Yemen’s Houthis signal entry into Middle East war, raising stakes around Bab al-Mandab chokepoint
Yemen’s Houthi group confirmed on Saturday that they had launched an attack on the Zionist entity for the first time during the current Zionist-U.S. war against Iran, marking their entry to the conflict and raising the prospects of a broader regional confrontation.
The group said the attack with a barrage of missiles came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.
The war, now in its fifth week, has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and causing the biggest disruption ever to energy supplies, hitting the global economy and fuelling inflation fears.
Meanwhile, the Houthi involvement in the war would risk broadening and prolonging the conflict, given their ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Gaza after October 7, 2023.
If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping choke point that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal, after Iran effectively shut the critical Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.
