<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en" dir="LTR">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://thecradle.co/articles/yemens-strategic-escalation-into-the-mediterranean">thecradle.co</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Yemen’s strategic escalation into the Mediterranean</h1>
<img src="cid:ii_lvyj0vbw0" alt="6ca2444e-0d51-11ef-ba32-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="193"><br><h1 class="gmail-reader-title"></h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">
<a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/khalil-nasrallah" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">Khalil Nasrallah</a> - May 8, 2024<br></div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><span></span></p><p>In
support of Gaza, Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces executed their
first direct operation against Israel on 18 October 2023. That
operation involved cruise missiles and drones targeting the port of
Eilat in southern occupied Palestine and came less than two weeks after
the Palestinian resistance’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood flipped the script
in West Asia.</p><p>Similar attacks ensued in rapid fire, with further <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231031-yemen-s-huthi-rebels-claim-drone-attack-on-israel">warnings</a> from
the Yemeni military that it would “continue to carry out qualitative
strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression
stops.” One month later, amidst Tel Aviv’s worsening carnage in Gaza,
Sanaa commenced its targeting of Israeli-linked and destined shipping
vessels in the Red Sea, effectively blocking their passage through the
Bab al-Mandab Strait. </p><p><strong>‘Phased’ maritime operations </strong></p><p>This marked
Yemen’s first phase of a meticulously planned series
of naval operations. The second phase saw a broader
prohibition, blocking ships from any country from approaching Israeli
ports – a waterway siege, just as Yemen has endured for eight long
years. Sanaa’s scope of operations then broadened in the third phase to
include the <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24003">Indian Ocean</a>,
targeting Israeli vessels navigating the much longer Cape of Good Hope
route – around the African continent – to deliver goods to the
occupation state.</p><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/1dbdf972-0d51-11ef-885d-00163e02c055.png" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="408" height="400" style="margin-right: 25px;"><span>Israel's shipping route before and after Yemen's blockade</span><p>As
tensions escalated, and to protect Israel, US and British naval forces
cobbled together a ramshackle coalition of non-Arab states, Operation
Prosperity Guardian, to strike Yemen – a country already ravaged
by almost a decade of US-backed Saudi–UAE bombardment and siege. </p><p>This provoked a forceful and immediate response from Yemeni forces, who extended their target range to include <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23849">US and British naval assets</a> and, later, to expand their operational theater to the vast Indian Ocean.</p><p>But
as Israel’s threats to invade and bombard Rafah intensified in recent
days, Sanaa announced the start of a fourth phase of escalation, a
significant ramp-up in their military response. </p><p>This phase will target Israeli ships or those heading to Israeli ports in the <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24712">Mediterranean Sea</a> and
impose comprehensive sanctions on all vessels linked to companies that
frequent the occupied state’s ports. Furthermore, the measures will be
applied to all shipping vessels and companies that deliver goods to
Israel, regardless of their final destinations. This effectively bars
them from all Yemeni operational waterways.</p><p>The declaration of
this fourth phase is a clear signal of widening the conflict zone to
include the Mediterranean and tightening the siege on Israel, which
economically depends on sea trade. It poses a renewed challenge to Tel
Aviv and its allies, increasing pressure, particularly on Washington and
its European partners.</p><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/2f713c88-0d51-11ef-819c-00163e02c055.png" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="408" height="272" style="margin-right: 25px;"><span>Yemen's scope of operations against Israeli shipping</span><p><strong>Advancement of military capabilities</strong></p><p>Sanaa’s
strategic move is timed with ongoing ceasefire negotiations involving
Hamas, which faces intense pressure to accept terms favorable to
Israel, and is part of a broader strategy to influence political
outcomes far beyond Yemen’s borders.</p><p>The Yemeni “circle of fire” –
its maritime reach – now encompasses the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the
Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. On
land, Sanaa’s focus is on impacting Israel’s geographic depth,
particularly its southern regions which abut the Red Sea.</p><p>In
multiple speeches, Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has
emphasized Yemen’s staggering advances in military
