An Israeli official says Israel is ready to act against the Houthi rebels if the international community fails to do so

CNN
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Israel is ready to act against the efforts of the Houthi rebels In Yemen Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said: We will disrupt navigation in the Red Sea if the international community fails to do so. He said Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden as well as European leaders about the Houthis targeting commercial ships with alleged Israeli ties, according to Hanegbi. He told Israeli Channel 12.

Hanegbi added: “Israel is giving the world some time to organize in order to prevent this, but if there is no global arrangement, because it is a global issue, we will move to remove this naval blockade.” He said.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are a Shiite political and military organization that has been waging a civil war against the Saudi Arabia-backed coalition since 2014.

Their naval activities have seen a slight increase since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

US warships are already protecting navigation in the area. Last week, a US warship shot down several drones that came from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen south of the Red Sea, according to US military officials. One incident came during a series of attacks on three commercial ships.

US military officials he Said They are considering strengthening protection for commercial ships around the vital Red Sea shipping route amid a series of tensions Recent missile attacks By Houthi militants operating from Yemen.

The United States discussed ways to enhance security in the region with members of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multinational maritime task force charged with protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

US officials have said publicly that discussions centered on the possibility of escorting ships operating in the Red Sea and through the Bab al-Mandab Strait into the Gulf of Aden – the narrow channel separating Yemen from the Horn of Africa.

Hanjibi He also discussed developments on the ground in Gaza, saying that the United States did not give Israel any deadline to complete military operations in the Strip.

“They realize that they are not in a position to tell the IDF how long it takes to achieve the goals,” he said.

“The good thing is that they share the same goals… It is correct to assume that we cannot measure this in weeks, and I am not sure we can measure it in months.”

It has CNN Previously mentioned US officials expect the Israeli operation targeting the southern end of the Strip to last several weeks before shifting, perhaps by January, to a less intense, highly localized strategy narrowly targeting specific Hamas fighters and leaders, according to several senior administration officials. .

A senior US administration official said that the White House is deeply concerned about how Israeli operations will develop over the next few weeks.

The official said the United States strongly warned Israel in “serious” and “direct” talks that the IDF cannot repeat the kind of destructive tactics it used in the north and must do more to limit civilian casualties.

Hanjibi He said he did not believe the Hamas leadership was anticipating the scale of the Israeli response to the attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which about 1,200 people were killed.

Hanegbi said: “I do not think that Yahya Sinwar (the leader of Hamas in Gaza) realized that the Israeli army would actually reach any point it wanted inside Gaza and kill more than 7,000 terrorists.” He said.

He added: “This is the minimum estimate, and it may be higher because we do not know everything.”

He said: “We are very close to Hamas’ control and command centers in Jabalia and Shuja’iya, the two strongholds of ongoing resistance in the northern Gaza Strip. In the south, we work fiercely.”

When asked about the possibility of Israel having to choose between killing Sinwar and rescuing the hostages if they were in the same place, Hanegbi replied He said: “It is possible that we will face such a situation. It is a heartbreaking dilemma for any decision-maker, but this means that (we) have reached it.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.