In the Red Sea, Italy gets involved in a war against the Houthis: revenge is promised

An Italian warship was forced to shoot down a Houthi missile in the Red Sea. The destroyer Caio Duilio, part of the EU’s shipping protection force, hit the missile as it came within four miles of the ship.

An Italian warship participating in the EU’s naval defense force in the Red Sea shot down a Houthi missile on Saturday in a rare clash between the country’s naval forces, which have largely avoided direct action since World War II.

According to The Guardian, the incident comes as the Houthis vowed to continue attacking British ships after the British-owned Rubimar sank on Saturday after being in the water for two weeks after being hit by one of the Yemeni Shiite group’s missiles.

The Italian intervention comes as politicians from Yemen’s UN-recognised government, based in Aden, traveled to London to lobby the British Foreign Office to acknowledge that months of Houthi attacks must end the possibility of any peace deal in which the group plays a role. future coalition government.

The destroyer Caio Duilio waited until the missile came within four miles (6 km) before opening fire on it, The Guardian notes.

Italy is part of Operation Aspides, launched on February 19, which aims to ensure freedom of navigation. It has a defensive mandate and operates separately from the US-British Operation Prosperity Guardian, which has attacked Yemeni targets and missile sites on land.

Houthi officials said: “Italy is jeopardizing the safety of its military and commercial vessels. We will strike at ships that attack our country or obstruct the decision to prevent Israeli ships from crossing the Red Sea.”

Houthi drones have also attacked the German frigate Hesse and the French frigate Languedoc last week, making it increasingly difficult for Western powers to know whether their ships or security forces are safe, The Guardian writes.

About a third of Italy’s maritime exports pass through the Suez Canal, so Rome has a direct commercial interest in ensuring freedom of navigation. Italian politicians have not yet fully authorized the country’s role in the Red Sea but are expected to begin doing so next week.

Italy has taken an active part in NATO and UN peacekeeping missions, but its post-war constitution contains restrictions on the deployment of armed forces, writes The Guardian.

The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza and that attacks will stop once Hamas accepts Israel’s ceasefire terms.

Noting the sinking of the Rubimar, the first since the Houthis began their campaign, Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister of the Houthi-led government in Sanaa, said: “Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any consequences or other damage will be added to to the British account.”

He said Britain “is a rogue state attacking Yemen and collaborating with America to sponsor ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”

The Rubimar sank after being hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched on February 18, The Guardian recalls.

Mohammed Albasha, a Middle East analyst at Navanti Group, a geosecurity organization, argues that releasing large amounts of fertilizer into the Red Sea could cause eutrophication, depleting oxygen in the water and creating “dead zones.”

Marine life, including fish populations, coral reefs and other aquatic life, are likely to suffer as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals and decreased oxygen levels, he said. Fishing communities along Yemen’s Red Sea coast in Hodeidah and Taiz will face reduced catches and damage to their livelihoods, he added.

Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, General Tarek Saleh, deputy chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the government’s executive arm based in Aden, insisted that the Houthi attacks had been years in the making, as evidenced by the number of missiles, as part of Iran’s long-standing bid to control Red sea.

He argued that the Palestinian cause has been a Yemeni cause since the 1962 revolution. “The Iranians and the Houthis are trying to take this dossier away from the Arabs,” he said. The Red Sea crisis will not end in peace in Gaza, he predicted.