US and allied forces shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by Yemen's Houthis into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the US military said. Shortly afterwards, the Houthis claimed the attack, saying they had fired missiles at an "American" commercial ship and launched drones at US warships in "the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden". It was one of the Houthis' largest attacks since they began in November a campaign of drone and missile strikes against vessels in the Red Sea area, vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war in the Gaza Strip which has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, and has besieged and displaced the enclave's 2.3 million residents. The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the "large-scale" Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday that in the first two months of 2024, the transit trade volume through the Suez Canal dropped by 50% from a year earlier, while trade volume through the Panama Canal fell by 32% due to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and drought, respectively. Recent disruptions in key shipping routes have hindered global trade, the IMF said in a blog post. Attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea area have reduced traffic through the Suez Canal, which typically handles about 15% of global maritime trade.
Yemen's Houthi group launched an unsuccessful missile attack on a Singapore-flagged commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, continuing their escalation of tension in the region. An attack by Yemen's Houthis set off explosions ahead of a Singapore-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, but did not impact the ship itself, authorities said. It is the latest in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. The attack on Friday targeted the bulk carrier Propel Fortune, which continued on its way, according to the United States military's Central Command. “The missiles did not impact the vessel,” the US military said. “There were no injuries or damages reported.”
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday at least 30,960 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war between Israel and Palestinians. The latest toll includes 82 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 72,524 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel.
