As Washington promises to defend shipping from attacks by the Iran-aligned group, tensions have increased as the Yemen Houthi movement pledged a “strong and effective response” following the United States’ second strike in Yemen during the night.
Concerns regarding the conflict’s escalation have grown as a result of the strikes. Since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas went to war, other countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq have also joined the fight, including Iran.
One day after many American and British strikes on Houthi installations in Yemen, the United States stated that the most recent strike had struck a radar facility.
Houthi spokesman Nasruldeen Amer told Al Jazeera, “This new strike will have a firm, strong and effective response,” adding that there had been no “material damages” or injuries.
Another Houthi official, Mohammed Abdulsalam, told Reuters that the group’s capacity to stop Israel-affiliated warships from crossing through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea was unaffected significantly by the strikes, including the one that occurred overnight and targeted a military base in Sanaa.
The American-British strikes, according to the Pentagon, had “good effects” on Friday.
The United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, issued a warning on Saturday about the increasingly dangerous situation in the area and encouraged “all involved” in Yemen to exercise the utmost caution.
The Houthis claim their naval assault is intended to aid Palestinians in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, an organization supported by Iran, who are under Israeli invasion and siege. They have attacked numerous vessels that were known to have no relation to Israel.
In addition to controlling Sanaa and a large portion of Yemen’s west and north, the organization has fired missiles and drones up the Red Sea at Israel.
In the second strike, which took place early on Saturday local time, the guided missile destroyer Carney fired Tomahawk missiles “to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels,” according to a statement released by the U.S. Central Command on X, formerly Twitter.
Mohammed Samei, a government employee in Sanaa, described the bombings as an act of “brutal aggression” and a new phase in the ten-year conflict that Yemen has been in.
Retired government employee Hussein Kabsi declared that it was a “religious and moral duty” to help the Palestinians.
“Our stance is unwavering, we will (continue) to stand with our brothers in Palestine and Gaza until victory and until all Palestinian land is liberated – not just Gaza,” he stated.
Video from the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV showed hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Sanaa on Friday, screaming anti-US and anti-Israel slogans.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a warning on Friday, threatening to order additional strikes if the Houthi commanders did not cease their attacks on military and commercial vessels in one of the most economically significant rivers in the world, despite their threats of reprisal.
“We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior,” Biden stated to reporters.
The Houthis have threatened ships by using their capacity to store, launch, and guide missiles or drones, according to White House spokesman John Kirby, who claimed that the early attacks have affected this capability. Washington, he maintained, was not interested in going to war with Yemen.
Five fighters, according to the Houthis, were slain in the initial strikes.
Reporters questioned Biden about whether he thought the movement was still classified as a terrorist organization after his government withdrew the Houthis from a State Department list of “foreign terrorist organizations” in 2021. “I believe they are,” he uttered.
RESULT OVERDUE
Since Hamas militants launched an assault on southern Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200 people and taking 240 prisoners, the Red Sea crisis has contributed to the displacement of people throughout the Middle East.
In response, Israel has destroyed a sizable portion of Gaza in an effort to completely destroy Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that since October 7, Israeli bombardment on the territory have resulted in the deaths of 23,843 Palestinians.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, stated before the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the United States and Great Britain “single-handedly triggered a spillover of the conflict (in Gaza) to the entire region.”
According to a senior U.S. official, Tehran is supplying the Yemeni organization with the military equipment and intelligence needed to execute their attacks. Although Iran denounced the US and UK strikes, there hasn’t been any indication as of yet that Iran is looking to engage in direct combat.
Commercial ships now have to travel a longer, more expensive path across Africa due to Houthi strikes, raising concerns about fresh inflation and supply chain disruption. This week, container shipping costs have skyrocketed on major international routes.
