NEW YORK: Even as Catholic dogma continues to repudiate same-sex marriage and gender transition, one of the most prominent religious orders in the United States — the Jesuits — is strengthening a unique outreach program for LGBTQ+ Catholics.

The initiative — fittingly called Outreach — was founded two years ago by the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit who is one of the country’s most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church.

Outreach, a ministry of the Jesuit magazine America, sponsored conferences in New York City in 2022 and 2023, and last year launched a multifaceted website with news, essays and information about Catholic LGBTQ+ resources and events.

On Tuesday, there was another milestone for Outreach — the appointment of journalist and author Michael O’Loughlin as its first executive director.

O’Loughlin, a former staff writer at online newspaper Crux, has been the national correspondent at America. He is the author of a book recounting the varied ways that Catholics in the US responded to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s — “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.”

O’Loughlin told The Associated Press he’s excited by his new job, viewing it as a chance to expand the range of Outreach’s programs and the national scope of its community.

“It’s an opportunity to highlight the ways LGBT people can be Catholic and active in parishes, ministries and charities,” he said. “There’s a lot of fear about to being too public about it. … I want them to realize they’re not alone.”

O’Loughlin says his current outlook evolved as he traveled to scores of places around the US to promote his book, talking to groups of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and their families and friends, about how to make the church more welcoming to them.

Those conversations made O’Loughlin increasingly comfortable publicly identifying as a gay Catholic after years of wondering whether he should remain in the church. Its doctrine still condemns any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.”

The latest expansion of Outreach occurs amid a time of division within the global Catholic Church as it grapples with LGBTQ+ issues.

Pope Francis, a Jesuit who has met with Martin and sent letters of support to Outreach, has made clear he favors a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ+ people. At his direction, the Vatican recently gave priests greater leeway to bless same-sex couples and asserted that transgender people, in some circumstances, can be baptized.

However, there has been some resistance to the pope’s approach. Many conservative bishops in Africa, Europe and elsewhere said they would not implement the new policy regarding blessings. In the U.S., some bishops have issued directives effectively ordering diocesan personnel not to recognize transgender people’s gender identity.

Amid those conflicting developments, Martin and other Jesuit leaders are proud of Outreach’s accomplishments and optimistic about its future.

“Pope Francis has been very encouraging, allowing himself to be interviewed by Outreach and sending personal greetings to our conference last year,” Martin added. “Perhaps the most surprising support has been from several bishops who have written for our website, as well as some top-notch Catholic theologians who see the need for serious theological reflection on LGBTQ topics.”

Martin will remain engaged in Outreach’s oversight, holding the title of founder.

The Rev. Brian Paulson, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, evoked both Jesus and the pope when asked why his order had embraced the mission of Outreach.

“Pope Francis has repeatedly called leaders in the Catholic church to emulate the way Jesus spent his ministry on the peripheries, accompanying those who had experienced exclusion,” Paulson said email. “I think the work of Outreach is a response to this invitation.”

Paulson also said he was impressed by Martin’s “grace and patience” in responding to the often harsh criticism directed at him by some conservative Catholics.

There was ample evidence of Outreach’s stature at its conference last June at a branch of Fordham University in New York City. The event was preceded by a handwritten letter of support sent to Martin by Pope Francis, extending “prayers and good wishes” to the participants.

“It’s a special grace for LGBTQ Catholics to know that the pope is praying for them,” Martin said.

Another welcoming letter came from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.

“It is the sacred duty of the Church and Her ministers to reach out to those on the periphery,” he wrote to the conference attendees.

The keynote speakers included Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, and the closing Mass was celebrated by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

LONDON: The UK’s Opposition Labour Party has claimed Infosys was effectively granted “VIP access” after a media report alleged the software services major was promised help to grow in Britain due to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s familial connection with co-founder Narayana Murthy.

based on a freedom of information (FOI) request said Trade Minister Lord Dominic Johnson discussed the UK operations of Infosys during a meeting at the company’s offices in Bengaluru during a visit last April.

