Image source, Getty Images

The country's deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, has given the only real insight so far into Australia's role.

Speaking to media a short time ago, he said it had come "in the form of personnel in the operational headquarters", but did not elaborate further.

The air strikes were about ensuring freedom of navigation on the seas and maintaining global trade, he added.

"That is completely central to Australia’s national interest. This decision was not taken lightly."

Earlier we reported that the Houthis said they would continue attacking ships in the Red Sea headed for or associated with Israel.

Here's more from the group's spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam: "We affirm that there is absolutely no justification for this aggression against Yemen, as there was no threat to international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas."

"The targeting was and will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine," he wrote in a post on X, external.

Abdulsalam added the US and UK were "wrong" to think that the strikes "would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza".

Image source, Getty Images

Iran's foreign ministry has condemned the strikes on Yemen as a "clear violation of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and a violation of international laws.

The attacks "will have no result other than fuelling insecurity and instability in the region", the ministry's spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a post on the ministry's Telegram group.

Meanwhile the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah also condemned the strikes on Yemen.

"The American aggression confirms once again that the US is a full partner in the tragedies and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza and the region", said the Iran-backed group, according to a Reuters report.

Russia has requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting for Friday in connection with the US-UK strikes on Yemen, the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN says.

The mission told Russia's Tass news agency the meeting was scheduled for 10:00 in New York (15:00 GMT).

On Wednesday a Security Council resolution demanded that Yemen's Houthis immediately end their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Russia and China - permanent members of the Council - abstained in the vote on that resolution, along with Algeria and Mozambique, while 11 nations voted for it.

Image source, Getty Images

US forces and its allies struck more than 60 targets at 16 locations used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the US Air Force said.

These include command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defence radar systems, the US said in a statement late on Thursday, external.

More than 100 precision-guided munitions were used in the strikes.

"We remain committed to our critical partners throughout the Middle East to defend against Iranian-backed militia groups, including Houthi militants, and the threat they pose to regional security and stability,” said US Air Force Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich.

We're receiving reports citing a spokesman for the Houthis saying that the rebel group will continue targeting "Israel-linked" ships in the Red Sea.

We'll bring you more details as we get them.

Suranjana Tewari
Asia Business Reporter, BBC News

Much of the world’s oil and natural gas comes from the region, plus the Red Sea is used to transport roughly 15% of the world’s shipping traffic.

And with the Houthis attacking 27 ships since the war in Gaza erupted, trade flows have been hit at a time when supply strains and low demand are putting pressure on prices globally.

Some major shipping lines and oil giant BP have already diverted vessels around southern Africa, adding time and costs to journeys, rather than risk the Red Sea.

If the crisis continues, the increased costs of oil and goods may be passed on to consumers, in stores and at the petrol pump.

Image source, .

We've just received these images released by the US Central Command and the UK defence ministry, showing part of the operation against the Houthis.

Image source, US Central Command/Reuters

Image source, UK MoD/Reuters

Image source, US Central Command/Reuters

Tom Bateman
BBC State Department Correspondent

US officials are making it clear they see Iran as pulling the strings in this recent wave of Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

"They have provided information and intelligence to the Houthis. They provided the Houthis the very capabilities that they have used to conduct these attacks," says a senior US administration official on a call to reporters.

"We believe that they have been certainly involved in every phase of this," says the official.

But there’s a different emphasis in the messaging from the top. Notably, President Biden’s announcement made no mention of the Iranians. It seems he’s avoiding pointing the finger at Tehran in the heat of this moment.

He focused solely on the Houthi rebels and a “targeted” strike which the Pentagon says is to degrade and disrupt their capabilities - more evidence this is part of a calculated gamble trying to deter more Houthi attacks but avoid a further flare-up in the region.

Whether that approach can work is dubious, and could also be determined now by the extent of the damage inflicted on the ground.

Yvette Tan
Live editor

Image source, Reuters

It's just past 07:30 in Sanaa, 06:30 in Gaza and Tel Aviv and 12:30 in Singapore, from where we're bringing you the latest updates.

If you're just joining us now, here's a quick round up of the US-led air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

• US and UK forces bombed more than a dozen sites used by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen late on Thursday, in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea since November
• Strikes were reported in the capital Sanaa, the Houthi Red Sea port of Hudaydah, Dhamar and north-western Houthi stronghold of Saada
• Houthi officials have warned that US and UK will "pay a heavy price" for this "blatant aggression" The Houthis have been targeting ships heading towards Israel in support of their Hamas allies
• US President Joe Biden warned of possible further measures to "protect our people and the free flow of international commerce"
• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the strikes were "necessary and proportionate"

• The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided support as part of the mission
• Saudi Arabia says it is monitoring the situation with "great concern"

Stay with us as we bring you more.

