Houthis claim attack on Israel, threaten to target Israel-affiliated vessels in Red Sea
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed an attack on Israel and said Israel-affiliated vessels would again be a target in the Red Sea, putting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connected them in danger.
The statement from Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree was broadcast on the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel. During the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis killed at least nine mariners and sunk four ships in over 100 attacks, often targeting vessels with tangential or no ties at all to Israel.
The assaults upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.
They also greatly disrupted transits through Egypt’s Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The canal remains one of the top providers of hard currency for Egypt, providing it $10 billion in 2023 as its wider economy struggles.
The Houthis' renewed threat also comes as Saudi Arabia is relying on its East-West Pipeline to export oil out through the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: Associated Press
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