- The Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warns of restarting attacks on Israeli ships unless Gaza aid is allowed to resume.
- The Houthis had previously launched missile and drone strikes on shipping in the Red Sea during the Gaza conflict, halting attacks after the January ceasefire.
- Israel suspended humanitarian aid to Gaza in early March after Hamas rejected a proposed ceasefire extension, escalating tensions.
Yemen’s Houthi group has threatened to resume attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea if humanitarian aid is not allowed into Gaza, reports JNS.
Houthis threaten to resume Red Sea attacks
“We are announcing a four-day notice,” the group said in a video statement on 7 March. “This is to allow mediators to do what they do. If the enemy continues, after four days, to stop humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, including food, medicine, then we will return to continuing our sea operations against the enemy.”
The four-day deadline expires in the evening of 11 March local time.
Israeli energy and infrastructure minister Eli Cohen signed an order on 9 March to cut electricity supply to Gaza in an effort to pressure Palestinian group Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages being held in the territory.
The Houthis began their attacks in the Red Sea in November 2023 in what they said was a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The group announced a cessation of hostilities against ships in the Red Sea in January this year, with the exception of Israeli-owned and Israeli-flagged vessels.
The Houthi campaign has weighed heavily on trade flows between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal, forcing many shipowners to take the longer and more expensive route around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
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Source: JNS
