Alwaght- Along with Israeli announcement of a new round of large-scale military campaign in Gaza, Yemen's armed forces announced a new round of military reactions to the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian enclave. Yemen's army spokesman Major General Yahya Saree has declared launch of an operation to impose a ban on Israel's Haifa port in response to rejuvenated Israeli escalation. He called on all companies using Haifa port to review their maritime operations. He said that Yemeni forces have decided to implement orders of Ansarullah leadership to impose a blockade on the Israeli port.
This warning by the Yemeni army spokesman and the announcement of the blockade of Haifa port came after the Israeli army commander announced the start of a new military operation in the Gaza Strip, called Operation Gideon's Chariots. The new escalation, according to Israeli officials, includes plans to completely occupy the Gaza Strip, provoking a more severe reaction from Yemeni forces.
Al-Masirah news network, affiliated with Yemen's Ansarullah, quoted senior Yemeni officials as saying that "the decision to blockade Haifa port is a response to the escalation of the brutal aggression of the Israeli enemy and the continuation of the siege and starvation" of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Yemeni decision came shortly after the fifth targeting of Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Ansarullah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi announced on Thursday that Yemen would continue to impose a aerial blockade on the Israeli enemy. In his speech broadcast on Al-Masirah, he added: "Yemeni operations in support of Gaza this week were followed by the launch of at least nine hypersonic and ballistic missiles and drones.
Last week, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on Sana'a International Airport, power plants in the areas of Hayz and Dhahan, and a cement factory in Amran Governorate. This followed attacks by Yemeni forces on Ben-Gurion Airport. The Israeli military statement confirmed that the strikes targeted “Yemeni infrastructure at Sana'a Airport and other vital facilities,” but it appears that the Israeli attacks on the airport were in vain, as Yemeni forces have now announced a blockade on Haifa port in the south of the occupied territories.
Yemen's initiative in blockade on Israel
On November 2023, Yemeni forces boarded the seized Israel Galaxy Leader ship in the Red Sea, announcing their historical maritime operation against Israel. Since then, Yemen has effectively blocked one of the world’s most vital trade routes, affecting a third of the world’s container traffic and almost a quarter of all maritime trade. The economic shockwaves of the Yemeni forces’ operations are being felt not only in Israel but also in Europe, with the price of some goods and foodstuffs imported from Israel to Europe rising, one of the most obvious effects of the Yemeni forces’ operations at sea against ships bound for or affiliated with Israel. For the first time in more than 150 years, major shipping companies have rerouted ships to the southernmost point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, and this long route has increased shipping times, costs and insurance premiums.
When the Israeli naval blockade was launched by Yemen on November 14, 2023, initially only ships bound for Israel were targeted, but now the Yemeni forces’ operations are targeting any related and Israeli-owned ships beyond Israel’s borders.
According to the Time magazine, the naval blockade imposed on Israel revealed a fundamental change in naval warfare and showed how a political actor can use cheap technology and its domestic production to neutralize the most powerful military alliance between the US and Israel, to an extent that Washington accepted a ceasefire with Yemen without mentioning Yemen’s threats against Israel, and Yemen continues its attacks against Israel in the silence of the Americans.
Given this, a blockade of the Haifa port by Yemeni forces seems feasible, because Yemeni forces have also succeeded in the Israeli naval blockade for the past 20 months and have been able to achieve their goals.
Possible grounding of Israel after Haifa port blockade
Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a 20-mile sea crossing between Yemen and Djibouti, is one of the most vital gates of the world trade. About 12-15 percent of the the whole world trade flows through this strait, including 12 percent of the world oil and 30 percent of the container goods. When Ansarullah shut down the strait in reaction to Israeli atrocities in Gaza, it left heavy economic consequences.
According to Reuters, disruptions to shipping through the Bab-el-Mandab cost the global economy estimated $23 billion a year under normal circumstances, and without access to the strait, ships have been forced to take a long, stormy route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks to transit time and millions of dollars in fuel costs per trip.
From another aspect, the maritime blockade has so far managed to deal a major blow to Israel. About 60 percent of the Israeli GDP comes from trade and 99.6 percent from maritime trade. The blockade imposed by Yemen on Israel has reduced the regime to an pariah entity while it depends on imports of raw materials, consumer goods and energy resources, with the exception of natural gas. On the other hand, the three ports of Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat handle 80 percent of Israel's maritime traffic. However, by mid-2024, the port of Eilat in southern Israel, the artery of the regime's maritime trade with Asia, was crippled by Yemeni missile attacks and officially declared bankruptcy in the Knesset. At present, ships have chosen an 11,000-nautical-mile detour around Africa, which pushes the insurance premiums 900 percent higher. Currently, the major pressure of maritime trade is on Haifa port in the Mediterranean. The blockade of this port can totally ground Israeli trade since Ashdod as Israel's third port lacks the required infrastructure to expand trade to a large volume.