A readout of the meeting reportedly said Lord Johnson “made clear that he was keen to see a bigger Infosys presence in the UK and would be happy to do what he could to facilitate that.”

“After the Tories handed billions in taxpayers’ cash to cronies for duff PPE (personal protective equipment), the public will wonder why an outfit so personally close to Rishi Sunak appears to have been granted this VIP access. There are serious questions to answer,” Labour’s shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth told the newspaper.

Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, has a 0.91 percent stake valued at around GBP 500 million in the IT business co-founded by her father and received millions in dividends in the past financial year.

A “steering brief” for the meeting is reported to have said that it “would be good to reassure them on the prospects for the UK economy and remind them of the support that we can provide through DBT [Department for Business and Trade].”

Lord Johnson is said to have outlined to the Infosys executives, whose names were redacted in the FOI documents, the advantages for the multinational as a result of the UK’s high-potential individual visa scheme.

“The investment minister regularly meets businesses and international investors, including a range of Indian businesses, to champion the UK as an investment destination and secure commitments worth billions of pounds. That engagement drives investment across the UK, creating thousands of high-quality jobs and boosting the UK economy,” said a DBT spokesperson.

Infosys has been approached for a reaction over these latest claims, coming in the wake of some opposition murmurings around Infosys seeking visa benefits to accrue from the proposed India-UK free trade agreement (FTA).

The briefing paper for the April 2023 meeting reportedly notes that one of the objectives was to “reassure that the FTA will further create new opportunities and investor-friendly policies to support business growth.”

This is the latest opposition attack faced by Sunak’s wife over her business interests after Labour raised questions over Akshata Murty’s decision to liquidate an investment venture named Catamaran Ventures.

The 43-year-old Indian businesswoman and daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had incorporated the venture in 2013 with her husband as one of the directors before he resigned in 2015. It had emerged in a financial statement last year that she had decided to wind down her firm as a going concern.

The personal finances of Sunak and his wife have previously also been under scrutiny when it was revealed that Murty had legal non-domicile tax status, which meant she did not have to pay UK tax on her Indian income.

However, after an opposition furor over this issue, she had relinquished her non-dom tax status and said she would pay all her taxes in the UK to prevent the issue from becoming a distraction for her husband’s political career.

LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said Monday. Less than 18 months into his reign, the 75-year-old monarch will suspend public engagements but will continue with state business, and won’t be handing over his constitutional roles as head of state.

The palace didn’t disclose what form of cancer the king has, but said it’s not related to his recent treatment for a benign prostate condition.

The palace said “a separate issue of concern was noted” during Charles’ treatment for an enlarged prostate last month, when he spent three nights in a London hospital.

“Diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer,” it said in a statement.

“His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties,” the palace said. “Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual.”

The king is being treated as an outpatient, the palace said.

It said Charles, who has generally enjoyed good health, “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.”

The palace added that the king “has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”

Charles became king in September 2022 when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.

News of the king’s diagnosis comes as his daughter-in-law Kate, Princess of Wales, recovers from abdominal surgery that saw her hospitalized for about two weeks.

Kate is still taking a break from royal duties as she recovers. Her husband, Prince William, who is heir to the throne, also took time off to help look after the couple’s three children, but is due to preside over an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle and a charity dinner on Wednesday.

Charles took the throne intending to preside over a slimmed-down monarchy with fewer senior royals carrying out ceremonial public duties. But with Charles and Kate both temporarily sidelined, Prince Harry self-exiled to California and Prince Andrew largely banished from view because of his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the royal “Firm” risks becoming severely overstretched.

The king personally called both William and Harry — as well as his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — to share news of his health.

Harry, who quit royal duties in 2020, has spoken to his father about the diagnosis and “will be traveling to U.K. to see His Majesty in the coming days,” said the office of Harry and his wife, Meghan.

U.K. political leaders sent messages of support. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery. I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country will be wishing him well.”

