Arrival of merchant ships at 'Eilat' almost completely stopped: Axios

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Axios
15 Dec 2023 06:06

Since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched more than 70 drones and ballistic missiles toward the Israeli occupation entity.

The Israeli Port of "Eilat". (AFP)

Axios highlighted that the arrival of merchant ships at the Israeli port of "Eilat" has "almost completely stopped" due to attacks from the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea against ships heading to the Israeli occupation entity.

The website cited two US officials as saying that the administration of US President Joe Biden recently sent messages to Sanaa through several channels, warning it to stop "attacks on ships in the Red Sea and against Israel."

It emphasized that since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Yemeni Armed Forces "have launched more than 70 drones and ballistic missiles" toward the Israeli occupation entity.

The two US officials were cited as saying that US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, who visited the Gulf in recent days, asked his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar to "convey warning messages" to Yemen.

According to Axios, US officials acknowledge that these warnings so far have not led the Yemenis to de-escalate their operations.

The report noted that ships heading to the Israeli occupation entity from Asia are now taking a longer route around Africa, making the journey three weeks longer and more costly.

It is noteworthy that a couple of days ago, the Director General of the Israeli Port of "Eilat", Gideon Golber, told the Israeli Channel 13 that Yemen's threat of Israeli-bound ships had "disrupted 80% to 85% of the port’s profits."

The American news website also cited two Israeli and US officials as saying that "a special upgraded multinational task force will start operating in the Red Sea" to deter the Yemeni forces from launching more attacks and confront them.

The task force will not accompany the ships in the Red Sea, but having more naval ships in the area will make it easier to respond to threats, a senior Israeli official pointed out, as cited by Axios.

Earlier on Thursday, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to the Israeli occupation entity.

In a statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces confirmed that the ship was targeted with a drone, adding that a direct hit was confirmed after the Maersk Gibraltar's crew refused to respond to warning calls from the Yemeni Naval Forces.

According to the statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces succeeded in prohibiting the passage of several ships heading to the Israeli occupation entity in the past 48 hours.

Elsewhere, the Yemeni military underlined that its forces will continue preventing all ships heading to Israeli occupation ports from navigating in the Arabian and Red Seas until the entry of needed food and medicine to the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Ansar Allah Political Bureau member Abdul-Malik al-Ajri stressed that there is no way to restore calm in the Red Sea without a ceasefire in Gaza.

"There is no way of preventing the escalation except by moving towards a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," al-Ajri said in a post on X.

The top Yemeni official made it clear that peace in the Red Sea was "linked to restoring calm in the Gaza Strip," clearly talking about a ceasefire as the Israeli occupation continues to escalate against the Strip's civilian population.

He also stressed that even if all the naval fleets on Earth gathered in the Red Sea, they "would not bring security to Israel or Israeli ships, not to any ships heading to [Israel]."

The Israeli so-called "National Security Council" urgently directed ports to eliminate details about ship arrivals and departures from their websites, as reported by Globes.

A couple of days ago, the Yemeni Naval Forces targeted the Norwegian-flagged Strinda ship, which was loaded with oil and headed to the ports of the Israeli occupation, according to the spokesperson of the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

The Yemeni Armed Forces affirmed their continued prevention of ships of all nationalities heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea until the blockade on the Gaza Strip is lifted.

Later, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, advised to "avoid risks in the Red Sea and swiftly respond to the orders of the Yemeni navy." He also advised against ships heading toward occupied ports in Palestine.

Al-Houthi recalled that "the Yemeni Armed Forces have clearly announced their goals in support of Gaza, including stopping the American-Israeli terrorist aggression."