Houthi blockade of Israel prompts US plans for 'broadest possible' coalition in Red Sea

The United States wants to form the "broadest possible" maritime coalition to protect ships in the Red Sea and send an "important signal" to Yemen's Houthis that further attacks will not be tolerated, the US envoy for Yemen told Reuters.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes and fired drones and missiles at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza on 7 October, with two attacks on Friday adding to fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

In a press conference during a visit to Israel on Friday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made accusations over Iranian-Houthi cooperation on the shipping attacks, stating that "while the Houthis are pulling the trigger, so to speak, they're being handed the gun by Iran".

Last week he told reporters that Washington was in talks with other countries over a maritime task force that would "ensure safe passage of ships in the Red Sea," but gave no further details.

Iran warned on Thursday that such a force would face "extraordinary problems".

US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said the US wanted the multi-national coalition to send "an important signal by the international community that Houthi threats to international shipping won't be tolerated."

The US aims to expand an existing international naval task force into "an international coalition that is putting some resources into protecting freedom of navigation," Lenderking said in an interview this week during a conference in Doha.

The current task force in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, known as Combined Task Force 153, is a 39-country coalition commanded by the vice-admiral of the US Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.

"There's a very, very active assessment going on in Washington about what are the steps necessary to get the Houthis to de-escalate," Lenderking said, calling on the group to release the crew of a ship seized on 19 November, the Galaxy Leader.

From Houthis’ attacks to drone attacks or the Sudan war, the Red Sea has been the epicentre of rising tensions sparked by Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.

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Lenderking declined to say which countries or how many more Washington had approached to join the expanded coalition, but said it should be the "broadest possible" coalition.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi last week discussed the threat that Houthi attacks post to maritime security, according to a State Department readout of the phone call.

China, which is not part of the current task force, is a heavy user of the Red Sea route and holds sway with Iran, the Houthis' main sponsor.

Houthis Red Sea blockade of Israel

The announcement of a coalition of an intended coalition of countries to protect shipping through the Red Sea comes amid an uptick in attacks on vessels by Yemen's Houthi group. 

This includes a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, named Al Jasrah, that caught fire in the Red Sea on Friday after being hit by a projectile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen, a US defense official and a private intelligence firm said.

According to US officials, a second Liberian-flagged ship was struck by a ballistic missile following the attack on Al Jasrah, with the USS Mason sailing to aid the on-fire vessel.

The attack on the ships, further escalates a campaign by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have claimed responsibility for a series of missile assaults in recent days that just missed shipping in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault on the Al Jasrah nor the second ship.

The Al Jasrah is operated by German-based shipper Hapag Lloyd, which declined to immediately comment. It wasn't immediately clear if any of the crew on board the vessel had been hurt in the attack, which may have come from either a drone or a missile.

Ambrey noted that Hapag Lloyd "is known to have offices in the Israeli ports of Ashdod, Haifa and Tel Aviv".

On Thursday, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile that missed a container ship traveling through the strait.

The day before that, two missiles fired from Houthi-held territory missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Also near the strait, a missile fired by Houthis on Monday night slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea.

Global shipping has increasingly been targeted as the Gaza war threatens to become a wider regional conflict - even during a brief pause in fighting during which Hamas exchanged hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The collapse of the truce and the resumption of a punishing Israeli ground offensive and airstrikes on Gaza, which have killed 18,787 people, have raised the risk of more sea attacks.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Nearly 10 percent of all oil traded at sea passes through it. An estimated $1 trillion in goods pass through the strait annually.

In November, Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel near the port city of Hodeida.

Separately, a container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

A separate, tentative cease-fire between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of Yemen's exiled government has held for months despite that country's long war.

That's raised concerns that any wider conflict in the sea - or a potential reprisal strike from Western forces - could reignite those tensions in the Arab world's poorest nation.

Also Thursday, unknown attackers boarded the Malta-flagged bulk carrier Ruen, managed by Navigation Maritime Bulgare, in the Arabian Sea off the Yemeni island of Socotra, Ambrey and the UK's Navy said.

Bulgarian media said the ship's 18-member crew hailed from Angola, Bulgaria and Myanmar. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.

(Reuters & AP & The New Arab Staff)