U.S. President Joe Biden, traveling in Las Vegas on Monday, said he had just learned about Charles’s diagnosis and said he hopes to speak with him, “God willing.”

“I’m concerned about him,” Biden told reporters.

The president later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Navigating a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship takes hope and absolute courage. Jill and I join the people of the United Kingdom in praying that His Majesty experiences a swift and full recovery.”

Charles departed from royal tradition with his openness about his prostate condition. For centuries Britain’s royal family remained tight-lipped about health matters.

When U.K. monarchs had real power, news of illness was withheld for fear it might weaken their authority. The habit of secrecy lingered after royals became constitutional figureheads.

The British public wasn’t told that Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, had lung cancer before his death in February 1952 at the age of 56, and some historians have claimed that the king himself wasn’t told he was terminally ill.

In the final years of Elizabeth’s life. the public was told only that the queen was suffering from “mobility issues.” The cause of her death was listed on the death certificate simply as “old age.”

Pat Price, founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign, said millions shared the “collective concern” for the king’s health.

“The king’s openness about his battle with cancer is a powerful reminder that one in two of us may face cancer at some point in our lives,” Price said.

WASHINGTON: Half of US adults say Israel’s 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has “gone too far,” a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Broadly, the poll shows support for Israel and the Biden administration’s handling of the situation ebbing slightly further across the board. The poll shows 31% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats. That’s as an earlier spike in support for Israel following the Hamas attacks Oct. 7 sags.

Melissa Morales, a 36-year-old political independent in Runnemede, New Jersey, says she finds herself watching videos and news from Gaza daily. Images of Palestinian children wounded, orphaned or unhoused by the fighting in Gaza make her mind go to her own 3-year-old boy.

“I just can’t even imagine, like, my son roaming the streets, wanting to be safe. Wanting his mom. Or just wanting someone to get him,” she said.

Israel’s offensive has gone too far, Morales says, and so has the Biden administration’s support for it. Biden has supported Israel militarily and diplomatically since the first hours after the Hamas militant group’s Oct. 7 attacks, which Israel says killed 1,200 people.

The U.S. has become increasingly isolated in its support of Israel as the Palestinian death toll rises past 27,000, with two-thirds of the victims women and children. The Biden administration says it is pressing Israel to reduce its killing of civilians and allow in more humanitarian aid.

“These kids … they’re needing the end of this,” Morales said. “It’s such an unfair fight.”

John Milor, a cybersecurity expert in Clovis, California, who describes himself as a Republican-voting independent, says he remains “100%” behind Israel.

But Milor notices more young people in his circle speaking out against Israel. A visit to a family friend led to Milor being aghast when the man’s stepson denounced Israelis as “warmongers.”

“And I’m like, ”You’re kidding, right?”’ Milor recounted.

‘’It’s not like they asked to be attacked, you know,” Milor said by phone this week. “And they still have hostages over there.”

The poll shows 33% of Republicans now say Israel’s military response has gone too far, up from 18% in November. Fifty-two percent of independents say that, up from 39%. Sixty-two percent of Democrats say they feel that way, roughly the same majority as in November.

In all, 50% of US adults now believe Israel’s military offensive has gone beyond what it should have, the poll found. That’s up from 40% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in November.

The new poll was conducted from Jan. 25 to 28. That overlapped with the killing of three U.S. troops in Jordan, the first deaths among American service members in what’s been widening regional conflict since Oct. 7. US officials blamed a drone strike by a Hamas-allied militia.

The new poll’s findings include more worrying news for President Joe Biden when it comes to support from his own political party.

Fracture lines are growing in his Democratic base, with some key Democratic blocs that Biden will likely need if he’s going to win a second term unhappy with his handling of the conflict.

About 6 in 10 non-white Democrats disapprove of how Biden is approaching the conflict, while about half of white Democrats approve.

Notably, about 7 in 10 Democrats under 45 disapprove. That’s the opposite of the attitude of older Democrats, among whom nearly 6 in 10 approve.

