Gaza war is taking a turn for the worse as the United States and Britain have unleashed massive air attacks on Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen, triggering the fears of escalating the Palestinian conflict in other regions of the Middle East.
These western air strikes have been launched in retaliation of Houthis intervention in the movements of international ships in the Red Sea. Houthi rebels have been targeting the western ships mostly bound for Israel in a show of support for the Palestinian militant group of Hamas which had launched a sudden missile offensive against the Zionist state on October 7.
That was the start of the Gaza conflict and prompted Israel to take a revenge with destructive military assaults on innocent Palestinians in Gaza and other parts of Palestine killing at least 23,000 people so far. On the other hand, over 1,200 Israelis have died and around 240 been abducted by Hamas militants.
These air strikes on Yemen are a clear message that the United States and Britain will not tolerate any hostile actors to disrupt freedom of navigation in the Red Sea targeting Houthi military installations.
Attacks on Houthi capabilities have been supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands as part of an international effort to restore the free flow of trade in a key route between Europe and Asia that accounts for about 15% of the worlds shipping traffic.
However, the Yemeni operation has drawn rebukes and criticisms from many other countries with Houthis calling it barbaric with a warning that they will continue to target ships heading towards Israel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come up with strong words when he condemned the strikes saying that the US and UK are trying to turn the Red Sea into a sea of blood as all of these acts are disproportionate use of force.
Iran which is blamed for supporting both Houthis and Lebanese Hezbollah group described Yemeni operation as full support of the US and UK to the Zionist atrocities against the Palestinian people and the besieged citizens of Gaza. These attacks are a clear violation of Yemens sovereignty and territorial integrity, Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia has called for restraint and avoiding escalation after the strikes on Houthi installations and emphasized the importance of maintaining the security and stability of the Red Sea region as the freedom of navigation in it is an international demand.
Russia said the western operations in Yemen clearly violated the international law and wrongly took advantage of a United Nations Security Council resolution that had demanded the Houthis stop their attacks on shipping lanes.
We are in plea to all parties engaged in the Middle East crisis to refrain from the escalation of the Palestinian conflict and mount pressure on Israel to stop Gaza genocide.
