that also includes Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi militias.
The Houthis have been attacking Red Sea shipping for months since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, saying they were targeting ships with ties to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Leaders of two Palestinian Islamist groups and the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held “important meetings” with Houthi representatives last week, according to Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources.
The groups discussed “mechanisms for coordinating resistance operations” for the “next phase” of the war in Gaza, the source said, without disclosing the location of the meeting.
Palestinian groups and the Houthis also talked about a possible Israeli ground attack on Rafah in southern Gaza, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the United Nations, approximately 1.5 million people are crowded in and around Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza. Most of them are displaced and crowded on the Egyptian border, living in extremely poor conditions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday he had approved the military’s plan for an operation in Rafah.
According to Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources, the Houthis have confirmed that they will continue to attack Red Sea shipping to “support the Palestinian resistance movement.”
Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houti said on Thursday their attacks would be expanded to include ships avoiding the Red Sea via South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 killed about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Palestinian groups also held about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes about 130 prisoners remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory actions against Hamas have killed at least 31,490 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the region’s health ministry.
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