On Monday, Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, announced a “ban” on Israeli shipping on the Red Sea, renewing a blockade that the US had previously failed to end with a bombing campaign.
“We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our Armed Forces from the moment this statement is issued,” said Houthi military spokesman Yayha Saree.
Saree also announced a missile attack on Israel that was launched on Monday morning, and on Monday evening, Israeli media reported that the Israeli military had intercepted a drone fired from Yemen.
Yemeni forces had fired some missiles at Israel toward the end of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, but for the most part, the Houthis stayed out of the war and didn’t attempt to blockade the Red Sea or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Any Yemeni attacks on Red Sea shipping are expected to have a much bigger impact on global energy markets than before due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Saree said the Houthis, which governs the capital of Sanaa and an area of Yemen where 70% to 80% of Yemenis live, were taking these steps to confront “the American and Zionist aggression against the axis of Jihad and Resistance in Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen” and to reject “the Zionist project seeking to establish what is so called ‘Greater Israel.'”
The announcement and Houthi attacks came after the Iranian military struck northern Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, marking the first time Iran targeted Israel in the name of defending one of its allies, in this case Hezbollah. Iran has threatened more attacks on Israel if its war in southern Lebanon continues.
Saree said Yemeni forces “will respond to escalation with escalation, and our military operations will intensify in accordance with the field developments, the battle, and in conjunction with the axis of Jihad and resistance.”
The Houthis are known for their resilience as they withstood a brutal seven-year US-backed Saudi/UAE bombing campaign and blockade from 2015 to 2022, which killed at least 377,000 people. A heavy US bombing campaign from March 15, 2025, to May 6, 2025, also failed to end the Houthis’ Red Sea blockade on Israeli shipping and attacks on Israel, which were being done in response to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
