America and United Kingdom authorities say their warships have shot down 15 assault drones over the Crimson Sea as Israel’s struggle on Gaza threatens to unfold within the area.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday stated its guided-missile destroyer responded to a wave of drones from “Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen” over the Crimson Sea, downing 14 suspected assault drones.
It described the launches as “one-way attack drones”, saying they have been “shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries”.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps additionally stated the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “targeting merchant shipping”.
In the meantime, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis stated the group attacked the Israeli metropolis of Eilat on Saturday with a swarm of drones, in keeping with spokesman Yahya Sarea who referred to the Crimson Sea resort metropolis as being in “southern occupied Palestine”.
The Houthis have promised to continue their attacks on vessels within the Crimson Sea, one of many world’s busiest delivery routes, to stress Israel to cease its assaults on Gaza.
‘Global trade problem’
Upping a earlier pledge to assault any Israeli-linked ships, the Houthis have stated that any ship heading to and from Israel within the waters off Yemen can be focused.
CENTCOM reported three business ships got here below hearth within the Crimson Sea on Friday.
Shapps stated assaults on business ships within the world commerce artery by Yemen’s Houthi rebels “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security”.
“The UK remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade,” he stated in a press release.
![Armed men stand on the beach as the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, is anchored off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. [REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/houthi-1702758017.jpeg?w=770&resize=770%2C447)
Risk to commerce has grown within the area as container ships and oil tankers flagged to international locations equivalent to Norway and Liberia have been attacked or drawn missile hearth whereas traversing the waterway between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
French container delivery line CMA CGM Group on Saturday stated it had ordered all its vessels scheduled to move via the Crimson Sea to “pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice”.
On Friday, Maersk, the world’s largest delivery firm, additionally instructed all its vessels planning to move via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait within the Crimson Sea to stop their journeys after a missile assault on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship.
Germany-based shipper Hapag-Lloyd stated it was pausing all its container ship visitors via the Crimson Sea till Monday.
John Stawpert of the Worldwide Chamber of Transport instructed Al Jazeera that the Houthi assaults on the Crimson Sea have had have a big impression on world commerce.
“We have seen two major carriers rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope [off South Africa] that will add six to 14 days to their voyage. It will delay the arrival of goods in the markets to which they’re being delivered,” he stated. “This is not an Israeli trade problem. This is a global trade problem.”
Stawpert stated the financial impression was not instantly clear however “if we look at the Suez Canal, we are talking about $3bn to $9bn of trade going through that every day – so it will be significant”.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels – who management a lot of Yemen however are usually not recognised internationally – have engaged in Oman-mediated talks with “international parties” about their operations within the Crimson Sea and the Arabian Sea, a Houthi spokesman stated on Saturday.
The assertion didn’t determine the worldwide events concerned within the talks and didn’t say the place they came about or when, however could point out the Houthis might be keen to deescalate.
The Houthis confused within the Oman-mediated talks that their place was not topic to negotiation till Israel stopped its “aggression” towards Gaza and allowed humanitarian help to enter, stated Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel-Salam.
Nonetheless, Abdel-Salam additionally stated “any real steps” addressing the humanitarian disaster in Gaza by bringing in meals and drugs “would contribute to reducing the escalation”.
“We have emphasised to everyone that [the Houthi] operations are to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and that we cannot stand idly by in the face of the aggression and siege,” he stated.
The US-based Semafor web site reported on Saturday that Washington was deliberating on immediately attacking the Houthis in response to elevated raids on the business delivery vessels within the Crimson Sea.
Officers within the administration of US President Joe Biden instructed the information website they have been weighing the strategic worth of focusing on the group towards doubtlessly heightening a wider Center East battle.
The US has regularly conducted attacks on what it described as Iran-aligned teams in Iraq and Syria in response to assaults on bases housing US personnel.
US Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan instructed journalists in Tel Aviv on Friday that “while the Houthis are pulling the trigger, so to speak, they’re being handed the gun by Iran”.
