Attacks on Ships in Red Sea Augment as Western Allies Study Launching Strikes on Yemen’s Houthis

A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi group missed a container ship traveling through Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea on Thursday as Western allies are studying the option of conducting airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi group.

A U.S. official said the missile fell on the water near the Maersk Gibraltar, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship traveling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. This is the latest Houthi attack on ships sailing in the Red Sea as part of the group’s support for the Gaza Strip, which has been bombed and sieged by Israel since October 7.

On Wednesday, two Houthi missiles missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near Bab el-Mandeb Strait. And on Monday, a Houthi missile slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea.

Lately, the Houthi group threatened to attack any vessel going to or coming from Israel and vowed to attack any warship that protects Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, particularly near the Bab el Mandeb Strait.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Strait is only 29 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments. An estimated $1 trillion in goods pass through the Strait every year.

As the Houthi attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea continue unabated, Western allies consider taking multiple options, including strikes, to counter Houthi escalation in the Red Sea.

A Western official familiar with the Yemeni file said the United States and its allies are studying options to respond to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and conducting airstrikes is among the options.

He stated, “Western security agencies and diplomatic missions … are studying together with other intelligence agencies how to respond to this increasing threat in the Red Sea, including possibly conducting targeted air strikes.”

Two days ago, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, “Regarding the Houthi attacks on international cargo ships, these attacks pose a threat to international trade and Israel, and this threat will be dealt with force.”

Despite Israeli and Western threats of military actions in Yemen, the Houthi group’s defiant stance has not changed, and their attacks have not ceased. On Wednesday, Hussein Al-Ezi, the deputy foreign affairs minister, said the group’s forces “look forward to clashing with the Israeli force in the sea face to face on camera”.

Yesterday, informed sources told Sheba Intelligence that Oman advised the Houthi group to deescalate attacks on international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, warning them that such escalation would harm their interests and the interests of the region and the world.

However, the group continues to prepare for more attacks on vessels on the Red Sea. According to the sources, foreign experts believed to be Iranian have recently arrived in Taiz to activate the air defense operations room in Al-Amaki in Al-Hawban area and at Al-Jand Airport in Taiz to target ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.