Houthi Operations in Red Sea Unclear As Israel, Hamas Enter Ceasefire

Houthi Operations in Red Sea Unclear As Israel, Hamas Enter Ceasefire

It is unclear if Houthi forces attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas reached on Wednesday.

The Houthis began attacking shipping shortly after Israel started bombarding Gaza in retaliation for the attacks on Oct. 7. When announcing the attacks on commercial shipping, the Houthis said it would end when there was a ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas entered into a phased ceasefire that will see the release of some Israeli hostages in the first stage, which will last 42 days and begin Sunday. In a call with a reporters, a senior Biden administration official said that the Houthi issue was not yet fixed but efforts were still ongoing.

The U.S. considers the Houthis an Iranian-back proxy group. During the call, the administration official said that one of the reasons for the ceasefire was Hamas’ isolation, with Hezbollah already agreeing to a ceasefire and Iran’s allies, including the recently deposed Assad regime in Syria, weakening.

However, the current ceasefire is similar to a previous one accepted by Hamas but not by Israel, ProPublica reported.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam posted on X celebrating the ceasefire, but did not indicate whether the attacks on commercial shipping would end.

“With this battle reaching its conclusion with the declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza, the Palestinian cause was and will remain the first cause for which the nation must assume responsibility, considering the Zionist enemy entity a dangerous entity for everyone, and its continued occupation of Palestine represents a threat to the security and stability of the region, and that there will be no real peace for the region except with the disappearance of this emergency entity planted by force by a Western American force that provides it with the means to survive at the expense of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region,” Abdul Salam wrote on X, according to a translation of the post.

Earlier today, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sare’e, another Houthi spokesperson, posted on X that the Houthis attacked the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. U.S. Central Command did not respond to the claim.Sare’e has not posted since alleging the attack on the Harry S. Truman CSG.

Source » usni.org