Yemenis expand attacks on Israel-bound ships to all of Indian Ocean

by Peoples Dispatch

Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Ansar Allah, said on Thursday, March 14, that his country’s armed forces will expand their attacks against ships moving to Israel from the Red Sea region to the whole of the Indian Ocean.

Stating that attacks on Israeli ships in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb will continue until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, al-Houthi declared that “we [now] aim to prevent ships associated with the Israeli enemy from crossing the [Indian] Ocean towards South Africa and the Cape of the Good Hope” as well.

He warned that international shipping companies should take Ansar Allah’s declaration seriously and avoid any links with Israel as “any ship linked to Israel is vulnerable to Yemeni missiles.”  

Ansar Allah and the Yemeni Armed Forces have been carrying out attacks against the ships associated with Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November last year, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza who have been facing devastating Israeli aggression since Oct. 7 which has killed close to 32,000 of them and injured over 72,000.

Ansar Allah has been a part of the regional Axis of Resistance against imperialist interventions and colonialism along with Iraqi resistance forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They have targeted Israel and US installations in the region in solidarity with Palestinians.

Al-Houthi asserted that the attacks carried out by the US and the UK on Yemen will not be able to deter the country from supporting Gaza. Those attacks have “one outcome, which is the widening of the conflict and war at the regional level” he said. 

The US and the UK launched aerial strikes inside Yemen in December despite concerns that any such move will escalate the war in Gaza to the regional level. Since then, they have carried out over a hundred such attacks.

On March 14, the US and the UK carried out a total of 11 airstrikes. According to Al-Mayadeen, Thursday’s attacks bring the total number of such airstrikes in Yemen to over 35 in just five days since the start of the month of Ramadan. Most of the airstrikes targeted the port city of Hodeidah. However, provinces such as Saada and Sanaa were also targeted. 

US and Israel linked ships and warships targeted  

Al-Houthi claimed that at least 34 Yemenis have been killed in operations carried out in support of Gaza since November. He however asserted that Yemen will not be deterred and will continue to act in solidarity with Palestine.

He also stated that Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out at least 12 operations against ships and warships in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden region by launching 58 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in the past week. He added that the total number of ships and warships hit by Yemen since November has reached 73.

On Thursday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that it received reports of two more ships being attacked off the coast of Hodeidah with missiles. At least one of those two ships was damaged in the attack.

Al-Houthi also praised popular support for the Palestinian cause in Yemen and the large participation in the weekly million-person marches in solidarity with Palestinians. He appealed to the Yemeni people to participate in the next “million Yemeni march” organized across the country on Friday.

Al-Houthi criticized the role of most of the regional countries in the Israeli war in Gaza claiming apart from Iran, most others “did not take any serious, practical stand” in support of Palestinian people. 

Al-Houthi claimed that “the Israeli occupation is carrying out a crime of the century, with American participation and contribution” from other Western countries. He termed the US airdropping of aid into Gaza “an insult” to Palestinians, underlining how it has bypassed the official UN channels of aid.

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