Overview

• The US has carried out a third strike on Yemen to curb the Houthi rebels’ ability to attack merchant shipping, which the group has been engaged in since November, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas.
• The Houthi movement that controls large parts of Yemen has introduced complexities into the ongoing war in Gaza – a war of reprisal Israel is prosecuting with disproportionate force against a hapless civilian population it equates with Hamas.
• The Houthi rebels have taken up the cause of the blighted Palestinians and begun targeting merchant ships with an Israeli connection in the Red Sea, causing a major disruption to global merchant traffic that transits the Suez Canal and enters the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea.
• The US and UK have carried out missile attacks against the Houthis, while China and Russia – permanent members of the UN Security Council – have a different political position from that of the US in relation to the Israeli attacks on Gaza but share a common economic objective in ensuring that merchant shipping is not held hostage by Houthi demands.
• The Biden administration is expected to soon announce plans to redesignate Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists.