US, Yemen's Houthis agree ceasefire; rebel group to continue attacking Israel

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Here's a summary of the key developments on Tuesday:

• The United States has ended its military operations against Yemen's Houthis in a ceasefire pact brokered by Oman.
• Israeli warplanes "completely destroyed" Sanaa international airport and hit other targets in the country in response to Sunday's missile strike on Ben Gurion airport.
• Despite the truce with the US, Houthis officials say they will continue to attack Israel until it ends its military assault on Gaza and lifts the blockade.
• The Israeli military killed at least 50 Palestinians on Tuesday - including at least 22 sheltering in a school - as it continued its relentless attacks across the Gaza Strip. More than 52,600 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since 7 October 2023.

We'll continue our live coverage of the latest developments in Gaza and the rest of the region from 0900am on Wednesday.

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A US F-18 fighter jet was lost in the Red Sea on Tuesday after tipping off the flight deck of the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier, in the second such incident in about a week, two US officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials said the fighter jet failed to come to a proper halt after landing on the carrier. Both members of the crew ejected before the jet plunged into the water and were recovered by a rescue helicopter, one of the officials said.

The Navy did not have an immediate response.

Last week, another fighter jet fell overboard from the Truman, which has been aiding US strikes against Yemen's Houthi fighters.

(Reuters)

All flights to and from Yemen's main airport in Sanaa have been suspended until further notice after Israel destroyed large parts of it on Tuesday, the airport's general director said on Wednesday in a post on X.

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport on Tuesday, its second attack in two days after the Houthis on Sunday landed a missile near Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

(AFP)

The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli strike on the school in Al-Bureij refugee camp has risen to 31, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.

Gaza civil defence media officer Ahmad Radwan told AFP that a total of 31 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli strikes "on a school sheltering displaced persons" in the refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

(AFP)

Gaza's civil defence agency said Wednesday that nine people were killed in a fresh Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the centre of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Nine dead and dozens of injuries in a new airstrike that targeted the northern side of Abu Humeisa School, which shelters displaced people in Al-Bureij camp," civil defence media officer Ahmad Radwan told AFP, after rescuers said an earlier Israeli strike on the same site killed 22.

(AFP)

Thirteen senior Conservative MPs and peers are urging the British prime minister to immediately recognise Palestinian statehood, according to a letter seen by The Guardian.

UK officials have in recent weeks held talks with France about whether to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN conference next month.

"For decades, the Palestinian people have endured occupation, displacement and systemic restrictions on their basic freedoms," reads the letter, organised by MP Kit Malthouse.

"Recognising Palestine would affirm our nation’s commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights. It would send a clear message that Britain stands against indefinite occupation and supports the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations," it continues.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that three more prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza have died, bringing the number still alive to 21.

Trump said that 24 were alive when he received a recent visit by former Israeli captives but "as of today it's 21, three have died."

"Twenty-one, plus a lot of dead bodies," the president said at a White House swearing-in ceremony for his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

He did not provide any further details.

(AFP)

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on Tuesday hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing 22 people and wounding dozens more.

Civil defence media officer Ahmad Radwan told AFP that "the number of martyrs has risen to 22, with dozens wounded in the Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced persons" in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

(AFP)

President Donald Trump's administration said Tuesday that the United States would end a separate office for Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem, a largely symbolic step that supports the Israeli position.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio "has decided to merge the responsibilities of the Office of the Palestinian Affairs office fully into other sections of the United States embassy," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.

Trump in his first term moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

In doing so, Trump closed a historic consulate in Jerusalem that had served US diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians.

(AFP)

Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa will discuss post-war reconstruction and economic cooperation during his meeting with his French counterpart in Paris on Wednesday, a Syrian government official said on Tuesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron will host Sharaa in the Syrian ruler's first visit to Europe since taking office following the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

The two presidents will hold talks on "several bilateral and regional issues", said the Syrian information ministry official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media.

"The issues of reconstruction and prospects for economic cooperation and development in Syria are at the forefront," the official told AFP, adding that the focus will be on the energy and aviation sectors.

(AFP)

The UN's Yemen envoy has described the attacks on airports in Yemen and Israel as a "grave escalation" and urged both sides to stop the violence.

"I once again urge all stakeholders to exercise the utmost restraint and refrain from escalatory actions that risk inflicting further suffering on civilians," Hans Grundberg said in a statement on Tuesday.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike Tuesday on a car in the country's south killed one person, the latest attack despite a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah militants and Israel.

