Houthis join the latest escalation of war against Iran

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

In Yemen, Houthis declared a ban on Israeli ships passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait which is a critical waterway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis, who control a large portion of Yemen’s territory, announced that they will target Israeli shipping in the Red Sea. Also they announced a rocket strike on Israel on Monday. De jure they joined Iran in its war efforts in March, but since the 8th of April, when a ceasefire agreement was reached there were no new attacks. Now, this move threatens the already extremely fragile negotiations aiming to stop the ongoing war.

The threat to shipping in this area presents enormous risks because of its strategic importance. Approximately 12% of global shipping passes through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. Some time after the war in Gaza began in 2023, Houthis began targeting shipping passing through the waterway. This more than halved the overall amount of barrels of oil shipped through the strait. Renewed attacks pose more of a threat now as another waterway critical for the world economy – the Strait of Hormuz – is still blocked and suffering from hostilities. The alternative exists, as ships could pass around the southern tip of Africa, although that adds around 2 weeks to the journey, increasing the costs.

The Houthis, officially called Ansar Allah, are a military organization which controls approximately 33% of territory of war torn Yemen, but almost 80% of its population. Along with Lebanese Hezbollah they are often designated as terrorist groups supplied by Iran.