CNN –
Israel is prepared to take action against efforts by Yemen's Houthi rebels to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea if the international community does not do so, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said said Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had spoken to US President Joe Biden and European leaders about Houthis targeting merchant ships with alleged Israeli ties, Hanegbi said Israel's Channel 12.
“Israel is giving the world some time to organize to prevent this, but if there is to be no global agreement because it is a global problem, we will act to lift this sea siege,” Hanegbi said said.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels are a Shiite political and military organization that has been waging a civil war against a Saudi-backed coalition since 2014.
Since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, there has been an increase in its maritime activity.
US warships already protect shipping in the region. A U.S. warship shot down several unmanned aerial vehicles traveling from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen's southern Red Sea last week, according to U.S. military officials. One of the incidents occurred during a series of attacks on three merchant ships.
U.S. military officials have said they are considering increasing protection for commercial vessels around a key shipping route in the Red Sea following a recent series of rocket attacks by Houthi fighters from Yemen.
The United States has discussed ways to increase security in the region with members of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multinational naval task force tasked with protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
U.S. officials have said publicly that discussions focused on the possibility of escorting ships operating in the Red Sea and through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb into the Gulf of Aden – the narrow channel, Yemen and that separates the Horn from Africa.
Khaled Abdullah/Portal
Newly recruited Houthi fighters during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, December 2, 2023.
Hanegbi He also discussed developments on the ground in Gaza, saying the US had not set a deadline for Israel to complete military operations in the enclave.
“They understand that they cannot tell the IDF how long it will take to achieve the goals,” he said.
“The good thing is that they have the same goals… It's right to assume that we can't measure this in weeks, and I'm not sure it can be measured in months.”
CNN has previously reported that U.S. officials expect the Israeli operation against the southern end of the strip to last several weeks before transitioning, possibly in January, to a less intensive, more localized strategy targeting specific Hamas affiliates. Militants and leaders targeted several high-ranking administration officials.
The White House is deeply concerned about how Israel's operations will develop in the next few weeks, a senior US government official said.
The U.S. had strongly warned Israel in “tough” and “direct” talks, the official said, that the Israel Defense Forces could not repeat the devastating tactics it used in the north and must do more to limit civilian casualties.
Hanegbi said he did not believe the Hamas leadership anticipated the scale of Israel's response to the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
“I don't think Yahya Sinwar (Hamas leader in Gaza) realized that the IDF will actually reach any point it wants within the Gaza Strip and kill over 7,000 terrorists,” Hanegbi said said.
“This is the minimum estimate, it could be higher as we don't know everything,” he added.
“We are getting very close to Hamas’ control and command centers in Jabalia and Shejaiya, strongholds of ongoing resistance in the northern Gaza Strip. And in the south we are working flat out.”
Houthi Movement via Getty Images
This handout screenshot from a video shows the takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo by Yemeni Houthi fighters on the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah on November 20 in the Red Sea, Yemen.
Asked about the possibility that Israel would have to choose between killing Sinwar and rescuing the hostages if they were in the same location, Hanegbi responded said: “We could face such a situation, it is a heartbreaking dilemma for any decision maker, but that would mean (we) have achieved it.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.