Live updates | Israeli hostages to get medicine delivery, and US bombs Yemen again

Qatar and France said Tuesday they have mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to allow the delivery of medications to around 45 of the more than 100 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. This marks the first agreement between the warring sides since a weeklong cease-fire collapsed in late November.

In Yemen, the U.S. launched the third strike in recent days against the Houthi rebel group, according to a U.S. official. The Houthis have attacked shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor, saying they seek to halt Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas.

In northern Gaza, Palestinian militants battled Israeli forces and launched a barrage of rockets from farther south. In the past 24 hours, the bodies of 158 people killed in Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 24,285 people, Gaza's Health Ministry said Tuesday.

In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by the militants.

Currently:

— After over 100 days of war, Palestinians fight in hard-hit areas of Gaza and fire rockets at Israel.

— Hamas fights with a patchwork of weapons built by Iran, China, Russia and North Korea.

— A freed Israeli hostage relives horrors of captivity and fears for her husband, still held in Gaza.

— Senators reject Bernie Sanders’ effort to curb Israel-Hamas war, but the vote signals rising unease.

— U.N. agency chiefs say Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster, warning of famine and disease.

— U.S. military says raid seizes Iranian missile parts bound for Houthi rebels.

— Find more of AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's the latest:

U.S. SENATORS REJECT BERNIE SANDERS' EFFORT TO CURB ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday forced colleagues to decide whether to investigate human rights abuses in the Israel-Hamas war, a step toward potentially limiting U.S. military aid to Israel.

Senators overwhelmingly rejected the effort, a first of its kind that would have required the U.S. State Department to produce a report within 30 days on whether the Israeli war effort in Gaza is violating human rights and international accords. Had the vote passed and the administration failed to do so, U.S. military aid to Israel, long assured without question, could have been quickly halted.

In all, 11 senators joined Sanders in the vote, while 72 opposed. The White House has rejected Sanders' approach as “unworkable.”

MACRON SAYS FRANCE DIDN'T JOIN U.S. STRIKES ON YEMEN TO AVOID ESCALATING TENSIONS

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said his country decided not to join U.S.-led strikes against Houthis attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea because France is seeking to avoid escalation in Mideast tensions.

French warships in the zone will continue to help defend shipping corridors and the freedom of navigation, he said, noting that the French Navy has already intercepted missiles and drones targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea in recent weeks.

Asked at a news conference in Paris why France didn’t join U.S.-led military operations against the Houthis, Macron said, ‘’France decided not to join a coalition that carried out preventive strikes against others on their soil. Why? Because we have a posture that seeks to avoid any escalation. ... It’s a diplomatic issue, because we are vigilant and attentive about balance in the region.’’

The Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The group says it has attacked the ships in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Macron called for a cease-fire in Gaza and stressed France’s efforts to mediate in the region’s conflicts, including an unprecedented deal negotiated along with Qatar to deliver medicines Wednesday to hostages held by Hamas.

Macron noted that 41 French citizens were killed in the Hamas attack, and four French people are among those still held hostage in Gaza.

UNITED NATIONS CALLS FOR YEMEN'S HOUTHIS TO STOP ATTACKS ON SHIPPING

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations is calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to implement the Security Council resolution adopted last week demanding an immediate halt to its attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

“We’re very concerned by the continuing strikes,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday.

The Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014, have said they launched the attacks with the aim of ending Israel’s devastation air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The U.N. resolution condemns the more than two dozen Houthi attacks which have disrupted one of the world’s major trade routes and raised shipping costs.

Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday about the situation in the Red Sea and in Gaza. The U.N. chief “reiterated his call to all the parties to avoid any further escalation” in Yemen and implement last week’s resolution, and reiterated the need for greater humanitarian access in Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages, the U.N. spokesman said.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who has been consulting with all sides, spoke to the Iranian foreign minister’s senior advisor, Ali Asghar Khaji ,earlier Tuesday, Dujarric said. They discussed “the need to maintain an environment conducive to constructive dialogue and sustained concerted regional efforts to peace in Yemen,” the U.N. spokesperson said. Grundberg and others then briefed the Security Council behind closed doors.