The ministry said in a statement that the "Israeli enemy" strike on Kfar Rumman killed one person and wounded three others.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the car was hit with a "guided missile" on the road linking the town of Kfar Rumman with the nearby city of Nabatieh.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of all-out war, with a heavy Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion.

(AFP)

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said Israel is "weaponising humanitarian assistance" with its proposal to control aid delivery in Gaza.

A plan approved by the security cabinet on Monday would see the Israeli military allow small amounts of aid into Gaza "if necessary" and control who is able to access it and where it is distributed from.

The UN and aid agencies have condemned the plan, which they say has been designed to help Israel achieve its military goals and will facilitate the further displacement of Palestinians.

"The proposed model of aid distribution by the State of Israel falls far short from addressing the devastating hunger," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Tuesday.

"The manmade and politically motivated starvation in #Gaza is an expression of absolute cruelty ... It cannot be addressed by weaponising humanitarian assistance," he said.

“The manmade and politically motivated starvation in #Gaza is an expression of absolute cruelty.

It cannot be addressed by weaponising humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian agencies have a set of principles to ensure assistance is delivered to all those in need, without… pic.twitter.com/MBez9IG356

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 6, 2025

The Israeli government had no knowledge of the Oman-brokered truce between the US and the Houthis, Israeli media is quoting officials as saying.

The government was caught off guard by US President Donald Trump's announcement earlier this evening and is trying to get clarification about whether the Houthis intend to suspend attacks on Israeli, as well as American, targets.

Earlier, Bloomberg quoted a Houthi official saying that the group will continue to target Israel until it agrees to end its brutal war on the Gaza Strip.

Oman has brokered a ceasefire between the US and Yemen's Houthi rebel group, the country's foreign minister announced moments ago.

"In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait," Badr Albusaidi wrote in a statement on X.

This comes less than two hours after President Donald Trump announced that the US military would "immediately" stop bombing the Houthis and that Iran-backed group had agreed to stop targeting ships in the Red Sea.

A Houthi official later vowed that it would continue targeting Israel until it stops its attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza.

A Houthi official has denied the group has agreed to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea, undercutting President Donald Trump who claimed earlier this evening that they "capitulated" and "don't want to fight anymore".

In an interview with Bloomberg, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi Political Council, said their operations in the Red Sea and Israel "will not stop regardless of the consequences until the end of the aggression on Gaza and blockade on its people."

The group is willing to stop attacking US-linked ships if Washington stops bombing Yemen, "but we will definitely continue our operations in support to Gaza," he said.

Earlier this evening, Trump announced that the US military will stop bombing Houthi targets in Yemen, claiming that the Iran-backed group said they would stop targeting Red Sea shipping.

"The Houthis have announced... that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we will honour that, and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," the US president said at the White House.

"They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore," he continued.

British Airways has extended its flight suspension to Israeli airports until 15 May, Israel's Channel 12 is reporting.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday teased that he will make a major announcement ahead of his trip next week to the Middle East, without revealing what it would be.

"We're going to have a very, very big announcement to make. Like, as big as it gets, and I won't tell you on what. And it's very positive," Trump said in the Oval Office.

"It'll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in years about a certain subject," Trump said, without offering further clues.

Trump heads next week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

(AFP)

Any Israeli attempt to annex land in Gaza would be "unacceptable," the UK's Middle East minister said Tuesday as Israel's army prepared to broaden its assault on the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel's operations. Any attempt to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable," minister Hamish Falconer said.

(AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have agreed to halt attacks on shipping, in a surprise announcement at the White House.

"The Houthis have announced... that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we will honour that, and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," Trump said.

"They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that's... the purpose of what we were doing," the US president said, adding that the information came from a "very, very good source."

The death toll from Israel's war on Gaza since 7 October 2023 has reached 52,615 people with more than 118,750 wounded, most of them civilians, Gaza's health ministry said Tuesday.

At least 17 people, including children, were killed and several others injured when Israeli aircraft targeted a school housing displaced people east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Many of the casualties were rushed to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and the death toll could climb, health authorities told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed TV.

شهداء وجرحى في استهداف الاحتلال مدرسة أبو هميسة في مخيم البريج للاجئين وسط قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/jfLJPxbAWd

— باسل خلف (@baselkhlaf) May 6, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denounced attempts to "revise" World War II history in a call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Moscow gears up to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.

