Warship vessels in the Red Sea were attacked just this past week. Three commercial ships in The Red Sea were going as they normally did, when suddenly they were struck by multiple missiles coming from The Houthi Rebels, who we will discuss later on. Once the missiles hit the commercial ships, the U.S immediately shot down three drones, due to self-defense.
The Houthi Rebels are a rebel group backed by Iran whose normal source of attacks are by drones and missiles. The group has been around since 1994, and their goal is to govern all of Yemen as well as support movements against The United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. They fight “the Saudi intervention in Yemen” for territorial control.
The Red Sea is located is substantial because it is planted right smack in the middle between Israel, Egypt, a tiny part of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea, and Yemen, which then pours into Gulf of Aden. Why is this important? These waters are very controlled by many different countries who have access to it which lead to issues surrounding territorial claim; one country may feel threatened because another one is going into their portion. Furthermore the Red Sea is not very big, so everyone has to share something that is extremely tiny; alongside this, these countries are right next to each other, adding on to the preexisting tension surrounding claims to parts of it.
Let’s go back to The Houthi Rebels; this attack was a result of the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis are taking a stance for the Hamas side of the battle. The entire conflict is complicated but it is extremely violent, sad, and cruel. All the vessels attacked were Israeli linked and all the attack that happened was “a stance” in the ongoing war.
Saudi Arabia has urged the U.S to keep high alert and be cautious at any time as the Houthis are active in the sea and are constantly attacking. The U.S. military’s Central Command says, “We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.” The U.S also mentions that they are not bluntly accusing anyone of directly targeting the U.S by continuously labeling this as “self defense” and they could have had zero links in the first place.
