Blinken in Middle East as UK parliament debates Houthi strikes

1. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Saudi Arabia on his fifth trip to the Middle East since 7 October
2. His visit comes after the US said it carried out more strikes against Houthi missiles in Yemen on Sunday
3. The American military said it had struck a land-attack cruise missile and four anti-ship missiles that "were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea"
4. That development followed joint US-UK strikes on Houthi targets - which UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says his country "will not hesitate" to repeat if necessary
5. It follows continued attacks by the Iran-backed group in the Red Sea on military and commercial ships which it says are linked to Israel
6. The US also says it is planning more strikes on Iran-linked targets, in response to the drone attack in Jordan which killed three US troops more than a week ago
7. But Iran says the accusations it was involved are "baseless". The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed militia, claimed responsibility

We're pausing our coverage now

We are pausing our coverage now. Here’s a recap of what’s been happening

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Saudi Arabia on his fifth trip to the Middle East since 7 October. He’s pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages and will travel on to Egypt, Qatar and Israel

• The US carried out more strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday
• UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says the UK "will not hesitate" to repeat the latest joint strikes it took part on Saturday against Houthi targets
• The UN launched a review into "allegations of serious breaches" at its Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and will look at neutrality in the organisation

Review into 'neutrality' at UN's Palestinian refugee agency

The UN Secretary General chief Antonio Guterres has appointed an independent review group "to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made" at UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.

It comes after the agency has sacked several staff members over allegations that 12 employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks in Israel.

The review will be led by Catherine Colonna, the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and is expected to report in April. UNRWA said the review will "assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality".

A number of countries including the UK, US, Canada and Germany have paused funding for the agency over the allegations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the UN agency had been "totally infiltrated" by Hamas.

Three European organisations will work with Colonna on the report - the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

This assessment is separate from an internal probe launched last month by the UN.

BBC Verify

Watch: Have air strikes on Yemen reduced Houthi attacks?

Watch: BBC Verify looks at the impact of strikes in Yemen

Former US ambassador to UN: 'Iran won't be deterred'

BBC

Moving away from the UK Parliament now - John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, has told the BBC he thinks the US strategy is not inflicting any real costs on Iran.

“The real problem is Iran,” says Bolton, “and its 'ring of fire’ strategy around Israel and the Gulf Arab countries designed to advance Iranian influence”.

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, adds Bolton, “Iran has suffered no damage for the work of its terrorist proxies”.

Bolton says Iran won’t be deterred: "The American strategy looks weak."

“Is it better to deal with the Iranian problem now, or do you think their behaviour will become better after they get nuclear weapons?” he remarks.

Referring to the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of Israeli hostages, Bolton says he doesn't want to see a permanent ceasefire as that would allow Hamas to regroup.

Watch: Houthis believe they are Middle East's Robin Hood - Shapps

Watch: Houthis believe they are the region’s Robin Hood, says Grant Shapps

Rise in applications for UK Navy and Army, Shapps says

How is the defence secretary making sure the Royal Navy is being properly funded by the Treasury?, asks Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke.

Shapps replies that over £288.6bn will be invested into equipment for the Ministry of Defence over the next 10 years.

He gives Sir Alec the "good news" that, "since we've been talking very actively about these issues", the defence ministry has recorded:

• an eight-year-high in applications to the Royal Navy
• a six-year-high in applications to the Army
• and a 42% increase this January from last January in applications to join the Air Force

What we learned from UK defence secretary

• We just heard UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps say the latest joint strikes with the US had achieved a "significant effect on degrading Houthi capabilities" in the Red Sea
• But he said the group's abilities had "not been fully diminished"
• He said the UK would not hesitate to act again - reiterating that the aim was to protect vessels using the critical shipping route that links Europe and Asia
• Shapps said the Houthis believed themselves to be "the region's Robin Hood", though "the only people they are robbing are innocent Yemenis, whose food and aid arrives via the Red Sea"
• The UK's main opposition party Labour said it supported the latest military action - as well as the government's diplomatic efforts to pressurise the Houthis to stop their attacks

How will you avoid an escalation?, SNP asks

House of Commons

Dave Doogan from the Scottish National Party (SNP) asks if the government will make sure the campaign is not "escalatory".

He wants to know the government's assessment of growing tensions in the Middle East generally.

Shapps says there is "strong" cross-party support for ensuring the safety of shipping in the Red Sea.

Referring to the Houthi attacks, Doogan says "this is not about supporting Gaza. This is about the Houthis pursuing their own ends".

All targets hit during latest air strikes, says Shapps

In response to those questions, Shapps confirms the latest strikes were effective and says all the targets were hit.

He says surveillance is still being carried out to determine the precise impact, but he is confident "all of the relevant objectives were reached".

Shapps agrees with Healey's argument that the Houthis' attacks are becoming more "sporadic" - "the degrading will have had some impact on that," he says.

Shapps then says that he does not know how long UK strikes in the Red Sea will continue but says "we do want to see this come to a conclusion" as soon as possible.

And he echoes Healey's final point, saying the Houthis attacks have nothing to do with the war in Gaza and calling them "opportunistic pirates".