"It was noted that the two countries were determined to defend the truth about the events of World War II, to counter attempts to revise its outcome and falsify history," the Kremlin said in its readout of the call.

Putin will address a grand military parade in Moscow on Friday to mark what the country calls Victory Day over Nazi Germany.

"The memory of the heroes of the war, those who gave their lives for the Victory, is sacred in both Russia and Israel, where May 9 is also a public holiday," the Kremlin said.

Donald Trump asserted last week that the United States contributed the most to allied victory in World War II - claims that drew ire in Russia.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that both Putin and Netanyahu highlighted "the decisive contribution of the Red Army and the entire Soviet people to the defeat of Nazism".

The Israeli readout of the call said Netanyahu had similarly "emphasised the crucial contribution of the Red Army to the victory over the Nazis".

Three people were killed and 38 wounded in Israeli strikes on Yemen on Tuesday, the Iran-backed Houthis' media said.

Casualties were reported from strikes on Sanaa airport, a cement factory, a power station and the Asr area of the capital, Al-Masirah TV and Saba news agency said, citing the health ministry.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in a telephone conversation that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is untenable.

"Humanitarian aid must resume immediately and should never be politicised. The new aid delivery mechanism should run through humanitarian actors," she added in a statement on X.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Iran would "bear the full consequences" for any attack by its Houthi allies, two days after the Yemeni rebel group targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

"This is... a warning to the head of the Iranian octopus: You are directly responsible for any attack by the Houthi arm of the octopus against the State of Israel - and you will bear the full consequences," Katz said, shortly after Israel struck the airport in Yemen's capital Sanaa.

Some global airlines have again halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels towards Israel on Sunday landed near the country's main international airport.

Foreign airlines had begun to resume flights to Israel after a ceasefire deal with Hamas in January. Many carriers had halted them for much of the last year and a half since the Gaza war started on 7 October 2023.

Below are carriers that have again cancelled their flights after Sunday's attack:

Aegean Airlines

The Greek airline said it would cancel its flights to Tel Aviv on May 5 and May 6.

airBaltic

Latvia's airBaltic said it had cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 11.

Air Europa

The Spanish airline cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 7.

Air France-KLM

The group's Dutch arm KLM suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 30. Air France had cancelled flights on May 4.

Air India

The Indian flag carrier said that flights to and from Tel Aviv would remain suspended until May 8.

Delta Airlines

The US carrier said its flights to and from Tel Aviv may be impacted between May 4 and May 25.

IAG

IAG-owned British Airways has suspended flights to Tel Aviv until May 8.

ITA Airways

The Italian carrier decided to suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 11, as well as two flights scheduled for May 12.

Lufthansa Group

The German airline group decided to suspend its flights to and from Tel Aviv through May 11.

Ryanair

Europe's biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv from May 4 to May 6.

United Airlines

The Chicago-based airline said its flights to and from Tel Aviv may be impacted between May 4 and May 11.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi on Tuesday promised to respond after Israeli fighter jets hit Sanaa airport and power stations.

The Israeli "aggression will not pass without a response, and Yemen will not be discouraged from its stance in support of Gaza", the Houthi political bureau said in a statement.

Egypt received a US proposal to renew mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel to reach a new truce in Gaza, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported Tuesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Iran and other countries that do not possess nuclear weapons have a legitimate right to develop their own civil nuclear energy programmes.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, was responding to a question at a news briefing about remarks made by US President Donald Trump, who suggested that Washington's goal in negotiating with Iran was to achieve the total "dismantlement" of Tehran's nuclear programme.

Israel's military said its airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa today "fully disabled the airport".

"Flight runways, aircraft and infrastructure at the airport were struck," a military statement said, adding that "the airport served as a central hub for the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons and operatives."

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will visit Lebanon on May 21 to discuss extending Beirut's authority to Palestinian camps, a Lebanese government official said Tuesday, as Abbas's office confirmed the date.

The visit comes after President Joseph Aoun said late last month authorities were working to "withdraw (unauthorised) heavy and medium weapons from all Lebanese territory", and that he would raise disarmament of the camps with Abbas.

The government official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media, said Abbas and Lebanese leaders would discuss "extending state authority to all Lebanese territory, including the Palestinian camps".

