Several merchant ships have been attacked by Yemeni Houthi armed forces in the Red Sea waters recently, exacerbating tensions in the Middle East and affecting international shipping. Sources said on the 17th local time that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will announce a Red Sea escort operation when he visits the Middle East this week, and multiple Arab allies are believed to participate.
Unnamed sources told the British "Guardian" that the United States intends to form a naval task force with other countries to patrol the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. Austin will announce this escort operation this week and will be codenamed "Prosperity Guardian."
Some officials believe that U.S. allies in the Middle East such as Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, and Bahrain may join. Saudi Arabia is in peace talks with Yemen's Houthi rebels and it is not yet certain whether it will participate.
The US "War Zone" website also reported the news, citing unnamed officials from the US Department of Defense. However, the report did not say which countries would participate.
The US "Politics" reported, citing unnamed officials, that the Pentagon recently relocated the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden to deal with tensions in the Red Sea. Senior U.S. military officials also authorized commanders with options to combat the Houthis. The U.S. "Semaphore" news agency also quoted U.S. government officials as saying that the U.S. military was considering air strikes against Houthi armed targets.
Since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Yemen's Houthi armed forces have frequently launched missile and drone attacks on Israel on the grounds of "supporting Palestine" and have continuously attacked ships "associated with Israel" in the Red Sea. In order to avoid this dangerous waters, many international shipping companies have successively announced the suspension of Red Sea routes.
On the 15th of this month, the Houthi armed forces in Yemen claimed to have launched missiles at two ships heading to Israel, namely the "Alanya" container ship and the "Palatiyum 3" container ship. Both ships belonged to the Mediterranean Shipping Company. The United States said that the cargo ship "Jesra" flying the Liberian flag was also attacked by the Houthi armed forces. The owner of the ship is the German company Hapag-Lloyd.
The Houthis issued a statement on social media on the 15th, saying: "We will continue to block all ships heading to Israeli ports until the food and medicine needed by the people of the Gaza Strip arrive."
Later on the 14th, the Houthi armed forces also claimed to launch a drone attack on a container ship of the Danish Maersk Line. Maersk Line said the ship was not hit.
The Houthi armed forces have recently attacked targets in the Red Sea and nearby waters many times. On November 19, the Houthi armed forces announced that they would detain the "Galaxy Leader" cargo ship associated with Israel in the Red Sea waters. In early December, the Houthi armed forces confirmed that they used missiles and drones to attack the merchant ships "United Explorer" and "Ninth" sailing in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. On December 11, the organization launched a missile attack on a Norwegian-flagged oil tanker, saying that the tanker was carrying "oil bound for Israel."