8 questions to understand crisis in the Red Sea: how serious is what is happening?

New bombings hit Houthi positions in Yemen this Saturday, after the insurgent group, financed by Iran, threatened to continue its actions against ships in the Red Sea, a key route for global trade.

(Also: New bombing in Yemen against Houthi military base, according to security sources)

The bombings come a day after the United States and the United Kingdom hit multiple targets in the country, whose capital, Sanaa, has been controlled by the Houthis since 2014. Those attacks raised fears of a regional conflagration of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But what is happening and how serious is this situation? Here we explain it in eight questions.

(Keep reading: Why attacks in Yemen raise the risk of the Gaza conflict spreading)

1. What is happening in the Red Sea and why are there attacks on ships?

Since mid-November, after the start of the war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the Houthi militias, a Yemeni insurgent group backed by Iran, have launched dozens of attacks in the Red Sea against commercial vessels they say are linked to Israeli interests. The insurgents, who support Hamas, explain that it is a way to put pressure on Israel and show solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, where the Israeli army has launched a broad military offensive. The attacks have world powers on alert, especially the United States, Israel's main ally. More than 50 nations have been directly affected by traffic disruptions in the Red Sea.

2. Why is this serious and what does it have to do with global maritime trade?

The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have caused the world's main shipping companies to be forced to adjust their routes to avoid transiting this route, where nearly 15 percent of global maritime trade operates, including 8 percent. of grain, 12 percent of oil and 8 percent of world trade in liquefied natural gas. The crisis is becoming evident in prices, and the cost of a barrel of crude oil has already increased by around 4 percent since Friday, when the United States and the United Kingdom launched attacks in defense of global economic interests..

(Also read: Who are Yemen's Houthi rebels and why did the US and UK attack them?)

3. Who are the Houthis and what areas of Yemen do they control?

Although their official name is Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), the group is better known as the Houthis after their founder, Hussein Badreddin Al Huti, who started the movement against the corruption of the Yemeni government in the 1980s. its ties with Saudi Arabia and the United States. The movement, which professes the Zaidi Shiite branch of Islam and is financed by Iran, took the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, in 2014 and has since taken over large areas of the north and west of the country, where the insurgents are currently waging a war. war with the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

4. Why did the United States and the United Kingdom decide to bomb Yemen on Friday?

The United States and the United Kingdom launched 73 attacks on several Houthi military positions in at least six provinces of Yemen on Friday, causing the death of five fighters, as confirmed by the insurgents themselves. In a statement, Washington and London, supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand and South Korea, justified the action in defense of international trade and those transiting the Red Sea. In response, the Houthi rebels declared “open war” on those countries.

(Also: Houthis say five of their members died in US and UK bombings)

5. Is a war between world powers and the Houthi rebels looming then?

This cannot be predicted. The Middle East is in suspense due to the risk that the conflict in Gaza will spread and other fronts will be activated, such as the Red Sea after the bombings. Washington and London, however, assure that they are not seeking a confrontation with the Houthis and affirm that the attacks serve only to deter the insurgent group and limit their abilities to launch missiles and drones against cargo ships. But The rebels called the attacks “unjustifiable,” and even “terrorist,” and promised that these actions will not go unanswered..

6. How important is Iran's support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen?

The Houthis have the support of Iran, a regional power and archrival of Israel and Saudi Arabia. With a force estimated at at least 200,000 men, this insurgent group is well trained and accustomed to fighting in mountainous and harsh terrain. Its long-range missiles and drones, developed with Iranian technology, are considered a serious threat to its neighbors in the Gulf of Aden. Furthermore, by saying they are attacking Israel and its American ally in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthis have galvanized their popular base in Yemen and other countries in the region.

(Also read: Why do Yemen's Houthis attack ships in the Red Sea and how does it impact trade?)

7. What do Yemenis say about the threat of a new conflict in their country?

Residents in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels are concerned that their country will be dragged into a new war that will prevent the population from recovering from the internal conflict, which has devastated the nation for a decade. And after almost ten years of war between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, more than 24 million people – 80 percent of the population – depend on humanitarian aid.while more than 14 million require urgent aid and three million have been displaced since Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict in 2015.

8. Would the peace process in that Middle Eastern nation be at risk?

The UN mission in Yemen warns that the bombings by the United States and the United Kingdom and the attacks by the Houthi rebels against shipping in the Red Sea endanger the efforts made to achieve peace in the punished Arab country, immersed in a war since 2014. The head of the UN mission, Hans Grundberg, has said that he “notes with great concern the increasingly precarious regional context and its adverse impact on peace efforts in Yemen and stability and security in the region.”while calling for “exercising maximum restraint” to reduce tension.

WILLIAM MORENO HERNÁNDEZ
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
TIME

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