Israel-Gaza latest: Israeli president Isaac Herzog thanks Joe Biden after far-right minister's 'irresponsible' comments

The leader of Yemen's Houthis has said the group will target ships of any company related to supplying or transporting goods to Israel regardless of their destination.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi said this was a fourth stage of escalation in retaliation to "the Israeli aggression on Rafah" in southern Gaza.

"From now on, we are also thinking about the fifth stage and the sixth stage, and we have very important, sensitive and influential choices on the enemies," he added.

For context: Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping.

Joe Biden is "stuck between a rock and a hard place" when it comes to his Israel policy, former White House director of global engagement has said. 

Speaking to Sky News, Brett Bruen said the US leader was heading into a "crucial series of political months" as he entered another presidential race and the war "has just been a massive headache".

"The position that Biden is taking in some ways is political posturing, he is trying to dissuade Netanyahu from doing a full on invasion," he said.

"Yet at the same time Netanyahu is not showing any signs of letting up."

Mr Bruen said Mr Netanyahu had "somewhat painted himself into a corner".

He added: "Domestically he is increasingly unpopular as a result of the 7 October attacks and the way he has put the US- Israel relationship in danger.

"Yesterday's comments by Biden will be costly for Netanyahu and his political standing in the country and yet he still has to contend with the fact that there are those on the Israeli right who are saying 'you have got to move forward'.

"There are no good options for Netanyahu either."

The Israeli president has publicly thanked Joe Biden after one of the country's outspoken ministers said "Hamas loves Biden".

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, made the comment after the US president said he would halt offensive weapons sales to Israel if it invades Rafah (see post at 9.02am).

In response, Isaac Herzog, the president, said it was important that even when there are disagreements and moments of disappointment between friends and allies, "there is a way to clarify the disputes".

"It is beholden upon all of us to avoid baseless, irresponsible and insulting statements and tweets that harm the national security and the interests of the state of Israel," he said.

Mr Herzog also said he wanted to take the opportunity to thank Israel's "greatest ally, the US".

"I would like to say thank you to President Biden, who is a great friend of the state of Israel, and who proved as such from the first day of the war," he said.

We have been reporting today on Joe Biden's warning that the US would stop supplying weapons if Israeli forces conduct a full-scale offensive in Rafah. 

It marked his strongest language to date on the issue.

But can Israel achieve its aims without US weapons?

Our military analyst Sean Bell says "it's very likely they can". 

"Although the US has said it is pausing the supply of weapons, it's not going to stop supplying defensive weapons," he says.

Bell says Israel will have "significant stockpiles" and will use those if the decision is made to go into Rafah. 

"Rafah is a relatively small area as well so it looks unlikely to have any significant military effect."

Bell says Mr Biden's comments are more likely a "political statement".

"The International Court of Justice said Israel needs to do more to protect the civilian population and any nation that provides weapons to a country which then uses them in violation of international law also becomes vulnerable," he says.

"I think this is a really clear statement from President Biden.

"He doesn't want to get tarnished with that brush as all.

"I don't think there will be a military impact but I do think this is a reflection of the frustration Biden is feeling with the actions of Netanyahu."

Joe Biden's weapons threat "practically buries a hostage deal at this point", a source close to the Israeli leader has told Sky News.

The US president warned overnight that the US would halt the supply of some weapons to Israel if it launches a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

IDF international spokesperson Nadav Shoshani has issued a statement in response to reports aid is not getting into Gaza.

In a statement on X, Mr Shoshani said Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing after four IDF soldiers were killed.

The crossing was reopened and Hamas "fired rockets at the crossing several times again".

"Hamas has a pattern of risking civilians for their terrorist agenda," he said.

Yesterday, Israel insisted the border crossing, which allows aid into Gaza, had reopened but the UN said deliveries have still not been allowed through. 

By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

We knew he was thinking it, but now it has been said out loud.

Although we can assume the US would have told Israel in private of its decision to withhold weapons in the event of a "major" Rafah invasion, to hear Joe Biden lay it out so publicly has shaken Israelis.

Some see it as treacherous, an outrageous move by the country's closest ally; others believe it is the predictable consequence of Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to heed American advice and warnings over many months.

Mr Netanyahu, who is yet to comment, is now faced with a dilemma: defy Mr Biden and invade Rafah anyway, or back down and look weak in the face of Israel's enemies: Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

"Bibi will say one thing and do the complete opposite," one seasoned Israeli political journalist told me earlier.

"Biden's mistake was saying it out loud, he doesn't understand the Middle East," another messaged. 

"Do it, fine, but don't brag about it."

US diplomats I've spoken to in Jerusalem this morning, though, say the administration has repeatedly tried to work with Israel, over seven months, and with little to show for it.

They've gently cajoled Israel to let more aid into Gaza, to design a "day-after" plan, to limit civilian casualties and to deliver a humanitarian plan for Rafah - some of these things have happened very slowly, others not at all.

The US is clearly fed up and out of patience.

The immediate concern is how Mr Biden's announcement will affect negotiations for a ceasefire that are ongoing in Cairo. 

The CIA director has just flown back to the Egyptian capital after a short visit to Tel Aviv and work is under way to close the gaps. 

Logically, Hamas will now be unlikely to offer any further compromises if they think the threat of an invasion of Rafah has gone away.

So does Mr Netanyahu try to convince the right-wing hawks in his government that his hands have been tied and that he has no other choice but to accept the deal that is on the table while he buys time for future action?

Or does he dial down the temperature, keep the negotiations bubbling but order the IDF to continue with "limited" actions on the edges of Rafah, all the while creeping further towards the centre without alarming the White House? Achieving some military objectives without stepping over the line.

There is a third option: go into Rafah hard, and soon. Use the considerable arsenal and firepower that the IDF has, make some ground in a limited timeframe, then get out and soak up the wrath of Washington.

That option might deliver a short-term victory but would outrage the US administration and could put at risk options for future Israeli operations, for example in Lebanon.

There have been many pivotal moments during this seven-month war, and this is another. 

The "UK wants the fighting in Gaza to end but calling for an immediate ceasefire makes it no more likely", Lord Cameron says in his speech in London.

"It is more practical to focus as we have in the UN and elsewhere on securing that immediate humanitarian pause -that is stopping the fighting right now," he says.

"This will see the hostages releases and more aid delivered.

"Then, we can turn this into the sustainable ceasefire without a return to fighting at all."

He also describes Britain's system and scale of arms exports to Israel as completely different to those in the US, saying the sales it licenses are relatively small and policed by strict procedures.

"There's a very fundamental difference between the US situation and the UK situation," Cameron says.

"We do not have a UK government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licences, and I think our defence exports to Israel are responsible for significantly less than 1% of their total."

Lord Cameron is delivering a speech on UK security in London.

The foreign secretary says innocent citizens in Gaza are enduring a crisis "that will only worsen" if aid cannot reach them safely.

"This is a world more dangerous, more volatile and more confrontational than most of us have ever known and we need to face up to that fact and act accordingly," he says.

He points the situation in the Red Sea where "ship after ship have been attacked".

"While many countries have criticised the Houthi attacks, it is only the US and Britain that have been willing and able to step up and strike back," he says.

Lord Cameron says NATO countries should agree to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence and the country must "rise to the challenge that we face" and "make security a top priority".

Around 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinians.

The data comes as pressure increases on Israel to refrain from a fully fledged ground operation in Rafah.

Israel says it is conducting what it describes as a "precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah".