Yemen's Houthis have declared "our hands are on the trigger" ready to resume attacks on Israel and especially Red Sea shipping of the Gaza ceasefire falters.
"Our hands are on the trigger, and we are ready to immediately escalate against the Israeli enemy if it returns to escalation in the Gaza Strip," said leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on Tuesday.
The ceasefire is indeed teetering, given Netanyahu's security cabinet has backed Trump's ultimatum demanding the return of all remaining Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity or else "let hell break out" and the Israeli military onslaught on Gaza would continue. He gave a noon Saturday deadline.
The ceasefire agreement is still within the first of three phases, and Hamas and Israel have been trading accusations of the other having broken the deal.
The Houthis have since November of 2023 launched over 100 attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, some of which may have struck American warships, though the Pentagon has kept mum on the extent of any potential damage. Several MQ-9 Reaper drones have also been shot down in that time period.
PM Netanyahu following a four-hour security cabinet meeting said he's ordered troop reinforcements in and around Gaza, and that the country is ready to "return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated" if the Islamist group doesn't hand over the remaining hostages.
Oil Price has observed this week that traffic has somewhat stabilized since the truce went into effect: "vessel transits through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have remained relatively stable at subdued levels since the Iran-backed Houthis said they would limit attacks on commercial vessels," it described.
However, given the tense situation and ratcheting rhetoric, "shippers and tanker owners are not in a rush to return to the Red Sea/Suez Canal route despite the partial Houthi ceasefire," the report said.
The Houthis had pledged to halt the attacks, with the exception of Israeli-owned ships, and this vow has held. Prior to that, drone and missile attacks had come weekly or almost daily. There were also several ballistic missile attacks on Israel, including the Tel Aviv area, over the past months.
The Houthis have warned that they will attack Israel the moment the Gaza ceasefire fails.https://t.co/U8jEqoZRpL
— Oscar Bamuhigire (@OBamuhigire) February 12, 2025
The latest weekly assessment by the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said the monitoring group has seen "no significant changes in traffic volume as the transit numbers remain fairly consistent."
"Though inactivity could be considered as an improvement in maritime security, JMIC assesses the threat to merchant vessels has not changed and recommends industry remain vigilant," it added.
