YNNews | Reports |
Houthi forces continue their operations in the Red Sea, extending to the Indian Ocean, to prevent ships associated with Israel from crossing towards its ports in response to ongoing firing and blockade on Gaza. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the international naval alliance and the costs incurred by Washington, the leader of the alliance, in countering Yemeni attacks.
The US Navy Secretary, Carlos Del Toro, stated in his latest remarks that the United States has spent one billion dollars on thwarting Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Del Toro affirmed during a session of the Appropriations Committee in the US Senate that the United States has spent the billion dollars to counter 130 attacks carried out by Yemenis on military and commercial ships in the Middle East region.
An additional one billion dollars is required.
Del Toro called on US lawmakers to approve a financial package to replenish the necessary ammunition to confront these attacks, emphasizing the importance of providing ammunition to the Navy to face the challenges.
He said, “We currently have about one billion dollars’ worth of ammunition that needs to be replenished. Therefore, the amount specified in the additional annex, which is more than two billion dollars, is considered necessary to renew the ammunition and enhance the defensive measures we have taken over the past six and a half months.”
The Washington-led naval alliance is viewed as a failure in countering the attacks, which the countries consider to have affected 12% of global trade passing through the Red Sea, and caused many shipping companies to redirect their ships to “Cape of Good Hope” to avoid attacks. The focus remains on targeting Israeli, American, and British vessels.
Although both Washington and London have previously stated that they have succeeded in reducing the Houthi’s capabilities to threaten navigation, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni movement, confirmed the continuation of operations, which he described as support for Gaza.
He stated on Thursday that “no one can stop our operations, neither through counter operations against Yemen nor through the mobilization of warships,” calling on Europeans to withdraw their military assets from the sea that “expose them to risks for the sake of America.” He also pointed out that there is no danger to the navigation of European countries that are not heading towards Israel.
He mentioned the execution of 14 operations within two weeks in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the total number of targeted ships reached 98, adding that several naval units withdrew from the Red Sea due to ongoing operations.
In March, the US Navy sent a list of requests to Congress amounting to 2.2 billion dollars for the fiscal year 2024-2025, including items aimed at addressing the gaps that arose this year due to escalating operations in the Red Sea.
These requests include investing 403 million dollars in the submarine industrial base, as well as investing 1.5 billion dollars in military construction projects.
The American Administration Without an Effective Plan
The American measures have been gradual, starting with intercepting attacks, launching airstrikes on land sites in Yemen, and culminating in designating the Houthi movement as a global terrorist organization. However, these measures are seen as ineffective in deterring attacks by the forces in Sanaa, which the American side justifies as being attributed to the mutual relationship between the Sanaa government and Iran.
International analyses suggest that the Biden administration lacks an effective and influential plan on how to address this crisis, which threatens to expand the scope of the conflict in the region. This is an argument that former President Trump has used in his battle against Biden prior to the presidential elections in November.
While the airstrikes on land sites belonging to the Sanaa forces were believed to have weakened their military capabilities, recent American officials have reiterated that targeting many weapons storage facilities in Yemen has not deterred the Yemeni movement from targeting American and British warships and commercial vessels.
According to an analysis published by the Arab Center based in Washington, the selective attacks by the Sanaa forces have become a new phenomenon in the economic geographical conflict. It combines two factors: cost-effective and high-tech weapons that can threaten, and even sink, ocean-crossing ships and control strategic coastal lands overlooking one of the busiest maritime chokepoints in the world, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Meanwhile, international analyses also suggest that if a ceasefire is eventually reached, the Sanaa government may consider it a victory for exerting pressure on Israel and its Western supporters. At the same time, the government has affirmed that it has already developed its armament capabilities during this period of the Red Sea battle.
Source: Boqash
