SETTLING SCORES AT THE RED SEA

Why are Bibi Netanyahu and his coterie of supremacists biting off more than they can chew? Growing clamour for Bibi to go before it's too late

 

By Sidney Hey

Despite the fact that Israel continues to violate all the limitations of the international humanitarian law and that it has been shown lately with the massacre in the “Jabalia” refugee camp and the brutal seizure of the “Al Shifa” hospital and the expulsion of its patients in order to install its Military Operations Headquarters in Gaza, the fights with the Palestinian resistance continue on the ground fighting metre by metre with other Arab-Islamic forces joining in solidarity with their struggle. 

When the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began, the Yemeni resistance of the “Huties” did not hesitate to publicly condemn and offer unconditional support to the Palestinian resistance. Beyond their announcements, within hours of their publication, the Yemenis launched a barrage of missiles and drones against Israeli installations in Eilat, which, although several were intercepted, put the Tel Aviv regime on notice that the Arabs (not their governments) would no longer tolerate the wanton crime of their brethren.

Israel depends on the Red Sea as one of the most important waterways for foreign trade and that is why the Yemenis, knowing that this is what Tel Aviv is most concerned about, have focused on carrying out their threat to raid and capture every Israeli vessel bound for their ports that passes through the Bab Al Mandab strait.

Although the Israelis did not take these threats as a joke (carrying armed teams on their ships), the Yemenis have been attacking and capturing Israeli merchant ships, some of which are owned by big oligarchs as was the case with the capture of the ship “Galaxy Leader”, owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Unger who, despite the fact that he has insured the ship and its cargo, does not endear him to Bibi Netanyahu and his circle of racists.

The assault by Yemeni airborne commandos in a “Mil-Mi 8” helicopter was swift and the entire crew was quickly taken out. A detail that the Western and Israeli media overlooked was that the helicopter had Yemeni and Palestinian flags as insignia on the fuselage, a direct political message to the people in Tel Aviv and Washington.

Despite Israel's attempts to portray the case as illegal actions committed against its assets, the political causes behind these operations are above and beyond maritime law and beyond any attempt to criminalise them.

The Americans were also already interfering in the region, and as part of their strategic support for Riyadh's invasion of Yemen, they deployed special forces and their Islamist hoaxes of “Al Qaeda” and “ISIS”. Despite this, the Yemenis have managed to counteract these operations and have even been able to disrupt their growth.

The Israelis are also involved, albeit (as they usually are) in a limited and covert way.

The current circumstances in which these actions are taking place cannot be taken lightly and the Israeli intelligence brains know this very well. The “Ansar Allah” (Sword of God) militias are not groups of improvised shepherds and their combat capabilities are amply demonstrated.

As has already been made clear, the Yemeni resistance did not stop at threats or mere declamations as other Arab countries have done. The best way to demonstrate their solidarity and closeness to the Palestinian struggle was to get down to work. It has also shown that they do not need to have a sophisticated navy to conduct naval operations (at least tactically) to strike an enemy. The Saudi and Emirati navies can testify to this and are surely already being secretly consulted by Israeli attachés.

The capture of the Israeli vessel was just one way of repaying for the genocide in Gaza but, in the event that Tel Aviv intends to orchestrate a sting operation to retaliate against the Houties, they have other far more convincing and damaging means of preventing Israeli vessels from crossing the adjacent waters with impunity.

Israeli commanders already have enough of a headache with the material losses and casualties they are taking in Gaza to have to add more setbacks like the one they suffered at their base in Eritrea. What is happening to their vessels in the Red Sea is an issue they cannot ignore, as the flow of business is at stake.

It is also certain that Tel Aviv is trying to influence the pro-Saudi sectors inside Yemen in order to create discord with the Huties, the main members of the Yemeni Arab resistance who are staunchly loyal to the Palestinian cause.

Of course, the leaderships of the “Ansar Allah” organisation and other Arab groups supporting the same cause are well aware of the long-standing underground connections -especially between the Mukhabarat and the Mossad- between the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv and the Saudi royal house. That is why the Huties would not be surprised if (as they did with Iraq in 1980 and after 2003), the Israelis launch an incursion from the east, which can only be done with the complicity of Saudi air surveillance which is itself controlled by US electronic surveillance.

The example of the Houtie resistance is a powerful political signal that can be said to send a message to Arab governments (especially the monarchies) that maintain this odious pragmatic stance towards the Palestinian situation and at the same time a message of strength and hope to the Arab-Islamic peoples who watch helpless and even in a certain sense powerless as the IDF massacres the civilian population of the Gaza Strip and attacks the Palestinians of the West Bank and Jerusalem. For the latter, the actions of the Yemeni resistance are an encouragement and an inspiration to step up aid to the Palestinians.