US attack on Yemen raises risk of Gaza conflict spreading

“We are not interested in a war against the Houthis in Yemen, we are not interested in any type of conflict. “We want their attacks to stop.” Aware of the risk of extension of the conflict posed by the attack launched this Friday by the United States and the United Kingdom against targets in Yemen of the militia allied with Iran, the spokesman for the White House Security Council, John Kirby, has insisted that Washington is not looking for a direct confrontation. It was the first major act of retaliation since the Houthis began harassing merchant ships in the Red Sea, through which about 15% of the world's maritime traffic passes, according to US estimates, in response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The tension, which had already been increasing in the last two weeks, is now extreme with the promise of a response from the Yemeni rebels. Kirby has made it clear that US President Joe Biden “will not hesitate to take further action if necessary” to protect shipping, as he does a naval coalition that he has led since December. Tehran has assured that the attacks fuel “insecurity and instability” in the Middle East, although experts do not foresee it becoming directly involved in the defense of its allies.

The White House maintains that the military action has been carried out in accordance with US legislation and international law. “All [los emplazamientos atacados] “They were valid and legitimate military objectives,” added the spokesperson on board the plane. Air Force Onein which Biden addressed a rally in Pennsylvania.

US and British forces attacked anti-aircraft surveillance systems, radars and arsenals of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles in different parts of Yemen under the control of the Houthi rebels. Both capitals have warned that they will repeat them if hostile incidents continue in those waters. This same Friday, the car manufacturers Tesla and Volvo have announced the temporary suspension of part of their production in Europe due to a shortage of components due to changes in maritime traffic in those waters.

In the end, three months after the Hamas attack on Israel, the expansion of the conflict in Gaza has not occurred where it was most feared: countries neighboring the Jewish State, such as Lebanon, with the Hezbollah militia; or Syria, with the pro-Iranian militias. The Israeli army has maintained daily skirmishes on both fronts since October, but it has been at the other end of the Red Sea where two allies of Israel, Washington and London, have come into action, opening fire against a group supported by Iran that controls 30% of the territory of Yemen, including the capital. The Houthis have also occasionally launched drones and missiles against the Israeli city of Eilat, at the northern tip of the Red Sea, and with tens of thousands of displaced people in hotels.

Since the crisis broke out in the region, due to massive surprise attacks by Hamas (some 1,200 dead and more than 200 hostages) followed by an Israeli offensive in Gaza that has killed almost 24,000 Palestinians (more than 1% of the population of the Strip), one of the great priorities of the United States has been to avoid the extension of the conflict. Biden supports the Israeli campaign economically, militarily and diplomatically, but seeks to reduce the country's role in the Middle East, so he does not want to get fully involved. Even less in the middle of an electoral battle that begins this weekend with the Republican caucuses in Iowa.

Tension had been rising since the last day of 2023, when US helicopters sank three Houthi boats that were trying to board a ship. On Tuesday, the Yemeni movement launched the largest of its 27 attacks on ships in the Red Sea. That same day, during his visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken already warned that his Armed Forces would respond if they were “attacked or threatened.” “[Los hutíes] “They are not only a threat to us or to Israel, but to the entire international community, because they are attacking maritime transport in a sea that provides 15% of global trade every day,” he said. On Wednesday, the Security Council approved, with the blank votes of Algeria, Russia, China and Mozambique, resolution 2722, which ordered the Houthis to immediately cease their harassment.

In theory, attacks in response to the Gaza invasion have targeted merchant ships supposedly linked to or originating from or destined for Israeli ports, although this has not always been the case. The main maritime transport companies are avoiding the passage and choosing to circumnavigate Africa through the Cape of New Hope, which has increased freight rates by 170%.

naval coalition

Faced with the problem, in December the United States forged a naval coalition with a dozen countries called Guardian of Prosperity. Now, the European Union proposes creating a new special naval security mission to patrol the same sea. It would be independent of Guardian of Prosperity, but they would share secret information, according to a confidential proposal sent on Thursday by the EU External Action Service (EEAS) to the member states, and to which EL PAÍS has had access. Even if it goes ahead, Spain will not send ships to patrol the Red Sea, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, clarified this Friday.

The attack not only increases the scope of the conflict to other actors and geographical space. It also reveals the gap between the United States and almost the entire Arab world over its support for Israel. Ayman Safadi, the foreign minister of Jordan – a Washington ally that has had formal relations with Israel since 1994 – blamed the “growing tension in the region” on “Israeli aggression in Gaza and the constant commission of war crimes against the Palestinian people and violations of international law with complete impunity,” according to the state agency Petra.

The only Arab country publicly integrated into Guardian of Prosperity is Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet and forged diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, despite the importance of maritime traffic for others, such as Egypt, with 1,500 kilometers of coastline in the sea Red. Neither are Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the two main countries in the coalition that fought the Houthis since 2015 and then gradually reduced their involvement. Riyadh, which has been negotiating a definitive ceasefire with the militia for months and reestablished diplomatic relations with Tehran almost a year ago, has expressed its “great concern” and has called for “containment” to avoid an escalation.

Support for the Palestinian cause on the Arab street (including in the five countries that recognize Israel) generates little appetite in the capitals to signify at this time a mission led by the United States, despite the economic impact generated by the naval blockade and the differences they maintain with Tehran.

In Washington, voices have emerged in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party that criticize the attack. Once Biden gave the go-ahead, the White House notified Congress. But critical legislators point out that Article I of the Constitution obliges the Government not only to notify it, but also to request express authorization fro
m Parliament to carry out this type of military actions. Thursday's actions are “an unacceptable violation of the Constitution. Article I requires that Congress approve military actions,” stressed legislator Pramila Jayapal.

To military pressure, the United States added diplomatic and economic pressure this Friday. The Treasury Department has announced sanctions against two companies, one based in Hong Kong and the other in the United Arab Emirates, for shipping Iranian goods on behalf of the network of Iran-based Houthi financial facilitator Said al-Jamal. It is supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Al Quds Brigade (IRGC-QF).

The Treasury's Office of Asset Control (OFAC) has identified four vessels in which those two companies have interests. The sale of the goods they transported was going to finance the Houthi militias and their attacks against commercial ships.

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