As Gaza Ceasefire Teeters, Houthis Warn of Renewed Red Sea Hostilities
On Tuesday, following announcements from the U.S. and Israel that put the future of the Gaza ceasefire agreement in doubt, Yemen's Houthi rebels issued a reminder that they could restart ballistic missile attacks if hostilities against Hamas resume.
On January 15, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage exchange had been reached with terrorist group Hamas, setting conditions for the end of hostilities in Gaza. This satisfied the demands of Yemen's Houthi rebels, who had been attacking shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year in protest of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip. Houthi leaders pledged to cease strikes on foreign shipping, with the exception of certain Israeli vessels.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire has held so far, and so has the uneasy peace in the Red Sea. But the future of the detente appears tenuous: last week, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that the U.S. will "own" and redevelop Gaza into a "Riviera of the Middle East," requiring two million Palestinians to leave and never return. He demanded that all of Hamas' 76 remaining Israeli hostages be released by February 15 - a dramatic acceleration of the ceasefire framework that Hamas had negotiated with Israel.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu suggested that Hamas wasn't living up to the terms of the hostage exchange and promised to resume military action in Gaza if all 76 hostages are not returned by Saturday. Hamas asserts that it is committed to the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
The prospect of renewed hostilities in Gaza has kept most large shipping companies from returning to the Red Sea, for fear of renewed Houthi attacks on shipping and skyrocketing insurance rates. Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi reinforced that concern in a statement Tuesday.
"Our hands are on the trigger and we are ready to immediately escalate against the Israeli enemy if it returns to escalate against the Gaza Strip," said al-Houthi. "Do you think the people of Gaza, who resisted the [Israeli] bombings, would sell their homeland to you?"
Previous Houthi missile attacks on Israeli territory have drawn retaliatory Israeli bombing raids, devastating the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah and other critical infrastructure in western Yemen.