Photo by
IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL on 24 December, 2024
Houthis Threaten to Resume Red Sea Attacks
Jerusalem, 11 March, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels warned Tuesday they could resume attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea after their deadline for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza expired.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi said the group was “standing by its commitment” to enforce the ultimatum and that its forces were “prepared for action.” He warned that “military measures will begin immediately” if aid deliveries to Gaza are not resumed.
The Houthi’s four-day deadline for humanitarian shipments to Gaza ended Monday. The Yemen-based terror group warned on Friday it was prepared to renew attacks on maritime operations in the Red Sea.
Israel suspended deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza and closed all of its crossings on March 2 amid Hamas’s refusal to accept a US outline for continued ceasefire talks.
And on Sunday, Energy Minister Eli Cohen ordered the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately end supplying electricity to the Strip.
“We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after,’” Cohen said in a video statement.
The Houthis vowed in December 2023 to target any Israel-bound ship in the Red Sea, regardless of its ownership.
From bases along the Yemeni coast, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked or harassed around 100 ships in the Red Sea as they traverse the Bab el-Mandeb Straits, a narrow maritime choke point between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
The majority of the world’s oil passes through the strait from the Indian Ocean towards the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. Their attacks have brought the Port of Eilat to a standstill. Port management placed around one-quarter of the 120 workers on unpaid leave, and cut the work hours of 20 others in July. The attacks also had a devastating impact on Egypt as Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty recently confirmed that revenue from the Suez Canal has dropped 60%.
Since Hamas’s October 7 attack, the Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel. The majority have been intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace.
Israel launched several retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi positions, most recently in January.
At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 59 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed to be dead.
