UN representative to Yemen says the threat of Houthi to Red Sea shipping has grown.
Hans Grundberg, the U.N.'s Special Envoy for Yemen, told the U.N. Security Council that recent developments in the Red Sea suggest the threat of international shipping by Yemen's Houthis has grown.
Grundberg, in a briefing about the situation in Yemen warned that a regional escalation could be devastating following the new Houthi attacks against commercial shipping as well as the first Israeli airstrikes on Yemen to retaliate for Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel.
Grundberg stated, "I am deeply concerned by the ongoing targeting of international shipping in the Red Sea area and its waterways." Recent developments indicate that the threat to international shipping has increased in precision and scope.
He said that the Houthi attacks against Israel and Israeli retaliatory strike on Yemen's port Hodeidah, and its oil and electricity facilities on July 20, represent "a dangerous new level" of violence.
He said that commercial ships were sunk or damaged, disrupting the trade. Civilians have also died. The Houthis are still holding the crew of Galaxy Leader, which they hijacked back in November. And the United States and Britain have continued to airstrike military targets within Houthi controlled areas of Yemen.
It is alarming to see that there are still no signs of a de-escalation or a solution," Grundberg said.
In response to Israel's attack on Gaza, the Houthis launched missiles and drones against Israel and disrupted international trade via the Red Sea.
Israel claims that the Houthis, backed by Iran, have launched 200 attacks on it since the beginning of the war. Many of these were intercepted but most of them were not fatal.
Israel announced its first strike against the group Saturday after a rare Houthi-led drone attack last Friday killed one person in Tel Aviv. Local medics reported that six people were killed in the airstrikes near Hodeidah.
Israel claimed to have shot down a Houthi missile that was launched on Sunday. (Reporting and editing by Mark Porter and Alexandra Hudson; Reporting by Jonathan Landay)
