- The US and UK started strikes that have disrupted traffic in vital commercial routes in the Red Sea.
- Houthis are backed by Iran and have demonstrated their support for the Palestinian people by attacking Israeli-affiliated ships.
- Following the terror assaults by the Palestinian terrorist group, Israel claims that its main goal is to demilitarize the group.
After the US and UK started strikes against the group’s targets in Yemen in response to a spate of marine attacks that have disrupted traffic in vital commercial routes in the Red Sea, a Houthi official has vowed revenge.
Like Hamas, the Houthis are backed by Iran and have demonstrated their support for the Palestinian people by attacking Israeli-affiliated ships on various occasions and forcing traders to reevaluate their Red Sea routes. The offensives culminated earlier this week in the biggest barrage of Houthi drone and missile fire against shipping, followed overnight by an American-led British counterattack.
Yemen strikes
The U.K. government determined that Houthi attacks against vessels in the Red Sea, including British-flagged ships, would continue “unless action is taken to deter them,” it stated in a freshly disclosed legal position on the U.S.-British bombings in Yemen.
The government has stated that it will inform the U.N. Security Council of its actions and that the U.K. is permitted by international law to use force in self-defense situations.
The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, described the attacks carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom as a “disproportionate use of force,” noting that “Israel also uses this disproportionate force in Palestine.” Following the terror assaults on October 7 by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Israel claims that its main goal is to demilitarize the group.
The U.K. and U.S. response to the Houthis’ strikes against shipping in the Red Sea over the past few weeks was motivated by their justification—the Houthis, who are backed by Iran—standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
One of the biggest container shipping companies in the world, Maersk, praised calls for an increase in naval presence and an end to attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where Houthi threats have been felt by ships.
The corporation anticipates that these actions, along with a stronger naval presence, will eventually result in a less dangerous atmosphere that will let maritime trade pass through the Red Sea and revert to using the Suez Canal as a gateway.
