More Israeli Ships Targeted as Yemen Continues Support for the Palestinians

Yemen is undoubtedly still experiencing economic hardships following the war with Saudi Arabia, but it is still fulfilling its humanitarian obligations to support the Palestinian people during these trying times.

Israel’s trade-based economy is at risk as the Yemeni resistance targets Israel and Israeli-owned vessels, thereby exacting a heavy price for Tel Aviv’s devastating war on Gaza.

Yemen has constantly shown unwavering support and solidarity with Palestine despite facing its own humanitarian crises and war-torn challenges. The poorest state in West Asia is the most adept at organizing large-scale pro-Palestinian protests in the Arab world.

But recent events signal a historic turnabout, since the government led by Ansarallah (ER: aka the Houthis) has, for the first time, attacked Israel directly from the territory of “Happy Yemen.”

The missiles and drones from Yemen have traveled over two thousand kilometers to reach Israel, which is a decisive blow to US attempts to keep the conflict from spreading throughout West Asia.

Any questions about Sanaa’s important position in the Axis of Resistance that may have existed before have been definitively answered.

Ansarallah responds

The Yemeni escalation started with an official declaration, moving past simple threats against Washington’s military assistance in the Gaza conflict. The Yemeni Armed Forces announced on November 19 that it had advanced to the firing of missiles and drones in the direction of Um al-Rashrash (Eilat, on the Red Sea – see map), and that it had strategically shifted to naval operations against vessels connected to Israel. Notably, this intensification resulted in what is thought to be the first attempt to use missiles to target a US military vessel.

Yemen’s resistance activities have increased from Um al-Rashrash to the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since Ansarallah leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned the US.

The Resistance Axis’s expanded reach confuses the region for the US military, which has openly backed Israel’s attack on Gaza and is trying to hide the genocide that has been carried out against 2.3 million civilians in the besieged Strip.

The consequences have affected US political and security calculations throughout the whole region. The occupation state has been forced to reevaluate the costs of protracted warfare and its economic losses as a result of these actions, which is perhaps most significant.

The most recent economic ramifications stem from a noteworthy incident involving the Israeli shipping company Zim’s container ship, Zim Europe. The ship was compelled to veer off course and avoid the intended path via the Suez-Bab al-Mandab Canal due to concerns raised by Yemen about threats against ships associated with Israel.

Rather, the Zim Europe set out on a 56 percent longer sea voyage, encircling Africa via the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, a reflection of the logistical and financial challenges that Israeli shipping companies now face.

In the meantime, “two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of USS Mason (DDG-87) and M/V Central Park,” according to a report from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

This incident happened in the Gulf of Aden as part of what was purported to be a rescue operation for the cargo ship Central Park, which belonged to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer and was operated by Zodiac Marine.

But in a bigger picture, what does this mean?

Disruption to global trade

Firstly, Ansarallah in Yemen has asserted its independence from any short-term ceasefires proclaimed in Gaza.

Second, if CENTCOM reports are correct, this is the first significant engagement between US and Yemeni forces in Sanaa. As Israeli aggression toward Gaza increased, so did the intensity of this confrontation; on November 8, Ansarallah claimed to have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone in Yemeni territorial waters.

Third, Israel is bearing an increasingly heavy price for the war. Early in November, an optimistic assessment put forth by Tel Aviv estimated that a year-long conflict fought exclusively on the Gaza front would cost more than $50 billion, or 10 percent of Israel’s GDP—a figure that is unrealistic considering Israel’s current engagement with Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance, on its northern border, as well as its substantial expansion of its military presence in the occupied West Bank.

Furthermore, it ignores the extraordinary expenses related to interfering with Israeli trade. Nearly 99 percent of the goods imported and exported by the occupation state are transported by waterways. A large portion of the nation’s food supply, which Israel cannot and does not produce, is imported.

