Yemen is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. 30 million population and GDP per capita is only 700 Euros per year (30,000 Euros in Spain). It is embroiled in a war that has killed more than 377,000 people, mostly civilians, since 2014, according to the United Nations’ latest estimate. Under these circumstances, what do Yemeni Houthi rebels have to do with this issue? open Another facet of instability For the country that attacked cargo ships crossing the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza?
The reason for this is multifactorial; It is a combination of ideology and interests.
First clue is here War song of the Houthis called Sarja: “Allah is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews and victory of Islam.” They started singing this song after the Anglo-British invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“The Palestine issue is essential for the Houthis. This is not just Sarja’s battle cry. In 2009, I witnessed the broad support of the Yemeni people for the Palestinian cause. nowadays More than a million people came there to demonstrate Leyla Hamad, Yemen expert and author of the book “Yemen. The Forgotten Key to the Arab World”, explains to this newspaper: “But in addition to this, there is also the attack on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis’ intention We advocate for the defense of the Palestinian cause “He takes advantage of the inaction of other Arab actors to gain sympathy to whiten their image.”
Houthis are one Zaydis, the Shia Muslim minority militia in Yemen. It was founded in the 1990s to combat the corruption of then-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. It was founded by Hüseyin. al-HouthiAlthough they call themselves Supporters of God, they take this name from him. They are aligned with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group deemed terrorist by the EU and the author of the attack on Israel on October 7 that killed nearly 1,200 people and was the biggest blow against Israel in half a century. They received weapons and training from Lebanon’s Hezbollah. According to the United States and Israel, they have ties with Iran, share the same religious sect and supply them with weapons, which Tehran denies.
long civil war
In 2014, Houthis rebelled against the presidentAbd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi. This started a civil war in which the Houthis took control of the western part of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
Yemen’s northern neighbor Saudi Arabia has formed a military coalition with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to oust the Houthis and return President Hadi to power. They failed to do this.
A barely maintained ceasefire was reached in 2022. And peace is being negotiated directly between the rebel government in Sanaa and the Saudi government in Riyadh. on December 23 The parties committed to a ceasefire and a negotiation It is under the auspices of the United Nations. Everything is happening as Saudi Arabia and Iran begin the process of rapprochement with the mediation of China.
Attacks in the Red Sea
In November, rebels began launching attacks on ships they believed to be related to Israel because they were heading to Israeli ports or were somehow affiliated with the Jewish state. A dozen of them were attacked with missiles or drones, and the Galaxy Leader was kidnapped and held, along with his crew, in Yemeni hands.
The movement stands in solidarity with Gaza over Israeli bombings that have killed at least 21,300 people. Took control of global trade. The four main shipping companies and oil company BP suspended sailings via the Suez Canal route to the Red Sea and the Houthi-controlled Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The United States has been trying to mount an international mission to suppress the Houthi rebels, but without much success.
“Both Riyadh and Legitimate Yemeni government (based in Aden) They remain surprisingly silent against these attacks. Leyla Hamad states that there is a concrete concern that the events in the Red Sea will derail the long-awaited peace agreement that will end the 9-year conflict. He points out that these attacks provide an opportunity for the Houthis. Gain power and establish itself as a relevant geopolitical actor in the region and gives them negotiating power with the Saudi giant.
The Houthis have already been admitted to Riyadh to negotiate and therefore He was recognized as the actor of the conflictand not just as rebels, something that both Saudi Arabia and the legitimate government have so far refused to do. If the peace agreement goes ahead, the formation of some kind of federal state, part of which is controlled by the Houthis, is envisaged.
The question to be solved is How will the Houthis take the international pulse?Will they continue to put pressure on the Red Sea even if the peace process begins? Or if Washington finally manages to launch a relevant international mission to prevent attacks, beyond the defensive actions already undertaken by countries such as the UK, France and the US. This could increase tensions and affect the peace process.