The U.S. military early Saturday struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk, two U.S. officials said, a day after the U.S. and Britain launched multiple airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels.
That’s kind of broad since some people consider the whole conflict a slow-rolling genocide, not just the latest post-October 7 phase of the conflict. Are their demands specific to the current phase of the conflict? Like, if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, will the Houthis stop firing missiles?
I suppose I kind of get their stated motivation. I mean, Western countries are sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine. The strange part is that the Houthis aren’t targeting Israeli vessels specifically. This is more like if Malta was shooting missiles at non-Russian ships in order to convince China to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. It’s weird.
The demands seem to be specific to the current phase of the conflict. They want Israel out of Gaza and for humanitarian aid to flow in accordance with international law.
The demands are limited because their goal is to have those demands met, not to be attacking ships. Demanding anything more than what they are currently doing would basically guarantee they won’t be met, and therefore counterproductive. Yemen has other issues they need resources for, a protracted conflict is not the goal. As for why they target non-Israeli ships, it seems they are willing to target ships associated with Israeli allies as well. COSCO, a Chinese shipping company, has stopped doing business with Israel and is continuing to transit the Red Sea without interference from the Yemenis, for example.
That’s interesting, thanks. I had no idea they managed to get a huge Chinese firm to stop doing business with Israel.