The leader of the Houthi movement (Yemen) called for a further escalation of the attacks on shipping citing the potential attack on the city of Rafah and as Western pressure grows on Hamas to accept the terms of a proposed ceasefire. The statements came during their weekly demonstrations in Sanaa staged on Fridays and after a week of increased assaults targeting commercial vessels and U.S. warships.
“The Yemeni armed forces announce the beginning of the implementation of the fourth stage of escalation,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree announced in a televised speech and in posting on social media. He said it was effective immediately from “the moment of this statement.”
The statement said they were targeting all ships “violating the ban on Israeli navigation,” and heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean. They vowed attacks in “any reachable area,” within their range, which some media outlets are interpreting as a threat against ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. That would require a range of nearly 1,200 miles Bloomberg highlights but comes days after a Houthi drone appeared to have struck the MSC Orion in a range of 300 to 400 nautical miles south of Yemen in the Indian Ocean.
The Houthi also threatened to expand their attacks to “all ships and companies that are related to supplying and entering [Israeli ports] of any nationality if a military operation is launched against Rafah” in southern Gaza.
They said they targeted the MSC Orion container ship Monday in a drone attack in the Indian Ocean as part of their ongoing campaign against international shipping in solidarity with Gaza. Portugal-flagged MSC Orion was sailing between the ports in Sines, Portugal and Salalah, Oman and its registered owner is Zodiac Maritime, according to LSEG data.
Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
