Yemen’s Houthis will not stop attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea, despite the United States announcing a new maritime protection force to counter them, a spokesperson for the rebel group said .
“Even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world, our military operations will not stop… no matter what sacrifices it costs us,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, said in a message on Tuesday x.
The Houthis will only stop their attacks if “Israel’s crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicine and fuel are allowed to reach the besieged population,” al-Bukhaiti said.
He spoke after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a coalition on Monday to protect trade in the Red Sea after attacks forced shipping companies to suspend operations.
The Iran-linked Houthis have carried out attacks on more than a dozen commercial ships to try to pressure Israel to end its bombing of the Gaza Strip.
“These irresponsible attacks by the Houthis constitute a serious international problem and they demand a strong international response,” Austin said of the new 10-nation coalition. He said the force would operate “with the aim of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and enhancing regional security and prosperity.”
After the US announcement, Houthi General Yusuf al-Madani said in a statement: “Any escalation in Gaza is an escalation in the Red Sea… Any country or party that comes between us and Palestine, we will deal with it.” . »
Spokesman al-Bukhaiti told Tel Aviv Tribune on Monday that the group would confront any US-led coalition in the Red Sea.
Not an act of “defiance”
“The military establishment in Yemen, in areas controlled by the Houthis, warns that they will continue to target ships sailing in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea and insists that they are doing so to protect the population of Gaza. in particular,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hashem Ahelbarra said, reporting Tuesday from Doha.
“A senior Houthi official, Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is also a lead negotiator, said the Houthi attacks were not an act of defiance, but if this new coalition is adamant in launching attacks, then it will have to endure the consequences of what he did. described as a larger conflict in the region.
“But he said at the same time that the Houthis remain adamant that the Israelis need to stop the war if they want the Houthis to stop the attacks,” our correspondent added.
On Tuesday, Abdulsalam told the Reuters news agency that the US-led naval patrol mission was “essentially useless” – as all waters near Yemen are still safe except for ships linked to Israel or ships traveling to Israel.
The US and British navies said over the weekend that their destroyers had shot down a total of 15 drones in the waterway.
In the latest incident on Tuesday, UK Maritime Commercial Operations said four small boats, each carrying four to five people, approached a vessel off the coast of Djibouti in a “suspicious” maneuver – but that no weapons were seen during the incident. .
At least 12 shipping companies, including the Italian-Swiss giant Mediterranean Shipping Company, France’s CMA CGM and Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, have suspended their transit through the Red Sea for security reasons. British oil giant BP on Monday became the latest company to announce it would avoid the waters.
About 12 percent of global trade passes through the Red Sea, which is connected to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal. Houthi attacks have effectively diverted a significant portion of trade by forcing freight companies to sail around Africa, imposing higher costs and delays on deliveries of energy, food and consumer goods.
Ahmed Helal, MENA director at The Global Counsel, told Tel Aviv Tribune that the “cascading impact” of the crisis was spilling over into inflation. “Major central banks have cut interest rates to combat inflation and lower prices for consumers. But this disruption on a major global trade artery affects everyday goods and energy, both oil and natural gas,” he said.
He added that due to Houthi attacks and the continued disruption of Europe’s natural gas supplies due to the war in Ukraine, “natural gas prices in Europe have jumped 12 percent, Natural gas prices in the UK jumped 10 percent and the price of natural gas jumped 10 percent in Europe. oil also jumped 4 percent in the last 24 hours.”