Egypt refuses to 'take active part' in Red Sea coalition forces
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Bahrain remains the only Arab country that has agreed to participate in the coalition.
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An Israeli occupation navy missile boat patrols in the Red Sea off the coast of "Eilat", on December 26, 2023. (Alberto PIZZOLI/AFP)
An Israeli Foreign Ministry delegation headed to the Egyptian capital Cairo last week to discuss the possibility of Egypt joining the US-led coalition against the operations of the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red and the Arabian seas, the Israeli i24NEWS website reported on Monday.
According to the Israeli website, Cairo "refused to take an active part in the coalition forces," leaving Bahrain as the only Arab country that has agreed to participate in the coalition.
On Thursday, the Minister of Defense in the Sanaa government, Major General Mohammad al-Atifi, warned foreign forces "against engaging in various activities supporting the Zionist entity in the maritime theater that spans between Arab states and Bahrain in the Red Sea."
Some two weeks have passed since the Pentagon announced the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian. However, it continues to be haunted by the reluctant participation of its members and uncertainty behind the operation's objectives.
Major member countries have announced stepping back or scaling down on commitment to the alliance, including France, which said it will not be operating under Washington's orders and will limit its operations to protect EU vessels, and Spain, which declared it will not participate entirely.
In addition, the Italian Ministry of Defense stated that it will deploy a ship to the Red Sea in response to requests from Italian ship owners, rather than as part of the US operation. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have previously said that they had no interest in the operation.
Several officials and maritime experts are doubting the coalition's effectiveness in facing Yemeni operations, especially given the asymmetric warfare Sanaa is capable of engaging in, which mainly includes the extremely low financial costs of attacks - drones valued at a few thousand dollars - compared to high expenses of repelling them with multi-million dollars interceptor missiles.
Read more: US-led coalition in Red Sea to be considered enemy targets: Sanaa