Sarah Jackson, a 31-year-old professional closet designer in Chicago, is a Democrat. She says Biden has been about right in his level of support for both Israel and the Palestinians.

But as Israel’s air and ground offensive goes on, Jackson’s thoughts turn to finding the best way to phase down US support for it, she says.

“At first I was very supportive, because I did believe they need some type of help,” Jackson said.

“But yes, as it goes on, I do become more worried,” she said. That includes worrying a new leader will take office here, and phase down support for Israel too abruptly, she says.

About 7 in 10 of the Democrats who disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict say it’s extremely or very important for the US to help negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

The poll also shows about half of US adults are extremely or very concerned that the latest war between Israel and Hamas will lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East.

About half have heard “a lot” or “some” about the airstrikes from the United States and British militaries against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the airstrikes, including about 6 in 10 of those who say they’ve heard a lot or some about them. About an additional 4 in 10 say they neither approve nor disapprove, and about 1 in 10 disapprove.

The poll shows 35% of U.S. adults now describe Israel as an ally that shares US interests and values. That’s back in line with the views from before the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, after a brief increase in November to 44%.

Thirty-six percent of U.S. adults say the US is not supportive enough of the Palestinians, up slightly from 31% December.

About 6 in 10 call recovering hostages being held by Hamas an important US priority, but only about 3 in 10 say it’s highly important to provide aid to Israel’s military to fight Hamas.

A similar share of US adults say that about negotiating the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

“If Hamas were in charge, absolutely not,” Milor said on the subject of an independent Palestinian nation. He said he worried that any Palestinian state would become a base for broader attacks.

But Morales, the woman from northwest New Jersey, said Palestinians should have a safe state, or at least a safe community.

“Everyone deserves a safe space where they can just be. Without interference because of who they are,” she said.

The Houthi movement in Yemen says it has struck a US merchant ship in the Red Sea in a fresh attack targeting commercial shipping.

BBC quoted Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea as saying on Wednesday that the movement’s armed forces had targeted an American merchant ship named KOI with “several appropriate naval missiles”.

The ship, he said, had been heading to “the ports of occupied Palestine”, a phrase which is sometimes used to mean Israel.

Maritime security firm Ambrey said a vessel operating south of Yemen’s port of Aden had reported an explosion on board but it did not name the ship.

Meanwhile, the US has launched new air strikes in Yemen, targeting 10 drones reportedly being set up to launch.

According to Reuters news agency, the KOI is a Liberian-flagged container ship operated by UK-based Oceonix Services. The same company’s fleet includes the oil tanker Marlin Luanda, which was damaged by a missile on Saturday

The Houthis regard all Israeli, US and British ships as legitimate targets following Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, and US and British targeting of Houthi missile positions in what the two countries say are efforts to protect commerce.

RAFAH: Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants Wednesday near the main hospital in Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis, where medics said hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people were unable to leave because of the fighting.

Israel has ordered residents to leave a swath of downtown Khan Younis that includes Nasser and two smaller hospitals as it pushes ahead with its 3-month-old offensive against Hamas. The United Nations humanitarian office said the area was home to 88,000 Palestinians and was hosting another 425,000 displaced by fighting elsewhere.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders said its staff was trapped inside Nasser Hospital with some 850 patients and thousands of displaced people because the surrounding roads were inaccessible or too dangerous. Nasser Hospital is one of only two hospitals in southern Gaza that can still treat critically ill patients, the group said. Gaza’s Health Ministry also said the hospital had been isolated.

The Israeli military said its forces were battling militants inside Khan Younis after completing their encirclement of the city the day before. It said aircraft were striking targets as part of the operations there and had also targeted suspected militants in central and northern Gaza.

Thousands of people fled south from Khan Younis on Tuesday toward the town of Rafah. The U.N. says some 1.5 million people — around two-thirds of Gaza’s population — are crowded into shelters and tent camps in and around Rafah, which is on the border with Egypt.

