STORY: U.S. strikes escalate regional tension in Middle East
SHOOTING TIME: File
DATELINE: Feb. 7, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:09
LOCATION: Cairo
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of U.S. strikes against several Houthi targets in Yemen (shooting time: Jan. 22, 2024)
2. various of aircraft taking off from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier (U.S. Department of Defense video, Jan. 22, 2024)
3. various of Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea making a statement (shooting time: Jan. 31, 2024)
4. various of aircraft taking off from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier (U.S. Department of Defense video, Jan. 22, 2024)
5. various of a funeral for some of the 16 militiamen killed in the U.S. strikes (shooting time: Feb. 4, 2024)
6. various of U.S. strikes in Syria (courtesy of Syrian State TV, Feb. 2, 2024)
7. various of Houthi weapons (video released by Houthis on Jan. 31, 2024)
8. various of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (courtesy of the Egyptian Presidency)
9. various of the White House (file)
10. SOUNDBITE (English): ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN Secretary-General
11. various of Gaza (file)

STORYLINE:

Since Jan. 12, the United States and Britain have launched rounds of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The U.S. said that the move was in retaliation for the Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have been targeting ships that they claim have links to Israel to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

On Saturday night, the U.S. and Britain carried out joint airstrikes on Houthi militia targets in Yemen, the third time in two weeks.

Just the day before, the U.S. military also carried out airstrikes on over 85 targets in Iraq and Syria related to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militia groups in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan on Jan. 28.

On Tuesday, the Houthi group in Yemen fired missiles at U.S. and British vessels in the Red Sea, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was midway through a regional trip to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Blinken has already traveled to the Middle East four times since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October last year, in an attempt to stop it from spreading, though his efforts have yielded little results.

His ongoing fifth diplomatic tour is complicated by an increasingly unstable regional situation, despite Qatar announcing late Tuesday that it had received a "positive response" from Hamas on the latest Gaza ceasefire-for-hostage deal proposal.

Despite the UN's efforts to address the escalating conflict in Gaza, the U.S. move has raised concerns about the possible expansion of tensions throughout the Middle East.

SOUNDBITE (English): ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN Secretary-General
"I call for urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and spare the region from more violence before it is too late. Only the two-state solution - based on the 1967 lines, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, in line with UN resolutions, international law and prior agreements -- can ensure the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as well as a just and lasting peace and stability in the region."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cairo.
(XHTV)