170 Container Ships Diverted From Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Red Sea
The American shipping company Flexport Inc. announced on Thursday that nearly 170 ships have been diverted from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, and 35 ships have been halted, awaiting instructions from their operating companies. According to a statement by the San Francisco-based company, about 170 container ships have been rerouted around Africa, with 35 other ships docked due to attacks in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks on vessels are in solidarity with the Palestinians in the bombarded Gaza Strip. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that "the cost to move goods in a 40-foot container from Asia to northern Europe jumped 16% over the past week and is up 41% in December, according to the Drewry World Container Index released Thursday. On Nov. 19, the Houthi group seized the Israeli-linked Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea and directed it to Al-Hudaydah province, which is under the group's control.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Iran-aligned Houthis have both committed to steps towards a ceasefire, the UN special envoy for Yemen said on Saturday. The UN special envoy, Hans Grundberg, in a statement issued by his office, said he "welcomes the parties' commitment to a set of measures to implement a nation-wide ceasefire, improve living conditions in Yemen, and engage in preparations for the resumption of an inclusive political process under UN auspices." The statement said the peace roadmap, along with a ceasefire, will also include the two sides' commitment to resume oil exports, pay all public sector salaries, open roads in Taiz and other parts of Yemen, and "further ease restrictions on Sanaa Airport and the Al-Hudaydah port," the statement said. The war in Yemen began in 2015 and halted in April last year when a UN-sponsored ceasefire came into effect.
On Saturday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit "crimes" in Gaza, Iranian media reported. "They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways," Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has, over the past month, attacked merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's assault on Gaza, leading some shipping companies to switch routes. The White House on Friday said Iran was "deeply involved" in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
An Israeli airstrike killed 76 members of an extended family, rescue officials said Saturday, a day after the UN chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza. Israel declared war after Hamas fighters stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. Since then, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's war to destroy Hamas and more than 53,000 have been wounded, according to health officials in Gaza.