Even there, Palestinians have found little safety, with Israel regularly carrying out strikes in and around the town. Palestinian witnesses said that in recent days Israeli soldiers and tanks had pushed into parts of Muwasi, a sandy area along the coast that Israel had declared a safe zone, where tens of thousands of people were living in tents without basic services.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the offensive has killed at least 25,490 people — the majority women and children — and wounded another 63,354. Its count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. U.N. officials have expressed fears that even more people could die from disease, with at least one-quarter of the population facing starvation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the offensive until “complete victory” against Hamas, which started the war with its assault across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 250.

Netanyahu says Israel is also committed to returning the over 100 hostages that remain in captivity after most of the others were freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners during a November cease-fire.

Families of the hostages are also calling for a deal, and have staged increasingly aggressive protests against Israel’s leaders, even interrupting a parliamentary committee meeting Monday. Egypt and Qatar were working on a new agreement, but officials say the gap between the two sides is still wide.

In Israel, bitter political divisions that were set aside after the Oct. 7 attack have begun to reemerge, with Netanyahu facing widespread anger and protests over the failure to prevent the attack and the plight of the hostages.

Hamas was still attacking Israeli forces, even in some of the most devastated areas, and firing rockets into Israel. An attack Monday near the border killed 21 Israeli soldiers, the military’s biggest loss of life in a single attack since Oct. 7.

Israeli media said the troops were working to create an informal buffer zone about a kilometer (half a mile) wide along the border to prevent militants from attacking Israeli communities near Gaza. The military said the operation was aimed at providing security for those communities but has declined to say if it plans to carve out an official buffer zone.

The United States, which has provided essential military and diplomatic support for the offensive, has said it is opposed to any attempt by Israel to shrink Gaza’s territory.

But President Joe Biden’s administration has also urged Israel to scale back military operations and facilitate the delivery of more aid — with limited success. And Netanyahu has outright rejected calls from the U.S. and much of the international community for postwar plans that include the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.

LAGOS: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said Global South is about a “mindset, a solidarity and a self-reliance” and without the advancement of the Global South, the world is not going to see planetary progress.

Addressing the Nigerian Institute Of International Affairs (NIIA) here on India and the Global South, he said the global agenda today is on promoting rebalancing and multipolarity, thereby restoring the world to its natural diversity.

The global conversation today is focussing “on the advancement of the Global South because without the advancement of the Global South, we are not going to see planetary progress,” Jaishankar said.

However, this global conversation, the minister said, by its very nature is constantly distracted.

Some crisis happens, some big event happens, some other agenda comes in place. And the global conversation then boggles, it goes off track. People lose that sense of focus about what are the priorities, he said.

“So one of the big achievements of our (India’s) G20 presidency was that, after some experience with a very polarised divided world, which was very much, I would say, focused on one particular region…we were able to bring back the attention of the Global South,” the minister said.

Global South is about “a mindset, a solidarity and a self-reliance”, he said.

Jaishankar said, “Global South, most of all, is a mind set. Those who have it, will have it. Those who don’t have it, will never get it. It is a mind set, which has some core principles.”

“These are principles from our habits, from our political culture, from the way we have practised international relations…For example, non-intervention. For example, non-interference or being non-judgmental, or non-alliance,” he added.

Global South, the EAM said, is also about solidarity. “Global South means having a heart. Global South means willing to share,” Jaishankar said.

Elaborating, he said when India was still vaccinating people, it started supplying vaccines to 100 other countries in the world.

“And I compare it to Global North, where there were countries sitting on vaccines eight times the number of the population, and they won’t give it to a small island next to them. That is the difference between Global South and Global North,” Jaishankar said.

The transformation over the last decade, the minister said, has “enabled India to be an example, a partner and a contributor.”

The minister also said the simple principle that must guide global governance, conversations and debates, is a conviction that no one should be left behind.

“And when we speak about no one being left behind. I think the welfare of Africa is particularly important. In fact, I will say, the rise of Africa is even more crucial because in a changing global order, we have seen growth in continents, once they got decolonised, that growth over a period of time, created a rebalancing — of political rebalancing and economic rebalancing,” Jaishankar said.

