UN Security Council condemns Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have rejected a United Nations resolution against their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and are maintaining their right to defend Palestinians in Gaza by targeting ships they say are connected to Israel. The French navy, meanwhile, has been accompany ships with French interests through the region.
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The head of Yemen's Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, on Thursday said the UN resolution on navigation on the Red Sea was a "political game".
The Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for Yemen's Houthis to “immediately cease” attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The resolution, adopted with Russia, China, Mozambique and Algeria, abstaining, states that attacks “impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security."
Al-Houthi said that what Yemeni armed forces were doing comes within the framework of legitimate defence.
Since the 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s military response on Gaza, the Houthis have attacked ships they say are linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports to show support Palestinians.
However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.
Shipping disruptions
The attacks have caused shipping companies to bypass the route and instead divert around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, significantly adding to journey times and cost.
Al-Houthi said that the United States was violating international law with its international task force that has been defending commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, through which at least 12 percent of world trade passes.
The Security Council implicitly endorsed the force, noting the right of member states "to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational rights and freedoms".
US Central Command said there have been 26 Houthi strikes on shipping since 19 November, when the Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated carrier linked to an Israeli businessman.
French navy escorts
On Thursday France's top naval commander in the region said that naval forces are accompanying any ship with French interests.
"We regularly escort French-flagged ships or with French interests in the Red Sea. We accompany them all along their crossing," Rear-Admiral Emmanuel Slaars told reporters.
He said France was working closely with the US-led mission by exchanging information and carrying out patrols, but its current mandate does not include striking Houthi rebels directly.
Arms embargo
The UN resolution notes "large-scale" violations of the arms embargo against the Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that seized much of Yemen in a civil war, and it reiterates the need for all member states to "adhere to their obligations".
According to a November report by experts mandated by the Security Council to monitor the arms embargo, the Houthis are considerably strengthening their military capabilities on land and at sea.
"Iran has long encouraged the Houthi’s destabilizing actions in the region through both financial and materiel support that violates the UN arms embargo," said Washington's UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
(with newswires)
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