Houthis Announce Expansion Of Attacks On Israel-Bound Ships To All Of Indian Ocean

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Ansar Allah, said on March 14 that his country’s armed forces will expand their attacks against ships moving to Israel from the Red Sea region to the whole of the Indian Ocean.

Stating that attacks on Israeli ships in the Red Sea and Bab-al-Mandab will continue until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, al-Houthi declared, “We [now] aim to prevent ships associated with the Israeli enemy from crossing [the Indian] Ocean towards South Africa and the Cape of the Good Hope” as well.

He warned that international shipping companies should take Ansar Allah’s declaration seriously and avoid any links with Israel as “any ship linked to Israel is vulnerable to Yemeni missiles.”

Ansar Allah and the Yemeni Armed Forces have been carrying out attacks against the ships associated with Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023. These attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza who have been facing devastating Israeli aggression since October 7, killing close to 32,000 of them and injuring over 72,000.

Ansar Allah has targeted Israeli and U.S. installations in the region in solidarity with Palestinians. Al-Houthi asserted that the attacks carried out by the U.S. and the UK on Yemen will not be able to deter the country from supporting Gaza. Those attacks have “one outcome, which is the widening of the conflict and war at the regional level” he said.