Yemen’s Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, as reported by Al Jazeera, has announced ongoing strikes against Israel for the coming days. So far, they have launched two salvoes of missiles at Israeli military targets, while Israel has only reported two Yemeni missiles having been brought down. Israel typically doesn’t report much about any damage at their military sites.
The Houthis had restrained themselves over the first month of the assaults on Iran but, last week, had warned that a U.S.-Israeli escalation against Iran’s civilian infrastructure would bring them into the conflict. Saree also referenced the lack of implementation of the Gaza ceasefire. They had halted their attacks on Israel last October to give the ceasefire a chance of working.
Aside from attacks upon Israel, the threat to world shipping is major. Yemen abuts the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a 20-mile-wide choke point for South Asia’s shipping traffic into the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. It is one of the busiest for global oil trade. A quarter of global container trade passes through the Strait. Since the assault on Iran began, Saudi Arabia has transferred millions of barrels a day of oil shipments from their eastern area, which goes through the Strait of Hormuz, to their west, going through Bab el-Mandeb. But now shipping companies face having to redirect traffic to Europe away from Egypt’s Suez Canal and, instead, going around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope—creating delays and high costs.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that Houthi attacks on vessels, besides pushing oil prices up further, would destabilize “all of maritime security. The impact would not be limited to the energy market.” Since about 12% of the world’s trade passes through the Suez Canal (oil, natural gas, grain, electronics, etc.), Nagi warned: “It would be devastating for so many countries. If we see more pressure on the Iranians, or there’s any escalation, the Houthis will jump in harshly.”
This was all known before last Thursday’s escalated attacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure.
