Three-quarters of U.S. maritime traffic that was supposed to transit through the Red Sea is now being forced to bypass the area, traveling around the southern tip of Africa due to attacks carried out by the Houthi rebels from Yemen, said a White House advisor on Sunday, March 23.
« 75% of our maritime traffic flying the American flag has to go around the southern coast of Africa rather than passing through the Suez Canal, » stated Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, on CBS.
During a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also « expressed the U.S. government’s determination to restore the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea through military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis, » according to a statement released by his office on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department had stated on Wednesday that « over the last 18 months, the Houthis have hit or attacked the U.S. Navy 174 times and have attacked commercial traffic 145 times. »
Houthis Claim to Act in Solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza
A poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and caused a humanitarian catastrophe. Since the war in the Gaza Strip began, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have launched several missile attacks on Israel and ships accused of ties to Israel, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Following a fragile ceasefire in Gaza on January 19, the Houthis, supported by Iran, had stopped their attacks. However, on March 11, they announced their intention to resume missile strikes off the coast of Yemen after Israel refused to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinian territory.
U.S. Strikes
In this context, the U.S. has conducted strikes on Houthi strongholds for over a week, marking the first strikes since Donald Trump took office on January 20. On Sunday, the Houthi rebels claimed that one person had been killed and 13 others injured in a strike on the capital, Sanaa, which they attribute to the United States, according to a statement issued late Sunday by their Ministry of Health.
The U.S. has not confirmed carrying out this strike, but a Pentagon official told AFP that « CENTCOM is conducting strikes, day and night, against several Iran-backed Houthi sites in Yemen. » The U.S. Central Command posted videos on its X account of military aircraft taking off to « Restore the Freedom of Navigation. »
« President Trump decided to hit the Houthis hard, unlike the previous administration under Joe Biden, » claimed Mike Waltz on CBS on Sunday. « Keeping maritime routes open, keeping trade flowing, is a fundamental aspect of our national security, » said the White House advisor, highlighting that the Houthis possess « advanced cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and some of the most sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses, all provided by Iran. »
A week earlier, he had stated that U.S. strikes on Houthi strongholds had eliminated several senior leaders of the movement. The Houthis, for their part, reported 53 dead and 98 injured.
Source: rfi
