The United States and the United Kingdom on Thursday night launched strikes against targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to antagonize the global shipping industry in the Red Sea, raising fears of further escalation of the simmering conflict in the Middle East over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The strikes were the most significant action the US has taken against the Houthis — a militant group in control of much of northern Yemen, who are funded and trained by Iran, and who sympathize with the Palestinian cause — thus far. Their Red Sea operations, they say, are protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians so far. In other words, the US/UK strikes are both part of and responding to the ongoing regional conflict that has included operations like targeted US attacks in Iraq and Syria for months. And as Thursday’s strikes demonstrate, that ongoing conflict shows little sign of slowing.
US officials said the airstrikes, as well as missiles launched from ships and at least one Tomahawk cruise missile launched from a submarine, hit 60 targets, including Houthi weapons depots, drone and missile launch sites, and radar outposts. “These targets were very specifically selected for minimizing the risk of collateral damage,” a senior Pentagon official told reporters Thursday night. “We were absolutely not targeting civilian population centers. We were going after very specific [capabilities] in very specific locations with precision munitions.”
Houthi attacks on commercial vessels have been ongoing since mid-November, and have had serious effects on global trade. They have successfully deterred shipping giants like Maersk from traveling through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, an important route for trade between Asia and Western countries. The group claims it only targets ships headed to or affiliated with Israel to protest that country’s war in Gaza, though it seems to be abandoning that principle as the attacks continue….
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