UN Demanded The Houthis Stop Their Attacks In The Red Sea And Release Ship With Bulgarians

The UN Security Council has asked Yemen's Houthi rebels to immediately stop attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that began in November.

The same document, issued by the United States and Japan, called on the Houthis to release the Japanese-run Galaxy Leader, linked to an Israeli businessman and with a Bulgarian captain and co-captain, seized on November 19 and turned into a tourist attraction.

With the vote, the 15-member council, whose resolutions are binding, also effectively endorsed the US-led “Prosperity Guardian” naval operation against the Houthis, which (officially) involves a dozen countries.

The text talks about the right of UN member states, in accordance with international law, "to protect their vessels from attacks, including those that undermine the rights and freedoms of navigation".

It came hours after the US and Britain (its permanent members) said they had repelled the biggest Houthi attack to date.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Wednesday that a military response from the West could follow if the attacks continue. British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in a televised interview, asked if such action could be reached, that while he could not go into detail, the general statement (by the US and 11 other countries) from earlier this month "sets a very clear path that if this does not stop them, action will be taken".

The resolution was quickly dismissed by the Houthis themselves as a "political game" and that it was the United States that was violating international law. "We call on the Security Council to immediately release 2.3 million people from the Israeli-American siege in Gaza," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Russia and China, who have veto power in the Security Council, abstained, thus making the resolution possible. Two more non-permanent members (Algeria and Mozambique) abstained and the decision was adopted by 11 votes.

Moscow's amendments were not adopted, without which the indirect approval of the naval operation would have remained out of the text. Russia also insisted on mentioning the war in Gaza as the "root cause" of the Houthis' actions.

With their actions, which the Houthis motivate with Israel's war against the Islamist movement Hamas, they seriously affected world trade, 10% of which passes through the Red Sea.

The Guardian cited data from a report by analytics company Windward, which said the second week of December saw a 70% drop in container ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab, the southern entry point of the Red Sea, compared to the 2023 average. At the same time, a 136% increase in the passage of the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) was recorded.

According to US Central Command, there have been 26 strikes against ships since the capture of the Galaxy Leader. The Houthis, who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, are subject to an arms embargo that Western countries say Iran is helping them circumvent.

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