“And that rebalancing today is creating a world of a multipolar nature, where middle powers and perhaps others to regional organisations would have a fairer and more equitable say in how the world is strong,” he added.

So the global agenda, the minister said, in many ways, today is about restoring the world to its natural diversity. Because the world was diverse, the world is diverse. It was distorted by the period of Western domination.

“And in a post colonial world today, restoring that natural diversity is actually our collective objective,” he said.

Jaishankar said contemporary challenges emanate from old forms of domination as well as new economic concentration.

Today, many of those who dominated the world for the last 200 to 300 years, continue to do so with new instruments, with new regimes, with different techniques, he said.

Jaishankar also said the old “world order continues obstinately because those who are in the driving seat, don’t want to create more seats for other people…”

Jaishankar arrived in Nigeria in the concluding leg of his two-nation tour to Uganda and Nigeria. He arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Sunday after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Uganda.

An MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) surgeon at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reports that last night, Israeli forces heavily bombed the area close to the hospital with no prior evacuation order, causing patients and people sheltering there to flee in panic.

“We are extremely concerned for the safety of our staff and patients. Once again, we call for the protection of all medical facilities and the unhindered access and provision of health care for both civilians and aid workers,” the surgeon said.

More than 24,000 people have been killed and nearly two million are internally displaced within Gaza. Without access to food, clean water, shelter, and health services, Palestinians also face a heightened risk of disease and starvation. And while the continues, the few hospitals that remain operational are overwhelmed and lack essential medical supplies that can save lives.

Maha (names changed for privacy and security) is from northern Gaza. She went to a hospital when she felt labor was starting, but she couldn’t be treated. All the delivery rooms were full. She knew something wasn’t right, that she needed to be admitted—she has had a Cesarean section before. But with no other option, she had to go back to her tent. Her son died. She gave birth to him in the latrines closest to her tent, according to Pascale, working as an emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Gaza for just over three weeks.

“When I entered our facility, Maha was sitting on her bed after receiving postpartum care. She’s the one who called me to talk to her. She needed to express her deep pain to all of us; she needed to cry out to us about the injustice she experienced. Without this war, she would not have lost her son,” the surgeon said in a statement issued by the MSF.

Pascale was narrating the woes of patients at Al-Emirati Hospital in Rafah, where people receive postpartum care. In addition to the exhaustion of childbirth, they must contend with the displacement, poor living conditions in Rafah, and the uncertainty of what tomorrow holds.  

Nour had a little girl, a very pretty one. After giving birth, Nour was happy but tired, half asleep and a little pale. My colleagues gave her a hemoglobin test—she needed to take some iron and vitamin C supplements. Her mother-in-law accompanied her and told me that their family is from Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Her house and her street are now reduced to rubble. I asked what her baby girl’s name would be. Nour hadn’t decided yet. But her mother-in-law would like her name to be Salam (Arabic for “peace”), which has never been more needed. 

Reham* had just given birth to a baby girl, too. They are both fine. She wanted to show me the face of the newborn and told me with a smile that her name is Amal, meaning “hope,” because hope is what encourages Palestinians to get up every morning despite the horrors they have lived through. And it’s the last thing Reham wants to lose.

Washington (AP): The US and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, US officials said. The military targets included air defence and coastal radar sites, drone and missile storage and launching locations, they said.

President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the US and its allies “will not tolerate” the ceaseless attacks on the Red Sea by the rebels. And he said they only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberation.

“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea – including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” Biden said in a statement. He noted the attacks endangered U.S. personnel and civilian mariners and jeopardized trade, and he added, “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

Associated Press journalists in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, heard four explosions early Friday local time. Two residents of Hodieda, Amin Ali Saleh and Hani Ahmed, said they heard five strong explosions hitting the western port area of the city, which lies on the Red Sea and is the largest port city controlled by the Houthis. Eyewitnesses who spoke with the AP also said they saw strikes in Taiz and Dhamar, cities south of Sanaa.