Only Russia’s and Ukraine’s Black Sea ports now have significantly higher war risk premiums than Ashdod, the Israeli port, according to Foreign Policy magazine. Furthermore, if Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah intensifies, that will also affect Haifa’s port, which the Lebanese resistance targeted in the 2006 war.

There are also significant global ramifications to all of this. Not only does the suspension of commercial traffic between Bab al-Mandab and the Suez Canal put pressure on Israel, but it also affects about 12 percent of world trade annually, comprising about 21,000 ships and 6 million barrels of oil per day (9 percent of total oil transported by sea).

A crucial link in the trade chain connecting Europe, East and West Asia, is Bab al-Mandab (ER: the bottleneck point between Djibouti and Yemen, connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden). Um al-Rashrash, which is ideally situated in the Red Sea, is vital to this trade movement because it links East Asian markets with Israel.

Following the signing of the normalization agreement with the UAE and Bahrain three years ago, which was mediated by the US, this port’s role was reinforced. Under the agreement, shipments of UAE crude oil were to be transported to Um al-Rashrash via the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

The recent drone and missile attacks on Um al-Rashrash threaten Israel’s economic aspirations as well as its security, as tourism is a major source of income for the country. Tel Aviv may be trying to avoid the political and security fallout from this far-off support, which is why it has taken such an ambiguous stance on the “Yemeni front.”

The swift increase in transportation expenses indicates the direct effect of the Yemeni attack on Israel’s maritime trade. Israeli ships might have to steer clear of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab completely in favor of lengthier routes around Africa or more expensive air travel. Insurance companies’ fees will probably keep going up, particularly for Israeli ships or those shipping cargo to the occupation state.

Israel’s impending collapse

These economic difficulties assume new proportions when one considers that the Israeli Ministry of Finance estimates that the war costs more than $270 million a day, of which Israel is expected to bear a large share, in addition to US taxpayers.

Israel’s economy could be seriously harmed by pre-existing political and social unrest, a drop in foreign reserves, forced borrowing, and economic contraction. One example is the estimate from the World Bank that goods trade accounts for 34.6% of Israel’s GDP. The regional disruptions in the Red Sea also put Israeli-Asian trade worth tens of billions of dollars at risk.

Concerns about investors pulling out of risk, the amount of capital invested down 70% since October, and the mass “exodus” of settlers returning to their home countries are all exacerbated by this uncertainty.

The ongoing US-backed, Saudi-led war in Yemen may be impacted by Sanaa’s involvement in the Palestinian resistance’s Al-Aqsa Flood operation, especially in light of unofficial reports that Saudi Arabia has intercepted missiles fired toward Israel.

An increase in aggression against Yemen could result from any hasty US attempt to intervene in defense of Israel and challenge Ansarallah’s decisions. This begs the question of whether Saudi Arabia and the UAE, allies in the coalition, are once again at risk from Yemeni missiles.

It would also demonstrate how the US and its allies in the region are a force that destabilizes West Asia, and that the Axis of Resistance is successfully opposing them on the political, military, and economic fronts.

Given that the primary purpose of the current genocide in Gaza is to give Netanyahu the much-needed justification for maintaining his political hold over the Israeli government in order to avoid going to jail for corruption, and knowing that a Hamas victory is improbable, will the Israeli people finally act with greater wisdom and put an end to the carnage that will undoubtedly breed more terrorists in the future?

Conversely, will prejudice and intolerance triumph and reveal the true nature of this “ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project” of the European Zionists, and the reasons behind their historical rejection from Europe?

This is a text-book case of genocide. The European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine has entered its final phase, toward the expedited destruction of the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine.

Craig Mokhiber, United Nations’ Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in New York

If this is the case, more Arab nations ought to emulate Yemen’s current trajectory of genuinely assisting the Palestinians in order to exert pressure on the ultimate power behind the current, murderous Israeli government.

Coordinated political and economic sanctions are far more effective than the collective denunciation that culminates recent summits.

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