Around 30 demonstrators were arrested after they occupied an engineering building at the University of Washington, the college said Tuesday, as part of a pro-Palestinian protest.

The Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER) group said it was calling on the US university to cut its ties with Boeing over the aerospace giant's military contracts and weapons supply to the war in Gaza. The engineering building had received a $10 million donation from Boeing, according to the website of the university, located in the Pacific Northwest.

SUPER said on Facebook that Boeing had received access to UW's campus, research facilities and student labour in exchange for its donations to the university.

Law enforcement agencies cleared the building around 11:00 pm (0600 GMT Tuesday).

"About 30 individuals who occupied the building were arrested" the university said, adding that charges would include "trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to commit all three." A SUPER group spokesperson, Oliver Marchant, told ABC News that all people who had entered the building were arrested.

Royal Jordanian Airlines resumed direct flights from Amman to Syria's Aleppo on Tuesday after a nearly 14 year hiatus.

The Jordanian national carrier will operate three flights a week to Syria's largest city, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

The UN on Tuesday accused Israel of trying to "weaponise" the flow of aid into Gaza, leaving the population desperate for food and water while delivering them "bombs" instead.

The United Nations' humanitarian agency OCHA decried the worsening situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory after nearly nine weeks of a total Israeli blockade on Gaza.

"The bottom line is that there's no aid to distribute anymore because the aid operation has been strangled... There's no more to give," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva.

In Gaza, "there's a desperate need for food getting in; they're getting bombs", he said.

"They need water; they're getting bombs. They need health care; they're getting bombs."

The Israeli army confirmed which targets it bombed in Yemen on Tuesday, after striking the country's Hodeida port Monday night.

"A short while ago, the Air Force attacked and destroyed infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Houthi regime at the central airport in Sanaa, completely shutting down the airport's operations following the terrorist Houthi organisation's missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport," the army's spokesman Avichay Adraee said.

He said "several central power stations in the Sanaa region were also attacked," as well as the Amran cement factory north of Sanaa, which he claimed was a "key resource for Houthis in building tunnels and military infrastructure. "Targeting the factory constitutes a blow to the [Houthi] regime's economy and its military armament methods."

Houthi media said the Israeli and US strikes targeted power stations in Hizyaz, Dahaba and Asr, and confirmed the cement factory in Amran was hit.

The Lebanese army said Tuesday that the Palestinian Hamas group handed over a third person suspected of involvement in missile attacks on northern Israel in March, to which Israel responded by bombing south Lebanon and south of Beirut.

In a statement, the army said Hamas handed over P.S. (using only his initials) at the entrance to Al-Bass Palestinian refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre.

This comes after Hamas handed over suspects on Monday and Saturday. It comes after Lebanon's Higher Defence Council warned Hamas not to compromise its national security and launch rocket attacks from Lebanese soil.

Some global airlines have again halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels towards Israel on Sunday landed near the country's main international airport.

Foreign airlines had begun to resume flights to Israel after a ceasefire deal with Hamas in January. Many carriers had halted them for much of the last year and a half since 7 October 2023.

Below are some carriers that have again cancelled their flights after Sunday's attack:

Aegean Airlines 

The Greek airline said it would cancel its flights to Tel Aviv on 5 May and 6 May.

Air Europa 

The Spanish airline cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv until 7 May.

Air France- KLM

The group's Dutch arm KLM, suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until 30 May. Air France had cancelled flights on 4 May.

Air India 

The Indian flag carrier said that flights to and from Tel Aviv would remain suspended until 6 May.

Israel's far-right extremist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Tuesday that a victory for Israel in Gaza means that the Palestinian territory will be "entirely destroyed".

"Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to... the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries," he said at a conference on Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Mediator Qatar on Tuesday said it was still pursuing efforts for a Gaza war ceasefire, even after Israel approved expanded operations and Hamas said it wasn't interested in further talks.

Qatar remains in "continuous" contact with all parties, foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, despite major obstacles to a new accord.

"Our efforts remain ongoing despite the difficulty of the situation and the continuing catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip," Ansari told reporters at a briefing.

"There are continuous contacts between Qatar and the concerned parties," he added.

Israel's extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that Palestinians will leave "in large numbers" after the Gaza war.

The Israeli military has issued a warning to all residents in the Sanaa International Airport area, urging them to evacuate before planned airstrikes.

