The US and UK militaries carried out over a dozen strikes on Houthi targets in mainland Yemen late Thursday, marking the second response to attacks carried out by the Iran-backed group in the Red Sea.
The US military used fighter jets, warships and a submarine for conducting the retaliatory attacks on multiple targets, associated with the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.
US Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin defined this comprehensive invasion against a foreign state as the US’s right to self-defense and vowed to take follow-on actions to protect US forces if necessary. According to the details, the attack was conducted with crucial support from several countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
After the Tel Aviv unjust and unparrallel assault on Gaza following the October 7 attacks, there were wideranging apprehensions among the global community, about a possible spill over of the Israel’s brutal actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The global community feared that the Gaza conflict could spread into wider Middle East and North African region (MENA) because regional Arab states, and the armed militant groups can respond to Israeli shelling and indiscriminate bombardment against innocent Palestinian that could spark a global conflict in the region.
The Gaza war shortly inflamed the Israel-Lebanon border while several pro-Hamas several militant groups started targeting Israeli and western interests in the region and beyond while Yemen Houthis launched a flurry of missile and drone attacks on merchant vessels with Israeli flag. Weeks ago, the US-led pro-Israel western alliance set up a multinational naval task force aimed at protecting sea lines of communiation in the Red Sea and adjoining waters while multiple encounters between Houthi fighters and US Navy occured in the Red Sea in recent days that resulted in killings of several Houthi fighters and boats wreackages.
Over the past weeks, the tension remained high in the Middle East and the adjoining waters including the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean because dozens of warships, aircraft careers and submarines from regional and extra regional countries amassed in the area, turning this region into a most militarized zone in the world.
The recent strikes of the US-led coalition violated the soverignity of an independent and free state, caused grave violation of the international law and the UN Charter. That unilateral and unlawful action seriously disturbed the global order and attracted a worldwide outrage against the United States and allies.
The US again targeted Houthis’ military installations on Saturday while Houthis leadership sworned a befitting retialation against the enemies. The geopolitical and security sitaution sharply deteriorating in the Middle East while a huge and surprise attack likely to be launched againts western interests by the Houthi militia any time that could escalate a widescale conflict in the area.
It is high time that Israel and its western allies pause their hostility, give a chance to diplomacy and move toward a ceasefire and permanent truce in Gaza otherwise the ongoing conflict will turn into a global war that will destroy the world peace and equally effect all competing nations. The United Nations and the global community must not spare a moment in initiating negotiations and striking a peace deal to restore peace and stability, until it gets late, the war, fire and hostility destroy each and every thing.