TWO ISRAELI HOSTAGES CONFIRMED DEAD IN GAZA

JERUSALEM — Two Israeli men who were captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack have been confirmed dead after the militant group released a video saying they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

A forum for families of hostages released statements Tuesday confirming that Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38, had died in captivity in Gaza. They did not say how the men died.

The two were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, one of several communities near Gaza that Hamas and other militants overran after breaking through Israel’s border defenses. The attack ignited the war in Gaza, which is still raging.

Hamas released a video on Monday showing Sharabi and Svirsky giving statements on camera, likely under duress, followed by images of what appeared to be their dead bodies. It said they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, said Monday that the army had feared for their lives. He said Israeli forces had struck a building near where the hostages were being held but did not know their location at the time.

Hamas and other militants captured some 250 people in the Oct. 7 attack. More than 100 were released in November during a weeklong cease-fire in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Most of the rest are still in captivity.

Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until there is a permanent cease-fire.

BERNIE SANDERS TO MAKE U.S. SENATORS VOTE ON INVESTIGATING ISRAEL FOR POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES IN GAZA

WASHINGTON — In a notable test Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders is forcing colleagues to vote on record whether to investigate human rights abuses in the Israel-Hamas war, a step toward potentially limiting U.S. military aid to Israel as its devastating attacks on Gaza grind past 100 days.

The Senate vote, a first of its kind tapping into a decades-old law, would require the U.S. State Department to, within 30 days, produce a report on whether the Israeli war effort in Gaza is violating human rights and international accords. If so, U.S. military aid to Israel, long assured without question, could be quickly halted.

While the Senate is unlikely to approve the measure, the vote by senators will begin to reveal the depth of unease among U.S. lawmakers over Israel’s prosecution of the war against Hamas. With no apparent end to the bombardment, Israel’s attacks against Palestinians, an attempt to root out Hamas leaders, are viewed by some as disproportional to the initial terrorist attack on Israel.

DEAL WILL A

LLOW DELIVERY OF MEDICINE TO ISRAELI HOSTAGES, AND HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA

JERUSALEM — Qatar and France say they have mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas to allow the delivery of medications to the more than 100 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.

The Gulf Arab country announced Tuesday that additional quantities of humanitarian aid would be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza as part of the deal.

It marks the first agreement between the warring sides since a weeklong cease-fire collapsed in late November.

France said it had been working on the deal since October, and would provide three months’ worth of medication for 45 hostages with chronic illnesses, as well as other medicines and vitamins. The medicines are expected to enter Gaza from Egypt on Wednesday.

Hamas captured the hostages in its Oct. 7 cross-border attack that began the war. The hostages have not been visited by the Red Cross, and many, including several elderly men, are believed to be in desperate need of medication.

Qatar said the deal was reached with French assistance. The medicines are expected to be delivered on Wednesday.

U.S. STRIKES HIT YEMEN'S HOUTHI REBELS FOR THIRD TIME

WASHINGTON — The U.S. launched a new strike against the Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday, hitting anti-ship missiles in a third assault on the Iranian-backed group in recent days, a U.S. official said.

The U.S. official said no other details were available yet on the American strike, including the precise location. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the operation had not been made public.

The strike came as the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack against the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Zografia in the Red Sea. No one was injured. The Greek-owned vessel had been heading north to the Suez Canal when it was attacked, the Greek Shipping and Island Policy Ministry said.

This latest exchange suggests there has been no let-up in Houthi attacks on shipping in the region, despite the massive U.S. and British assault on the group Friday, bombing more than 60 targets in 28 locations.

A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war in Yemen against the Houthis has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. The conflict, which began in 2014, has slowed to a stalemate as the Houthis maintain control of the capital and northern and western Yemen, where most of the population lives.