Resolution adopted by the UN Security Council demands an immediate end to Houthi assaults in the Red Sea

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution denouncing and requiring an immediate cessation to Houthi-led assaults on commercial ships in the vital Red Sea. Sponsored by the US and Japan, the resolution was approved 11-0 with four votes against it from Algeria, Mozambique, China, and Russia.

The resolution emphasized that the Houthi rebels, who are headquartered in Yemen, had launched more than twenty assaults on commercial ships, hindering international trade and endangering both regional peace and security and the rights and freedoms of navigation. Additionally, it demanded that the Houthis free the Japanese-operated carrier Galaxy Leader, which was taken over by the organization on November 19 and was connected to an Israeli businessman.

A salient feature of the resolution recognized that, in compliance with international law, UN members had the right “to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational rights and freedoms”. The clause effectively supported Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational naval task force headed by the United States that has been protecting commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from drone and Houthi missile assaults.

The resolution denounces all weapons deals with the rebels, which are in violation of the restrictions imposed by the 15-member Council, without identifying Iran, the Houthis’ primary arms source. In order to stop the Houthis from obtaining the equipment required to launch such strikes, it also asks for “further practical cooperation.” It further called for “caution and restraint to avoid further escalation of the situation in the Red Sea and the broader region” .

Fears over the Houthi assault
In protest of Israel’s activities in Gaza, the Houthis, who are supported by Iran and hold sway over much of Yemen, have fired waves of detonating drones and missiles against commercial ships. The Houthis have threatened to strike US warships if the militia group itself is attacked and have pledged to keep attacking until Israel ends the fighting in Gaza.

The Red Sea, which spans the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait and connects the Middle East and Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal, has been the focus of the assaults. The strikes have raised fears about the potential escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the termination of the tense truce in Yemen in the event that the US retaliates against the most impoverished nation in the Arab world.

International shipping has also been hampered by the assaults, leading some corporations to abandon transits via the Red Sea in favor of the more expensive and time-consuming route across Africa. Although the Houthis claim that their strikes are meant to put a halt to the Israeli air and military assault that is hammering the Gaza Strip, the connections between the rebel assaults and the ships that are being targeted are becoming more shaky.

The US and British fleets had to fire down the Houthis’ 21 missiles and drones in the southern Red Sea on Tuesday as part of the most recent naval action. However, no damage was detected, according to the US military’s Central Command. The attack took place near the Yemeni port towns of Mokha and Hodeida, according to Ambrey, a private intelligence agency.

The USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower’s F-18s shot down the drones and missiles. The USS Diamond of the United Kingdom and the USS Gravely, three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, also participated in the action. This was the Houthis’ 26th strike in the Red Sea.

Nations send a last warning
In a statement released last week, the US and 12 other nations demanded that the Houthi strikes stop right now and warned that further attacks would need international intervention. “Should the Houthis persist in endangering lives, the worldwide economy, and unhindered trade in the region’s vital waterways, they will be held accountable for the ensuing fallout,” they said.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, urged the leaders of the Houthi movement to abide by the 13 nations’ declaration and put an end to assaults during an open Security Council meeting held last week. He did, however, emphasize that one must interpret the Houthi’s conduct as a reaction to “Israel’s brutal operation in Gaza.”

In one event, US forces killed 10 rebel combatants by sinking Houthi watercraft; but, despite US warnings, there hasn’t yet been a widespread counterattack. The US Navy and commercial ships in the Red Sea were then “within a couple of miles” of an unmanned drone boat that had been loaded with explosives.