The strikes marked the first US military response to what has been a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. And the coordinated military assault comes just a week after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Houthis to cease the attacks or face potential military action. The officials described the strikes on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. Members of Congress were briefed earlier Thursday on the strike plans.

The warning appeared to have had at least some short-lived impact, as attacks stopped for several days. On Tuesday, however, the Houthi rebels fired their largest-ever barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, with US and British ships and American fighter jets responding by shooting down 18 drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile. And on Thursday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, which was seen by a commercial ship but did not hit the ship.

In a call with reporters, senior administration and military officials said that after the Tuesday attacks, Biden convened his national security team and was presented with military options for a response. He then directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who remains hospitalized with complications from prostate cancer surgery, to carry out the retaliatory strikes.

In a separate statement, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Royal Air Force carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by the Houthis. The Defense Ministry said four fighter jets based in Cyprus took part in the strikes.

Noting the Houthis have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on shipping, he added, “This cannot stand.” He said the U.K. took “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.”

The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea joined the U.S. and U.K. in issuing a statement saying that while the aim is to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, the allies won’t hesitate to defend lives and protect commerce in the critical waterway.

The rebels, who have carried out 27 attacks involving dozens of drones and missiles just since Nov. 19, had warned that any attack by American forces on its sites in Yemen will spark a fierce military response.

A high-ranking Houthi official, Ali al-Qahoum, vowed there would be retaliation. “The battle will be bigger … and beyond the imagination and expectation of the Americans and the British,” he said in a post on X.

Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, described strikes hitting the Al-Dailami Air Base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of the Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airport near Hajjah.

The Houthis did not immediately offer any damage or casualty information.

A senior administration official said that while the U.S. expects the strikes will degrade the Houthis’ capabilities, “we would not be surprised to see some sort of response,” although they haven’t seen anything yet. Officials said the U.S. used warplanes based on the Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and Air Force fighter jets, while the Tomahawk missiles were fired from Navy destroyers and a submarine.

The Houthis say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their targets increasingly have little or no connection to Israel and imperil a crucial trade route linking Asia and the Middle East with Europe.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Wednesday that demanded the Houthis immediately cease the attacks and implicitly condemned their weapons supplier, Iran. It was approved by a vote of 11-0 with four abstentions – by Russia, China, Algeria and Mozambique.

Britain’s participation in the strikes underscored the Biden administration’s effort to use a broad international coalition to battle the Houthis, rather than appear to be going it alone. More than 20 nations are already participating in a U.S.-led maritime mission to increase ship protection in the Red Sea.

U.S. officials for weeks had declined to signal when international patience would run out and they would strike back at the Houthis, even as multiple commercial vessels were struck by missiles and drones, prompting companies to look at rerouting their ships.

On Wednesday, however, U.S. officials again warned of consequences.

“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that might happen,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a stop in Bahrain. He said the U.S. had made clear “that if this continues as it did yesterday, there will be consequences. And I’m going to leave it at that.”

The Biden administration’s reluctance over the past several months to retaliate reflected political sensitivities and stemmed largely from broader worries about upending the shaky truce in Yemen and triggering a wider conflict in the region. The White House wants to preserve the truce and has been wary of taking action in Yemen that could open up another war front.

The impact on international shipping and the escalating attacks, however, triggered the coalition warning, which was signed by the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Transit through the Red Sea, from the Suez Canal to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is a crucial shipping lane for global commerce. About 12% of the world’s trade typically passes through the waterway that separates Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, including oil, natural gas, grain and everything from toys to electronics.

In response to the attacks, the U.S. created a new maritime security mission, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, to increase security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, with about 22 countries participating. U.S. warships, and those from other nations, have been routinely sailing back and forth through the narrow strait to provide protection for ships and to deter attacks. The coalition has also ramped up airborne surveillance.

