Yemeni Houthis declare Red Sea blockade — for Israel

The Iran-backed Yemeni group Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis, has announced a blockade of shipping in the Red Sea for Israeli ships.

The Houthis announced this on their social media.

The Houthis will consider any Israeli ship passing through the Red Sea a military target and will attack it. They have also stated that they reserve the right to respond with escalation to any escalation in other conflicts in the region involving Israel, the US and Iran: in Palestine (particularly the Gaza Strip), Iraq and Lebanon.

What preceded

On the night of June 8, Iran launched its first ballistic missile attack on Israel since April, in response to an Israeli attack on Beirut, Lebanon. Israel explained the attack as a response to a strike by the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah.

According to the Israeli military, all Iranian missiles were intercepted by air defenses or fell in open terrain. In response, the Israelis struck several targets at a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran. In the morning, Iran continued to attack Israel. Also at night, the Houthis fired one missile towards Israel.

• From late 2023 to summer 2025, the Houthis imposed a blockade on all Israeli-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea. They damaged at least 30 merchant ships, sank four, and captured one.
• As a result, most Western container ships bypassed the Red Sea throughout 2024 and took a much longer route around South Africa on voyages between Asia and Europe. This increased shipping times, prices, and tariffs. After Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the blockade was lifted.

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