UK strikes justified but questions remain - UK opposition minister

House of Commons

Shadow defence secretary John Healey says Labour accepts the latest strikes were justified - and that they were limited, necessary and targeted to minimise the risk of civilian casualties.

Healey says that Houthis have put civilian and military lives "in serious danger" but then asks Shapps to confirm whether the strikes were effective.

"Were the targets selected the targets hit? Was the purpose to destroy the drone control centres fully achieved?" he asks.

Noting how the three sets of joint strikes thus far have not been subject to a vote by MPs, Healey asks "at what stage will the government give Parliament a say?"

No civilian casualties in Saturday's air strikes, Shapps says

House of Commons

The latest joint strikes were "very carefully planned" to ensure "minimal" risk of civilian casualties, says Shapps. They took place at night, for example.

"We do not believe there were any civilian casualties on Saturday night," he says.

But it would be "far better" if the Houthis simply stopped their attacks, he adds, saying the UK is increasing its diplomatic efforts to stop the Houthis hitting international shipping.

"The Houthis believe they are the region's Robin Hood," Shapps adds.

He says "the only people they are robbing are innocent Yemenis, whose food and aid arrives via the Red Sea".

Shapps says this is why the UK authorised Saturday's joint strikes with the US, "in accordance with international law" and "in self defence".

Royal Air Force Typhoons and Voyager tankers from the UK joined US forces to hit 11 military separate targets in Yemen which were approved after "careful analysis", he says.

UK will not hesitate to act again - Shapps

House of Commons

Shapps begins his statement with the context of the latest strikes in Yemen.

He says that, despite repeating warnings, Houthi attacks have continued and the UK has been "at the forefront of the international response, always in line with international law and the principle of self-defence".

He says that the UK and US joint response has had "a significant effect on degrading Houthi capabilities".

But he says the ability of Houthis to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea "has not been fully diminished".

He says the UK will not hesitate to act again, adding "instead of ceasing, Houthis have chosen to persist and used increasingly incendiary rhetoric".

Shapps says further missiles and drones have targeted shipping and the Royal Navy in the Red Sea and that "such behaviour is simply intolerable".

Why did UK join strikes on Yemen? UK defence minister addresses MPs

Here in London, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is now speaking in the House of Commons after the latest joint US-UK strikes on Houthis in Yemen.

More than 30 targets were struck on Saturday in the third wave of coalition attacks on the movement, which is backed by Iran.

You can watch his statement on the dedicated live stream at the top of this page. Just hit the play button.

UN says Israeli navy shot Gaza aid lorry

UNRWA

Let's head back to the Gaza Strip itself now. An aid lorry waiting to carry food into north of the enclave has been "hit by Israeli naval gunfire", according to the UN's relief agency for Palestinians.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), UNRWA director Thomas White says "thankfully no one was injured" in the alleged attack.

Photos accompanying the post show a lorry with a gaping hole in the canvas side of its trailer, with damaged boxes and other items spilling out onto the pavement. White does not provide any further details of where the truck was hit

A separate post from the UNRWA account on the same platform says the agency "cannot deliver humanitarian aid under fire".

The BBC has approached the Israeli military for comment, but hasn't received a response yet.

What's been happening today?

As top US diplomat Antony Blinken meets Saudi officials, here's a look back at some of the region's key lines from today:

• Israel's war in Gaza is believed to be Blinken's top priority during his fifth visit to the Middle East since 7 October. The situation in Gaza is linked to unrest in other parts of the region, and our correspondent Barbara Plett-Usher writes that there are serious discussions under way for another break in fighting
• A drone attack on a US base in Syria - believed to have been launched by militias backed by Iran - has killed at least six fighters from an allied, Kurdish-led militia force
• The US earlier said it struck Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday to respond to the group's attacks on ships in the Red Sea - which the Houthis say are a response to Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The Houthis today acknowledged 15 raids in Yemen
• Officials from the Hamas-run health ministry say dozens of people have been killed by Israeli forces in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip in recent days
• The Red Cross has told the BBC that more humanitarian aid is desperately needed in the Gaza Strip. It says more than 1.8 million people are displaced inside the enclave

Blinken's next steps in the Middle East

Reuters

After his meetings in Riyadh with the Saudi crown prince and foreign minister, the US secretary of state will visit Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank later this week.

In Egypt and Qatar, he is expected to push to advance the Egyptian and Qatari-mediated dialogue with Hamas to achieve a hostage deal and a pause to the Gaza conflict.

A truce has already been discussed in detail by US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials.

Blinken's current visit to the region follows criticism of the US from Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said Israel's ally had not been giving enough support. This came after the Biden administration imposed sanctions on four settlers, amid rising violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.

Blinken to meet Saudi Crown Prince and foreign minister

Antony Blinken is now in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the first step of his fifth visit to the region since 7 October.

The US secretary of state is expected to meet the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, before meeting his Saudi counterpart, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud.

Blinken steps off the plane in Riyadh

AFP

Here's an image of the US secretary of state disembarking a few moments ago.

BreakingBlinken lands in Saudi Arabia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Saudi Arabia for his fifth visit to the Middle East since the conflict between Israel and Hamas started on 7 October.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest from his trip to the region.