{"id":40980,"date":"2026-03-29T07:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/40980\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T07:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:57:13","slug":"houthi-attacks-on-israel-open-new-front-in-mideast-war-threaten-red-sea-shipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/40980\/","title":{"rendered":"Houthi attacks on Israel open new front in Mideast war, threaten Red Sea shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new actor has stepped into a war already being waged on multiple fronts: Yemen<\/a>‘s Iran-backed Houthi rebels<\/a>, who launched their first missile in months<\/a> at Israel on Saturday.<\/p>\n

After the Middle East war broke out, the Houthis had voiced support for their ally in the face of a US-Israeli offensive, refraining from taking part while warning they had their fingers “on the trigger”.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, they pulled it, announcing they had fired missiles and drones at Israeli military sites. Israel<\/a> reported detecting a missile launch from Yemen and said it was working to intercept it.<\/p>\n

Read moreYemen\u2019s Houthis launch ballistic missile at Israel as Middle East conflict escalates<\/a><\/p>\n

The group’s entry into the conflict “marks a serious and deeply concerning escalation”, said Farea Al?Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House.<\/p>\n

Houthi involvement risks “widening an already volatile war, with significant implications”, especially for regional stability and global trade, he told AFP.<\/p>\n

Here are the possible repercussions.<\/p>\n

An expected move<\/p>\n

Analysts had long predicted the Houthis \u2013 who have controlled large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa<\/a>, since 2014 \u2013 would eventually join the fray.<\/p>\n

The rebels likely “tried their best to stay out of this war,” said Al-Muslimi, adding they knew it “won’t be good for them in any way”.<\/p>\n

“But they had to ultimately pay back the favour to Iran,” which has backed them for years, he added.<\/p>\n

For their first strike, they chose to target Israel \u2013 as they often did during the Gaza war \u2013 and not American interests in wealthy Gulf states.<\/p>\n

This sends a clear message to supporters at home and allies abroad: “Their main focus is still the Palestinian cause,” the US-based risk consultancy Basha Report wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“At the same time, they are signaling to the US and Saudi Arabia<\/a> that they are not targeting them, at least for now.”<\/p>\n

Their next step, Basha Report suggested, would be attacks on regional maritime traffic rather than strikes on US assets.<\/p>\n

This “creates pressure without crossing a line that could trigger a direct US response”, it added.<\/p>\n

Second strait at risk<\/p>\n

From their mountain strongholds above the Red Sea<\/a>, the Houthis can severely disrupt shipping with drones and missiles.<\/p>\n

They proved this during the Gaza war, when the rebels targeted vessels they claimed were linked to Israel.<\/p>\n

This discouraged passage through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway at the southern tip of the Red Sea that effectively serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal<\/a> from the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

With the Red Sea acting as a key link between Europe and Asia, the strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.<\/p>\n

The chokepoint has become even more vital for global oil flows since Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> on the opposite side of the Arabian peninsula.<\/p>\n

The only alternative route is to sail around the Cape of Good Hope off the tip of southern Africa.<\/p>\n

If the Bab el-Mandeb strait is also threatened, already-fragile global markets would be shaken even more. And Saudi Arabia is unlikely to sit by, experts say.<\/p>\n

Saudi shift?<\/p>\n

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, Saudi Arabia has seen tankers diverted to its Red Sea port of Yanbu.<\/p>\n

But this is the kingdom’s last secure outlet for its oil. If it is blocked, Riyadh may abandon its current stance of intercepting near-daily Iranian missiles and drone attacks without retaliating.<\/p>\n

Saudi security analyst Hesham Alghannam told AFP this “careful neutrality in the war” could collapse.<\/p>\n

Riyadh might consider retaliation, “even if limited”, he added.<\/p>\n

Wider regional escalation<\/p>\n

In their statements, the Houthis have hinted at possible strikes on neighbouring states.<\/p>\n

As Al-Muslimi noted, “they are nearer and better placed” than Iran to hit Saudi infrastructure and Western bases across the Gulf.<\/p>\n

Read moreFinancial analysts move to counter Trump\u2019s Middle East war uncertainty with \u2018TACO\u2019 index<\/a><\/p>\n

Such attacks could have severe consequences, he warned, including a high risk of direct confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The Houthis previously fought a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognised Yemeni government in a conflict that stretched from 2015 until 2022, when a truce took hold.<\/p>\n

And civilians could once again pay the price. If Yemen slips back into war, the humanitarian consequences for a population still deeply scarred by the previous conflict would be catastrophic.<\/p>\n

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new actor has stepped into a war already being waged on multiple fronts: Yemen‘s Iran-backed Houthi rebels,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[381,5656,7772,37,50,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-40980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-chatham-house","9":"tag-gaza-war","10":"tag-houthi-rebels","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-saudi-arabia","13":"tag-yemen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116311401635470650","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}