capabilities, both quantitatively and qualitatively. These advancements
are made possible by various factors, most notably the real-world
testing of their arsenal. </p><p>Recent broadcasts showcased a distant
suicide drone targeting a ship in the Red Sea, equipped with a camera on
its nose. Additionally, there has been significant Yemeni progress in
the use of winged and ballistic missiles: according to military
analysts, for the <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/explained-did-worlds-first-anti-ship-ballistic-missile-attack-just-happened-4798282">first time</a> in
history, anti-ship ballistic missiles were deployed against seaborne
vessels, a qualitative advancement in Ansarallah’s military bag of
tricks.</p><p><strong>Sanaa’s strategic rise </strong></p><p>Speaking to <i>The Cradle</i>,
Brigadier General Mujib Shamsan, Chairman of the Yemeni Military
Spokesmen’s Committee for the Media, says that Sanaa benefited from its
operations and confrontation with American and British forces to
fast-track its capabilities. </p><blockquote><p>This is clearly evident
through the comparison between the operations it carried out at the
beginning of its decisions up to the end. Operations in the Gulf of
Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean, where it was able to
accumulate and develop its capabilities continuously, whether at the
level of missile force, unmanned air force, or other naval weapons, thus
bypassing various American defense systems, learning many tactics
regarding confronting them, and even bringing it to a state of failure.</p></blockquote><p>The failings of the two western coalitions dedicated to thwarting Yemen’s siege of Israel have become apparent to all. </p><p>Since early April, various European naval commanders have thrown their hands up in full public view. </p><p>Jerome
Henry, commander of France’s Aquitaine-class FREMM frigate Alsace –
deployed in the Red Sea for 71 straight days – said on 11 April that his
ship had depleted its entire combat arsenal, and while it would head to
port to replenish those munitions, would return to <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24362">face an impossible mission</a>: </p><blockquote><p>We
didn’t necessarily expect this level of threat. There was an
uninhibited violence that was quite surprising and very significant.
[The Yemenis] do not hesitate to use drones that fly at water level, to
explode them on commercial ships, and to fire ballistic missiles.</p></blockquote><p>“We had to carry out at least half a dozen assistances following [Yemeni] strikes,” Henry told French publication <i>Le Figaro</i>.</p><p>Also in early April, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, the Greek commander of the EU’s Operation Aspides, <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24740">warned</a> that his mission would not succeed with <i>only three warships</i> available
to protect shipments through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Since “the
launch of the Operation Aspides on 19 February 2024 until now, the
threat level remains the same,” lamented Gryparis.</p><p>Yemeni
Brigadier-General Shamsan points out that the US defense
system failures, and growing risks faced by the anti-Yemen
naval coalitions, have “forced it and its allies to withdraw more than
18 ships from the theater of operations, as the number of American ships
that left reached 10, while eight ships belonging to European tools
left.” </p><p>Shamsan says the rapid development of Sanaa’s military
capabilities during the ongoing war has positioned Yemen as a pivotal
player not only regionally but globally, owing to its strategic position
overseeing one of the world’s most crucial maritime passages.</p><p>As
Ansarallah’s phase four operations commence in the Mediterranean Sea,
Shamsan declares that Yemen has now effectively implemented a maritime
blockade and economic stranglehold on Israel, which heavily relies on
sea routes for the vast majority of its imports. </p><p>This
blockade, in turn, represents a significant leverage point against both
Tel Aviv and its western allies, which have failed to protect their
interests in the Red Sea or counteract Sanaa’s embargo on ships entering
the ports of the occupation state. </p><p>Far from being a mere
political and military backwater, Yemen has demonstrated far-reaching
military capabilities and impressive strategic planning that has
confounded the world’s greatest naval powers. Sanaa’s formidable
maneuvers in West Asian maritime zones have catapulted it to the
forefront of the region’s Axis of Resistance as the member most capable
of influencing global maritime security and regional stability. </p><p>As the US and its allies rally around their newly <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24587">constructed</a> “aid
pier” on Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline to, as many suspect,
consolidate the area as a future site for US military operations
and protect Israel’s oil and gas platforms, Yemen is emerging as a
frontline adversary in that far-flung theater.</p><p></p><p><span>The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.</span></p></div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>