In a stunning development, the total number of UK, US and Israel-bound ships has decreased substantially in the Red Sea following "Israel’s" condemnable assault on Hodeidah. Yemen’s critical operations against Western aggressors also appear to rob the occupation of any viable arrangement in the Red Sea to facilitate "Israel"-bound vessels, indicating the extent of internal panic.  

Yemen’s highly precise responses amid "Israel’s" raging genocide put the causes and consequences in perspective: the occupation thought it could violate Yemen’s territorial sovereignty and somehow undermine the country’s ironclad solidarity with the Palestinian cause. That assumption has been shattered to the ground as Yemen demands an end to the raging Israeli onslaught. Moreover, rising panic among vessels, their companies, and associated Western interests suggest that continued aggression against Palestinians and the Yemeni people is due cause for further unrest.

First, US naval operations are already in complete disarray. Increased vessel flows to the region will only reinforce US support for a climate of aggression and impunity spearheaded by its occupation allies. Washington’s maritime operations effectively give "Israel" a carte blanche for its glaring war crimes, both within and beyond Gaza. The occupation assault on Hodeidah port is a proof point for all to consider: it was deliberate Zionist aggression aimed at jeopardizing Yemeni lives, as well as their food and humanitarian assistance hub. And despite these glaring Israeli crimes, US naval operations refuse to focus on the root causes of present belligerence in the region, choosing to aid Israeli crimes and targeting legitimate resistance.

These objectives are bound to backfire now. After all, Yemen strengthened its activism in the Red Sea in the wake of Israeli massacres and has been clear that an end to genocidal atrocities was key to ceasing hostilities. Rather than heeding these demands, Washington is embracing an escalatory path against Yemen through its discredited naval coalition. This is the same coalition that put a target on the back of many Western allies and so-called US maritime “defense” partners. Little suggests that reality is going to change.

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Look no further than the rampant demise of the coalition and its activities: Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG) lacked regional support from the outset, and contributed to a rise in powerful, diversified resistance attacks since January. "Israel" feels it can benefit from US naval operations and use it as a cover to proceed with rogue strikes on sovereign territories, but that assumption has been shot to the ground. The occupation’s Eilat port was forced to do away with 50% of its workforce while economic losses from the Gaza onslaught kept pounding "Israel". Other port losses have reportedly also risen to multimillion-dollar highs. So, where are Washington’s tall promises of lifting confidence among commercial shipping partners, and preventing it from taking a nosedive?

Lets be certain – giving Australia command of the discredited coalition won’t bring Washington and Zionist aggressors in the clear. Contrary to propaganda, Yemen’s capabilities in self-defense, deterrence, and precision attacks have only increased. In fact, Washington’s own media machinery is testifying to the OPG’s grave failures and role in mounting threat perceptions in the Red Sea. Yemen’s sovereignty – like the territorial integrity of any state – is a glaring red line with zero compromise on defense. As long as Washington engages its allies to test these hard-set boundaries, it risks unprecedented damage to its vessels and those that it seeks to protect in the interests of the genocidal regime.

Interestingly, there is considerable regionwide alignment against Israeli atrocities. Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi has already warned that Israel would face severe consequences for assassinating Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh, while regional supporters appear aligned against "Israel’s" unlawful, indiscriminate and disproportionate bombing of Yemen’s port city. "Israel’s" capitulation appears imminent, given its own role in opening up a multifront war through its genocide in Gaza. 

The Lebanese, Palestinian and Yemeni resistance have consistently pierced through occupation defenses, made considerable ingress into sensitive locations, and exposed "Israel’s" bluster on getting a ceasefire through. Collectively, IOF faces the formidable task of concealing its tactical and economic losses on more fronts than it can count. Moreover, IOF’s own presence keeps thinning out amid the Gaza onslaught. Battlefield losses and strategic disagreements also cut through any semblance of unity.

These are all of the natural consequences of an illegal occupation that has sought to normalize bloodshed and export terrorism for a long. As "Israel" faces political disintegration from within, millions stand united in Yemen in support of Gaza, defiant against US-British aggression and Israeli crimes on their soil. In light of such solidarity, Washington’s unwarranted attack on Yemen’s missile system this week puts more targets on its back. Such aggression is not an attempt to “protect freedom of navigation,” as the US Central Command insists. 

It is a clear declaration of escalation that no amount of US optics or naval adventurism can offset.