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The Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen announced on May 19 that they will impose a “naval blockade” of the port of Haifa in response to Israel’s “brutal aggression” on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale offensive, codenamed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” in Gaza last week, with the aim of dealing a final blow to the Palestinian Hamas Movement, a close ally of the Houthis, and taking control of all of the Strip.
In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that the group will “begin working to enforce a naval blockade of the port of Haifa.”
“All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the target bank,” he added.
The port of Haifa is vital to Israel’s economy. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean in terms of freight volume and handles about 30 million tons of cargo per year.
The Houthis’ attacks on Israel-affiliated shipping in the Red Sea, which began right after the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October of 2023, have led to a complete halt of all operations in the port of Eilat, the country’s second important port after Haifa.
Since March 18, when Israel first resumed operations in Gaza, the Houthis have launched some 35 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel.
Only one of the missiles managed to reach its target, hitting Ben Gurion in central Israel on May 4. Eight people were wounded and operations at the airport were disturbed as a result of the attack. The Houthis later announced “a comprehensive aerial blockade” on Israel, forcing many airlines to suspend flights to the country.
Israel resumed strikes on Yemen after the strike on Ben Gurion. Around the same time, the United States suddenly halted an operation launched in mid-March against the Houthis.
In recent weeks, at least three waves of Israeli strikes hit infrastructure in Yemen from the ports in al-Hodeidah, to cement factories, power stations and Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital. However, the capabilities of the Houthis were not affected.
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