The decision to set up the expanded patrol operation came after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Houthis in Yemen on Dec. 3.

There has been no respite from Israel’s air raids, artillery fire or ground fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to the despair of Palestinians surviving the onslaught.

“We hope that the war will end and that we will be able to return to our homes and live in peace”, said the 33-year-old from Khan Yunis, an epicentre of the conflict in the south of Gaza.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says the Israeli military campaign has killed at least 21,672 people, mostly women and children — by far the heaviest death toll of any Israeli operation.

On Sunday the ministry reported numerous deaths in overnight strikes on central Gaza’s Zawayda and the nearby Al-Mughazi refugee camp.

The fighting began with Hamas’s October 7 attacks, which left about 1,140 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, and Israel says 129 of them remain in captivity.

The Israeli army says 170 soldiers have been killed in combat inside Gaza.

An Israeli siege imposed after October 7, following years of crippling blockade, has led to dire shortages of food, safe water, fuel and medicine in Gaza, with aid convoys able to offer only sporadic relief.

The UN says more than 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have fled their homes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the growing threat of infectious diseases and the UN says Gaza is “just weeks away” from famine.

“We will guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” he told a news conference.

As Netanyahu spoke, more than a thousand relatives and supporters of the hostages demonstrated in Tel Aviv to maintain pressure on his government to bring their loved ones home.

“I hope there’s going to be another deal, even a partial deal or some will be released. I’m trying to hold on to every shred of hope,” said Nir Shafran, 45.

Gal Gilboa-Dalal has been traumatised since the rave he attended with his brother Guy was stormed by Hamas commandos on October 7.

“I was there with him and he was taken away the minute I wasn’t with him. So I went with him and I came back without him and it’s like time has stopped ever since,” he said.

In Khan Yunis, medics at Nasser hospital described severe shortages.

“The hospital is receiving a lot more (patients) than its capacity,” doctor Ahmad Abu Mustafa said in footage shared by the WHO.

“The beds are full… and we are basically short on all sorts of medicine supplies.”

The fighting has put 23 hospitals and 53 health centres out of service, while 104 ambulances have been destroyed, the health ministry said.

In Zawayda, Palestinians pulled the body of a child from under the rubble on Saturday after an Israeli strike.

“We pulled (out) nine martyrs, who were members of a very peaceful family. Two adjacent houses were targeted,” said the area’s civil defence director, Rami al-Aidi.

International mediators — who last month brokered a one-week truce that saw more than 100 hostages released and some aid enter Gaza — continue in their efforts to secure a new pause in fighting.

US news outlet Axios and Israeli website Ynet, both citing unnamed Israeli officials, reported that Qatari mediators had told Israel that Hamas was prepared to resume talks on new hostage releases in exchange for a ceasefire.

A Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Friday to discuss an Egyptian plan proposing renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and ultimately an end to the war, sources close to Hamas said.

Islamic Jihad, another armed group fighting alongside Hamas, said on Saturday that Palestinian factions were “in the process” of evaluating the Egyptian proposal.

A response will come “within days”, the group’s chief negotiator, Muhammad al-Hindi, said.

Asked about the negotiations on Saturday, Netanyahu said Hamas had been “giving all kinds of ultimatums that we didn’t accept”.

“We are seeing a certain shift (but) I don’t want to create an expectation.”

The Gaza war has intensified tensions across the region.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

On Saturday, the US military said one of its destroyers shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from territory controlled by the rebels.

The US Central Command described it as the “23rd illegal attack by the Huthis on international shipping” since November 19.

CENTCOM said the destroyer had also responded to a call for help from a Danish container ship that was hit in a separate strike.

Israel has also traded frequent cross-border fire with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

“If Hezbollah wants to extend the war, it will be dealt blows like never before, and so will Iran,” Netanyahu warned Saturday.

In Syria, at least 23 pro-Iran fighters — five Syrians, four Hezbollah members, six Iraqis and eight Iranians — were killed on Saturday in raids “likely” carried out by Israel, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.