Houthis
Houthi leaders are reaffirming their determination to attack ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel after attacks reportedly targeted Yemen's capital
Tuesday, January 23, 2024, 4:24 p.m. GMT
Houthi leaders have vowed resistance amid a new wave of attacks reportedly targeting five governorates, including Yemen's capital Sanaa and surrounding areas.
A Houthi army spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said the allied attacks would not go unpunished or unanswered. Houthi leaders also reiterated that their threats to ships in the Red Sea were aimed solely at stopping commercial vessel trade with Israel due to the bombing of the Gaza Strip. They insisted that other ships have free passage. Some ships sailing the Red Sea have posted identifiers indicating they are “not affiliated with Israel.”
A few hours after the attacks, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported “unmanned aircraft system activity” south of al-Mukha, Yemen. Authorities are investigating, the UKMTO said.
Houthi propaganda juxtaposed images of attacked Sana'a with similar images in Gaza.
Sunak is under pressure to clarify Red Sea strategy after new air strikes in Yemen
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, implicitly praised the Houthis, saying: “The task of the officials of Islamic countries is to cut off the lifelines of the Zionist regime.” Islamic countries should cut off their political and economic ties with the Zionist regime and this regime “Don’t help.”
He said other leaders were wrong when they called for a ceasefire because that demand was in Israel's hands.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he warned British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in a rare face-to-face meeting last week that “the United States and England would make a strategic mistake if they launched a second attack.” on Houthi positions.”
The Houthis lead an extremely authoritarian and religious regime. They believe they are doing God's will by defending the Palestinians, so they are unlikely to weaken in their determination to attack Israeli ships.
Since the first joint attack on January 11, the US has carried out at least six separate, more limited attacks on smaller targets. Cameron has since met leaders of Yemen's rival official United Nations-backed government based in Aden to discuss the crisis.
Members of the Presidential Leadership Council, the executive branch of the Aden government, called on Britain and the United States to equip their forces with equipment, training and intelligence to launch a ground offensive against Houthi strongholds in northern Yemen. There was no sign that the Houthis slowed their attacks on shipping after the first wave of attacks.
It is not clear whether the second wave of coordinated attacks benefited from intelligence cooperation from the Aden-based government, which opposes Israel's actions in Gaza but does not support Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Some leading members of the Islah party, part of the Aden-based coalition government and close to the Muslim Brotherhood, have praised the Houthi attacks on shipping.
Israel has claimed it is circumventing the Houthi naval blockade through land passage from the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Trade between Turkey and Israel has also increased since Israeli attacks in Gaza increased in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
The Houthis see America's attack as a moment of vindication.
Nasr al-Din Amer, a senior Houthi official, said: “We have been waiting for this moment for 20 years [military] Commitment to America and Israel. Praise God who has helped us fight the masters of blasphemy and tyranny.”
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