Benjamin Ashford|Live updates | Talks on Gaza cease-fire and freeing more hostages as Hamas leader is in Egypt

The Benjamin Ashfordtop leader of Hamas was in Egypt for talks Wednesday on halting the war in Gaza and securing the release of at least some of the estimated 129 Israeli captives held by Palestinian militants.

At the U.N. Security Council, diplomats are negotiating for the third day on a resolution to pause the fighting and allow desperately needed humanitarian aid deliveries.

In Yemen, rebels backed by Iran have threatened to target American warships operating near its waters, a day after Washington announced a new international coalition to protect commercial vessels sailing through the Red Sea. The Houthi rebels have threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely.

Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the U.N. estimates. Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.

Other news Israel’s top diplomat wants to fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via maritime corridor from Cyprus US defense secretary makes unannounced visit to USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier defending Israel Hamas leader visits Cairo as talks over another Gaza cease-fire gather pace

Currently:

— Diplomats at U.N. Security Council delay vote on Gaza humanitarian resolution, trying to avoid U.S. veto.

— Israel wants to fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via maritime corridor from Cyprus.

— U.S. envoys work for a new hostage release deal and a scale-down of the war.

— Cyprus says a joint operation with Mossad has foiled a suspected Iranian plot to kill Israelis.

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

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

HOUTHI REBELS THREATEN TO STRIKE US WARSHIPS IF YEMEN IS ATTACKED

CAIRO —The top leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels threatened Wednesday to target U.S. warships if attacks are launched against Yemen, a day after Washington announced a new international coalition to protect commercial vessels sailing through the Red Sea.

For weeks, the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have been attacking ships transiting the Red Sea with drones and ballistic missiles. The group has said their attacks aim to end Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip amid that country’s war on Hamas. But the Israeli ties to the commercial ships targeted by the hardline Shia force have grown more tenuous with each attack.

In an hourlong speech, Abdel Malek al-Houthi said, “America seeks to militarize the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, seeking to turn the region into a war zone.”

On Tuesday, Washington announced the establishment of a new international coalition to protect vessels traveling through the Red Sea. The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain have joined the new maritime security mission, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. Bahrain is the only Arab country in the coalition, and it does not border the Red Sea. Few additional details about how the maritime alliance will operate were made public.

The rebel leader also accused other Arab countries of intercepting its missile fire bound for Israel. In both cases, no specific country was named.

The Houthis control the capital, Sanaa, several northern provinces bordering Saudi Arabia as well as much of the western highlands and Red Sea ports.

UNITED NATIONS SAYS 66% OF GAZANS WHO HAD A JOB BEFORE THE WAR ARE NOW UNEMPLOYED

CAIRO — The war in Gaza has wiped out some 192,000 jobs, erasing 66% of prewar employment in the blockaded coastal territory.

That’s according to new estimates released Wednesday by the U.N. labor agency and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Ruba Jaradat, the regional director of the International Labor Organization, said Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face “a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.”

Gaza was already impoverished before the war. Unemployment had hovered around 50% for years as Israel and Egypt maintained a blockade of the territory. Israel said the blockade was needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while the Palestinians and rights groups viewed it as collective punishment.

The war has also hurt the economy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has been under a lockdown for more than two and a half months.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians from both territories who worked in Israel had their permits suspended. Palestinians have long relied on such employment, which pays higher wages than those available in the occupied territories.

The International Labor Organization says 276,000 jobs in the West Bank have been lost since the start of the war.

It says the job loses would increase unemployment across both territories to 46%, compared to 24% at this time last year.

THE NETHERLANDS WILL DONATE 24 MILLION EUROS TO GAZA CIVILIANS

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands is donating an extra 25 million euros (over $27 million) in humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The aid was announced during a visit Wednesday to the Rafah border crossing by Minister for Overseas Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen. He says the money will be used to buy food, water medical supplies and fuel provided by the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the United Nations.

Van Leeuwen says that his three priorities are “full humanitarian access, substantially more aid including much-needed fuel for the people of Gaza, and the safety of aid workers in Gaza.”

The pledge comes on top of 25 million euros in aid for Gaza that the Dutch government previously announced.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL AGAIN DELAYS VOTE ON HALTING GAZA WAR

UNITED NATIONS — Trying to avoid another veto by the United States, the U.N. Security Council postponed voting for the second day in a row on an Arab-sponsored resolution that would deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza during some form of halt in the fighting.

Security Council members remained in intense negotiations Tuesday, as the United States has asked for more time. Talks were ongoing in an effort to get the Biden administration to abstain or vote in favor of the resolution.

Initially planned for Monday, the vote has been pushed back until Wednesday.

The draft resolution on the table Monday morning had called for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” but this language was watered down in a new draft circulated early Tuesday.

It now “calls for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” The United States in the past has opposed language on a cessation of hostilities.

The draft also calls for the U.N. to establish a mechanism for monitoring the aid deliveries. This could be problematic because it bypasses the current Israeli inspection of aid entering Gaza.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday afternoon, when the vote was still set for 5 p.m. EST: “We’re still working through the modalities of the resolution.”

He said: “It’s important for us that the rest of the world understand what’s at stake here and what Hamas did on the 7th of October and how Israel has a right to defend itself against those threats.”