12/14/2023–|Last updated: 12/14/202302:39 PM (Mecca time)
The French newspaper Liberation said that the Houthi rebels, who had threatened since the beginning of the aggression against Gaza to attack any ship heading towards Israel or linked to it, carried out increasingly bold operations after they hijacked a cargo ship belonging to an Israeli billionaire on November 19.
The newspaper explained – in a report written by Luc Mathieu – that the Galaxy Leader ship, which is 189 meters long and 32 meters wide, has turned into a tourist attraction, as Yemenis visit it in fishing boats in the port of Saleef near Hodeidah on the Red Sea, taking pictures and stepping on the Israeli and American flags.
For the anti-Israel and anti-American Houthis, this process is based “on religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility towards the Palestinian people who are subjected to the unjust siege and terrible massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
These developments came after a warning from the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, on November 14, when he said – in a speech – “Our eyes are open for continuous monitoring and inspection of any Israeli ship.”
Legitimate goals
The newspaper pointed out that the hijacking of the Galaxy Leader ship is not an isolated operation, as the Houthis have made the Red Sea a new front.
She added that since mid-October, they have launched cruise missiles towards Israel and armed drones against commercial and military ships, and targeted an oil tanker flying the Norwegian flag with a long-range missile.
They also declared in a press release that “all ships associated with Israel or transporting goods to it are legitimate targets,” unless humanitarian aid to Gaza is increased.
Laurent Bonnefoy, a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, says: “The Houthis today embody an extremist position, and they are the only ones in the region who have developed their ability to cause harm, and they position themselves as the only defenders of Palestine, which allows them to legitimize themselves internally.” In the eyes of the Yemeni people.
The Houthis, who experienced the war, began to oppose Yemen’s cooperation with the United States, which launched the war on terrorism after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and raised the slogan “Death to Israel, Death to America, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam,” which is a copy of the slogan of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. .
After the killing of the movement’s first leader, Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, the movement was launched again under the leadership of his brother Abdul Malik thanks to the Yemeni spring in 2011.
The Houthis strengthened their control over the north of the country after the attack on the capital, Sanaa, which they seized in September 2014, and they continued their attack towards the south until Aden, before a Saudi-led coalition launched Operation Decisive Storm against them in March 2015.
Strong alliance
The Houthis could not have held out – as the newspaper says – without Iran’s help, and envoys from the Revolutionary Guard and Lebanese Hezbollah act as their guides.
“The Houthi Jihad Council has emerged as a distinguished partner for Iran, and the relationship between the two should no longer be viewed as a relationship of necessity, but rather as a strong and deep alliance, supported by a close ideological affinity and geopolitical alignment,” according to the Counter-Terrorism Committee, which likens the Houthis to the Lebanese Hezbollah.
According to the newspaper, the Iranian-Houthi rapprochement led to the delivery of weapons and the transfer of technology, and experts from the United Nations and research organizations documented the deliveries of Kalashnikov weapons, anti-tank missiles and ammunition by boat from Iran on a large scale.
The Houthis have become able to manufacture their drones directly from Iranian models, and they also have ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, which are slightly modified versions of the Al-Qadr and Al-Quds missiles manufactured in Iran.
This arsenal allowed them to repeatedly target oil installations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. After more than 8 years of war, the conflict is now frozen, with no prospect of a negotiated political settlement.
However, the suffering of the population – the newspaper adds – continues, as nearly 25 million Yemenis, or 3 quarters of the population, need humanitarian aid in order to survive, and a woman dies every two hours during pregnancy or childbirth due to her lack of access to care, according to the United Nations Office. To coordinate humanitarian affairs.