A Houthi leader, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, has threatened that the US and UK will "soon realise" that the strikes on Yemen were "the greatest folly in their history".

"America and Britain made a mistake in launching the war on Yemen because they did not benefit from their previous experiences," he wrote on X, external, formerly known as Twitter.

"Every individual in this world is faced with two choices," he added. "Either to stand with the victims of genocide or to stand with its perpetrators."

Image source, Reuters

Electric car maker Tesla said it will suspend productions at its factory outside German capital Berlin due to shipping delays caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The delays have created a "gap in supply chains" resulting in the decision to suspend vehicle production - with the exception of a few sub-areas - at the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg between January 29 and February 11, Tesla said in a statement on Thursday, just before the US and UK carried out air strikes.

The Tesla factory outside Berlin employs around 11,500 people and turns out about 250,000 vehicles a year, according to the company.

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

Western military planners and their political masters will be hoping that the overnight air strikes on Houthi targets will have served their purpose in dissuading the Houthis from further unprovoked attacks on global shipping. That seems unlikely.

The Houthis, armed, trained and provided with intelligence by Iran, have been sounding increasingly defiant. They have managed to successfully portray themselves as defenders of Hamas and the Palestinians and an adversary of Israel - something that plays well with popular Arab opinion, given the Israeli decimation of so much of Gaza.

This is not a stance they will give up lightly. When in April 2015 the Saudis began their air campaign against the Houthis’ illegal takeover of power in Yemen they told me they were confident the war would be over by year-end.

Nearly a decade later the Houthis are more firmly entrenched than ever. This has bolstered their sense of defiance and invincibility. The US and its allies will be looking to make this a short, sharp campaign with minimal loss of life. The Houthis may have other ideas.

Image source, Reuters

A group of protesters carrying posters has formed overnight outside the gates to the White House.

The people are chanting "Let Yemen live" and "Hands off Yemen", according to WTTG-TV and video posted on social media.

The event appears to have been organised by anti-war groups Code Pink and the ANSWER Coalition.

Other video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the coalition appears to show another anti-war protest taking place tonight in New York's Times Square.

The Houthis control a large swathe of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and much of the Red Sea coast.

Yemen - poor and ravaged from many years of war - is divided among rival groups.

The governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the UK and US just put out a joint statement.

The statement cites the "broad consensus" of the international community against the Houthis, and notes a UN Security Council resolution last month calling on the rebels to halt their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

The multilateral strikes, says the statement, were conducted "in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence".

"These precision strikes were intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of international mariners in one of the world’s most critical waterways."

The allies say "our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea".

In a phone briefing with reporters, a senior US official said that there has not yet been any military response from the Houthis' commanders.

"As of right now, we have not seen any direct retaliatory action directed towards our US or other coalition members," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We remain prepared, of course to defend ourselves, but we have not seen a response from the Houthis at this time," the official continued.

Saudi Arabia has asked the US and its allies to show restraint and "avoid escalation".

Media reports citing a statement by its foreign ministry said Riyadh was closely monitoring the situation with "great concern".

Tom Bateman
BBC State Department Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

President Biden’s statement is meant to show resolve - "a clear message" - that the US and its allies "will not tolerate" growing attacks by the Houthis on international shipping.

But the Americans have to tread a careful path. Their goal is to deter further Houthi strikes on a key maritime route, without sparking the very escalation their top diplomat - Secretary of State Antony Blinken - has just spent a week in the region seeking to prevent.

The Houthis are backed by Iran but not fully in their operational control. Tehran will wait to see how these developments play out.

The fact is, after years of civil war and Saudi attacks on their military infrastructure, the Houthis are adept at dealing with attempts from a bigger power trying to weaken them.

We don’t know yet the full scale of the US-led strikes. But it’s far from clear this will stop the Houthis - in fact they’ve already warned an American attack will lead to a scaled-up response from them in the Red Sea.

That remains to be seen. But the US, the UK and others are entering a battle of resolve with a war-hardened adversary on its own turf which is more than used to taking losses.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has just released a statement saying that the joint military "action is intended to disrupt and degrade the Houthis’ capabilities".

The attacks "targeted the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed surface vessel, land-attack cruise missile, and costal radar and air surveillance capabilities".

A US defence official said the Pentagon chief had monitored the operation in real time from hospital, where he has had surgery for prostate cancer.

This official said Austin was "actively involved" and spoke to the president twice in the past 72 hours leading up to the operation.

Austin has been under political fire this week after he failed to let the White House know about his hospital admission, including time in intensive care.

Image source, Getty Images