Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Iran-backed Houthi group continues to attack commercial ships, attacking American container ships with ballistic missiles despite being hit by a wave of attacks by the United States (US) and Britain in Yemen.
The attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged Gibraltar Eagle container ship demonstrated the expansion of the theater of war beyond the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The attack hit the ship's cargo hold and while it is not expected to cause major damage, it adds to concerns that US and UK attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen have not reduced the militia group's ability to threaten commercial shipping.
Qatar is the latest major user of container ships to announce that it will not ship liquefied gas via the Red Sea any time soon. Traffic levels are said to have decreased overall since the attacks in the US and UK last Thursday.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed Shiite group that has fought for control of Yemen for more than 20 years, said more than 30 attacks on commercial ships over the past six weeks were part of an effort to pressure Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Houthi's chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Monday (15/1/2024) that the group's position had not changed following the US-led attack, and indicated that attacks would continue on ships heading to Israel.
“Our position regarding events in Palestine and the aggression against Gaza has not changed and will not change, either after attacks or threats. Attacks to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to occupied Palestinian ports continue,” he said, as reported The Guardian.
The Houthi group says an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza will lead to a drop in the flow of ships through the Red Sea and increase pressure on global supply chains.
The Houthis' comparative success on Monday raised questions about whether the US-UK naval alliance off Yemen's coast should carry out a series of further attacks, or even consider actively cooperating with ground forces from the UN-recognized Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) – a coalition that supported by Saudi Arabia-UAE based in Aden.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the attack on the Houthis since Thursday evening was intended to be a “limited single action” and not a series of sustained attacks.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, told MPs he hoped the Houthis would withdraw after a “necessary and proportionate response”, but added “the UK will not hesitate to protect our security and interests”.
“We remain ready to back up our words with action,” he said.
US-UK onslaught
On Sunday, a US fighter jet also shot down a Houthi cruise missile fired from Houthi territory and aimed at the US destroyer USS Laboon. Earlier on Monday, Britain's Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that an unidentified vessel had repelled two small vessels that wanted to board the vessel.
Additionally, US Central Command said that two hours before the attack on the Gibraltar Eagle, a cruise missile fired from a Houthi-controlled area failed to fly and landed in the sea, causing no damage.
Sources in Yemen said residents had heard explosions near the port of Hodeidah, implying that the US and UK were continuing operations in an effort to quell the threat posed by Houthi missiles. Many of the attacks on Thursday night were aimed at Hodeidah.
A leading member of Yemen's UN-recognized government is urging western countries to provide military equipment, training and intelligence to its forces to help defeat the Houthis.
Aden-based Major General Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, deputy head of the eight-member PLC, said Saudi efforts over nearly nine years to defeat the Houthis showed air power alone was not enough. He claimed that many Houthi missiles were hidden underground and difficult to detect.
Peace Efforts
The British ambassador to Yemen, Abda Sharif, on Sunday met with the PLC prime minister, Maeen Abdul Mali, to discuss the future of the UN peace plan for Yemen, and how to prevent the Houthi movement from gaining a wave of popular support by projecting itself as one of the few groups in the country. The Middle East is willing to show active solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Meanwhile, at the weekend, Houthi crowds chanted: “We don't care and make this a world war.”
After a meeting in Aden on Monday, the PLC expressed its stance to distance itself from Israel, and voiced Yemen's “support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, especially in resisting the Israeli occupation and establishing its independent and fully sovereign national state.”
The statement warned the Houthi militia of “the consequences of continuing to exploit the oppression of the Palestinian people to achieve the interests of Iran and its expansionist projects in the region.” It said that the Houthis' actions only diverted world attention from the Israeli occupation's attacks and “serious violations” in a way that could continue its “aggression.”
The PLC wants the Houthi militia to be classified as a terrorist group, a designation US President Joe Biden will give it soon after becoming president. Such a label would make it difficult for humanitarian agencies to work with Yemeni groups linked to the Houthis.
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