Welcome to our latest live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza and wider Middle East crisis.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have said they will escalate their military operations in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Their announcement came as Yemen’s internationally recognised government said that at least 11 people had been killed in airstrikes carried out by the US and UK.

More on that in a moment – first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events:

• A ship taking almost 200 tonnes of food to Gaza left a port in Cyprus early on Tuesday in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine. The charity ship, Open Arms, was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing about 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein.

• The Israeli military is checking whether it has killed Hamas’s deputy military leader in an airstrike in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday. If his death is confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement killed by Israel in the five months of war.

• The UN secretary-general António Guterres has reiterated his calls for an end to hostilities in Gaza and the increased delivery of humanitarian aid, describing international humanitarian law as in tatters. He told the media that a “threatened Israeli assault on Rafah could plummet the people of Gaza into an even deeper circle of hell”. He also called for the release of hostages held by Hamas and the removal of “all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required” to Gaza.

• Israel has launched airstrikes near Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek, security sources and state media have said, in the second raid in the region since cross-border hostilities began after the Gaza war. Sources told Reuters and AFP that the strikes had killed one person and injured others.

• Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.