Qatar's prime minister says US-led attacks on Houthis in Yemen will “lead to further escalation” in the region
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (right) speaks with WEF President Borge Brende during a session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 16. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned that recent US attacks on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen would only deepen regional divisions over Israel's war in Gaza.
Al Thani said on Tuesday that tensions in the Middle East “affect everyone” and stressed that leaders' main focus should be defusing the war in Gaza, where Israel's deadly military offensive since October 7 has decimated parts of the territory and has left more than 100,000 people behind. 2.2 million people are affected by famine, deadly diseases and forced displacement.
“We always prefer diplomacy to any military solution, and we believe that we should not just focus on these small conflicts, but that we should focus on the main conflict in Gaza, and once that dissipates, I think everything else will disappear,” said the Qatari Prime Minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Asked about US and British attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in the context of attacks on the Red Sea, he called their impact on freedom of navigation “a global problem.”
“What we have in the region is a recipe for escalation everywhere,” he added.
The Red Sea is a key shipping route for Qatar, which is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Regional divisions: Since November, the Houthis (an Iran-backed Shiite political and military organization) have been firing drones and missiles at merchant ships in the Red Sea.
Then on Thursday, the United States and the United Kingdom launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. This was the Biden administration's strongest response since the broadside attacks began.
The Houthis said their bombings were a sign of their solidarity with the Palestinian people, adding that they would only relent if Israel allowed food and medicine into the Gaza Strip.
The attacks could be aimed at inflicting economic damage on Israel's allies in hopes of pressuring it to halt its Hamas-led military offensive, which has killed at least 24,100 Palestinians and injured another 60,834 people, according to Gaza's health ministry .
CNN cannot independently confirm the numbers due to the difficulty of reporting from the war zone.