Service members aboard the US Navy helicopters returned fire on Houthi gunmen, sinking three boats and killing the crews, US officials said. A fourth boat fled the area.
Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.
Click here for our most recent updates.
Live updates (all times EDT):
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023
7:20 pm: Defense systems shoot down armed drone over Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq
Defense systems shot down an armed drone over the Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq that hosts US and international forces, Reuters reported. The incident occurred just hours after a similar event over the Erbil airport in northern Iraq, which also hosts US and foreign troops. There have been 102 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, according to Reuters.
7:30 am: Former Palestinian Authority minister killed in Israeli strike
Sheikh Yousef Salama, a former Palestinian minister of endowments and religious affairs and Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, was killed on Sunday morning in an Israeli airstrike on his home in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency reported.
Wafa said the house was targeted by the Israeli strike leading to Salama’s killing along with wounding and killing other members of his family.
5:15 am: US sinks three Houthi boats in Red Sea escalation
US Navy helicopters returned fire and and sank three small Houthi militants' boats in the Red Sea on Sunday, killing all their crew, in response to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.
Click here for our most recent updates.
For our previous live coverage, see:
Day 85 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 30
Day 84 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 29
Day 83 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 28
Day 82 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 27
Day 81 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 26
Day 80 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 25
Day 79 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 24
Day 78 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 23
Day 77 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 22
Day 76 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 21
Day 75 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 20
Day 74 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 19
Day 73 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 18
Day 72 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 17
Day 71 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 16
Day 70 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 15
Day 69 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 14
Day 68 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 13
Day 67 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 12
Day 66 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 11
Day 65 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 10
Day 64 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 9
Day 63 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 8
Day 62 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 7
Day 61 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Dec. 6
Day 60 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Dec. 5
Day 59 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Dec. 4
Day 58 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 3
Day 57 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 2
Day 56 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 1
Day 55 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 30
Day 54 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 29
Day 53 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 28
Day 52 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 27
Day 51 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 26
Day 50 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 25
Day 49 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 24
Day 48 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 23
Day 47 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 22
Day 46 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 21
Day 45 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 20
Day 44 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 19
Day 43 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 18
Day 42 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 17
Day 41 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 16
Day 40 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 15
Day 39 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 14
Day 38 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 13
Day 37 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 12
Day 36 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 11
Day 35 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 10
Day 34 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 9
Day 33 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 8
Day 32 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Nov. 7
Day 31 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Nov. 6
Day 30 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Nov. 5
Day 29 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Nov. 4
Day 28 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Nov. 3
Day 27 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Nov. 2
Day 26 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Nov. 1
Day 25 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 31
Day 24 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 30
Day 23 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 29
Day 22 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 28
Day 21 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 27
Day 20 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 26
Day 19 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 25
Day 18 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 24
Day 17 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 23
Day 16 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 22
Day 15 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 21
Day 14 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 20
Day 13 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 19
Day 12 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 18
Day 11 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 17
Day 10 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 16
Day 9 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 15
Day 8 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 14
Day 7 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 13
Day 6 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 12
Day 5 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 11
Day 4 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 10
Day 3 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 9
Day 2 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 8
Day 1 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 7