"We call on you to evacuate the airport area - Sana'a International Airport - immediately and warn everyone in your vicinity of the need to evacuate this area immediately," the army's spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

"Failure to evacuate and move away from the area will put you at risk."

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى جميع المتواجدين في منطقة مطار صنعاء الدولي وفق ما يعرض في الخارطة المرفقة.
⭕️ندعوكم إلى اخلاء منطقة المطار - مطار صنعاء الدولي - بشكل فوري وتحذير كل من يتواجد بجواركم عن ضرورة اخلاء هذه المنطقة فورًا
⭕️عدم الاخلاء والابتعاد عن المكان يعرضكم للخطر pic.twitter.com/5qXw5x4SBD

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) May 6, 2025

Hamas said Tuesday that the Israeli cabinet's approval of plans to expand its ground operation in the Gaza Strip represents a clear decision to sacrifice Israeli captives and continue with its "cycle of failure it began eighteen months ago, without achieving any of its declared war goals."

"The statements of the terrorist (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, confirm his insistence on committing more war crimes against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip with full American cover," the group said in a statement.

The government's media office in the Gaza Strip said the territory's hospitals are on "the brink of collapse within 28 hours" because of Israel's ongoing siege, blocking essential aid such as fuel and medicine into the enclave.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday rejected a plan by Israeli authorities to shut down the existing aid system in Gaza.

"We do not accept a proposal and a plan that does not live up to the core fundamental humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independent delivery of aid," said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke in Geneva.

Israel's plan is "designed to further control and restrict supplies, which is the opposite of what is needed," Laerke added.

Israel said Tuesday it evacuated 10 more injured Syrian Druze for treatment in its hospitals over the past two days following deadly sectarian clashes in Syria.

This brings the number of Syrian Druze evacuated for treatment in Israel since Wednesday last week to 25.

The Israeli military claimed in a statement on Tuesday that "10 Syrian Druze citizens were evacuated for treatment in the country's hospitals over the past two days.

The injured were transferred to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed after being injured inside Syrian territory".

Yemen's Houthis on Tuesday said four people were killed and 39 wounded in Israeli air raids that followed a missile strike by the Iran-backed rebels on Israel's main airport.

"Three citizens were killed and 35 others wounded" at a cement factory in Bajil, while one person died and four were wounded at Hodeida port, the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV station said, quoting the health ministry.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that is he going to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar "next week".

One person was killed and five others were injured when two separate unexploded ordnance blew up in rural Idlib in northwest Syria on Monday, the Syrian civil defence said.

The civil defence - also known as the White Helmets - said four of the injured were children.

It said it one incident, a landmine left behind by Assad forces exploded during a cleaning operation of a water well in the village of Abu Dafneh.

In a separate incident, four children from the same extended family were injured when another landmine exploded in a residential area on the outskirts of Maaret al-Numan.

French President Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting with Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Paris on Wednesday, the French presidency said on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Macron will reaffirm France's support for the construction of a "free, stable and sovereign Syria that respects all the components of the Syrian society," the statement said.

Sharaa in February received an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to visit France in the "coming weeks."

Iran on Tuesday strongly condemned Israeli air strikes on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, following missile attacks by Tehran-backed Houthi rebels on Israel's main airport.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei denounced the strikes as "a blatant crime and a gross violation of the principles and rules of international law".

Baqaei urged international and regional powers to act against what he called ongoing US and Israeli "destruction" in Islamic countries.

China on Tuesday said it opposed Israel's military actions in Gaza, after its armed forces said expanded operations in the territory would include displacing "most" of its population.

"China is highly concerned about the current Palestine-Israel situation," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, adding: "We oppose Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza, and hopes all parties continuously and effectively implement the ceasefire agreement."

France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris "very strongly" condemns Israel's new military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

His comments come a day after Israel's military said expanded operations in Gaza would include displacing "most" of its residents, after the country's security cabinet approved a plan that an Israeli official said will entail "the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories".

"It's unacceptable," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a radio interview, adding the Israeli government was "in violation of humanitarian law."

A senior Hamas official said Tuesday the group was no longer interested in truce talks with Israel and urged the international community to halt Israel's "hunger war" against Gaza.

"There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip," Basem Naim told AFP.

He said the world must pressure the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the "crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings" in Gaza.

Gaza has been under total Israeli blockade since March 2 and faces a severe humanitarian crisis.