The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen declared “a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation” through the Red Sea on Monday.
“We consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our armed forces,” the Houthis warned.
“Escalation will be met with escalation, and our operations will intensify in accordance with developments,” said Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, vowing to act “in coordination with the axis of jihad and resistance,” meaning Iran’s network of terrorist proxies across the Middle East.
“Our operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege continue against us and against the axis of struggle and resistance,” he said.
Saree also stated that Houthi forces attacked central Israel with missiles, “in response to Israeli aggression against Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza.”
“The Yemeni armed forces have launched missiles at important targets of the Israeli enemy in the occupied Jaffa area, which were precisely hit,” he said. By “occupied Jaffa,” he meant the area around Tel Aviv.
The Yemeni insurgents were evidently following the lead of their patrons in Iran, who launched missiles at Israel to retaliate against Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon. Houthi missiles prompted the first of several alerts in Israel on Monday morning, followed by salvos from Iran.
The Houthis perpetrated terrorist attacks against Red Sea shipping during the 2023-2025 Gaza War, inflicting massive costs on worldwide transit by forcing ships to take a much longer route around the horn of Africa. The Yemeni insurgents have threatened to repeat the same tactics ever since the U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran in late February, but have not acted until now.
In late March, the Houthis threatened to shut down the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another global shipping chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The Bab el-Mandeb route has seen greatly increased activity from oil tankers since Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, especially tankers carrying Saudi crude, because Saudi Arabia has a pipeline that allows it to redirect much of its oil output to the Red Sea.
According to ship tracking service Kpler, the volume of oil passing through the Bab el-Mandeb almost doubled between February and April, from 3.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to 7.2 million bpd.
Chatham House research fellow Farea al-Muslimi told the leftist outlet New York Times (NYT) that the Houthis could effectively blockade the Bab el-Mandeb with only a few terrorist strikes against vulnerable tankers and cargo ships.
“They can just send a signal and only one attack has to happen – and that will send a shock across insurance companies,” he said.
“I won’t be surprised now if you have a joint lockdown of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab,” he predicted.