Ansarallah, in Yemen, claimed responsibility for a missile strike on a Norwegian oil tanker to prevent it from reaching the Zionist occupied territory in Palestine, continuing its naval blockade in support of the Palestinian resistance.
The statement read:
In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful.
God Almighty said: {O you who have believed, if you support you, Allah will support you and make your feet firm.} God Almighty has spoken the truth.A victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people, who are currently being subjected to killing, destruction and siege in the Gaza Strip, and in response to the calls of the free people of our great Yemeni people and the people of our nation.
The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a qualitative military operation against the Norwegian ship “Strinda”, which was loaded with oil and headed to the Israeli entity. It was targeted with a suitable naval missile.
Over the past two days, the Yemeni armed forces succeeded in preventing the passage of several ships. They responded to the warnings of the Yemeni naval forces and did not resort to targeting the Norwegian ship loaded with oil until its crew rejected all warning calls.
The Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate to target any ship that violates what was stated in the previous statements.
The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they continue to prevent all ships of all nationalities heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need. And Allah sees what i say.
Responding to the calls of the Yemeni people and the directives of Ansar Allah’s leader, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Yemeni Armed Forces expanded their pool of targets to include all ships heading to Israeli ports passing through the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea.
The Director General of the Port of Eilat, Gideon Golber, confirmed reports which cited Zionist Channel 13, that Yemen’s threat to Zionist-bound ships had “disrupted 80% to 85% of the port’s profits.”
In this context, Channel 13 further reported, in a report, that “the volume of imports coming from the East to ‘Israel’ is estimated at approximately 350 billion shekels, equivalent to 95 billion dollars annually.”
The channel added, “Changing the maritime navigation route will raise the prices of imported products by an estimated 3%, which would increase the financial burden on the Israelis by about ten and a half billion shekels, or about 3 billion dollars.”
Moreover, the ‘Israeli’ Army Radio quoted Golber as saying that the Yemeni threat to the Red Sea maritime routes “led to the loss of the port by about 14,000 cars from the middle of last month until today.”
The port director further explained that “‘Israel’ fears that the closure of Bab al-Mandab to the movement of merchant vessels to Israel through the Red Sea to the port of Eilat or through the Suez Canal would prolong the travel of cargo vessels from the East to ‘Israel’ about five weeks, as cargo vessels would have to circumvent the African continent at Cape of Good Hope through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean.”
In other news, the United States has reportedly stepped in again to hurdle Yemen’s struggle for peace, a report published by The Guardian reveals.
The British newspaper, citing unnamed diplomats, said that the US has threatened the Sanaa government that its negotiated peace plan with Saudi Arabia, which has been handed to the UN peace envoy, will fail if the Yemeni Armed Forces’ (YAF) attacks on ships heading to the Zionist entity continue.
A three-phase peace has been negotiated between the Sanaa government and Riyadh, which led to an ongoing 9-year war on Yemen, according to The Guardian.
Washington has threatened to designate the Ansar Allah movement as a terrorist organization which would halt the application of this plan, according to the diplomats cited by the British newspaper. Although successive US administrations have led an onslaught on Resistance factions in the region, no US administration has taken such measures against the Yemeni Resistance movement.
The US, feeling the pressure of Yemen’s response to Gaza’s call to action, would be going into unprecedented territories by doing saw, highlighting yet again its destructive policies in the region.
Designating Ansarallah as a terrorist organization would block financial transfers meant to pay Yemeni government employees, one of the Sanaa government’s main demands for peace with the Saudi-led coalition. Moreover, the action would also tighten the blockade on the country whose airports and seaports have seen limited use.
However, the US has stepped into untested waters, as its threats target a government and Resistance movement that have shown unwavering support to the Palestinian people and their Resistance. The US risks the burial of a plan that would see major steps toward peace in the region, including the withdrawal of occupying forces from Yemen and a signing ceremony between parties witnessed by other countries.