Sinking the first ship… Yemen raises the level of challenge

Since last October, Yemen has targeted approximately 50 cargo and oil ships associated with Israel or bearing British or American nationality, according to unofficial statistics. However, this is the first time a ship has been sunk. So, what is the message?

Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

With the implementation of the Yemeni Republic’s decision to ban navigation to Israeli ports at the end of October last year and the armed forces avoiding causing major damage to ships linked to Israel or bound for its ports, their operations at that time were limited to sending warning messages or minor targeting.

Initially, the operations were few, despite the large number of ships in the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait.

At that time, the goal, according to Yemeni officials, was to enforce the Yemeni decision and prevent the disregard of instructions regarding the Israeli navigation ban. However, the confrontation escalated in January last year as America and Britain launched an aggression against Yemen, including missile strikes, airstrikes, and targeting and intercepting Yemeni patrols guiding ships to change their course away from the Red Sea.

This notable development has changed Yemen’s strategy in dealing with the new arrangements, which also includes sending battleships and destroyers to accompany the ships in order to counter the missiles and drones targeting them. The pace of these attacks has increased in recent days, coinciding with the entry of new players, represented by European Union countries, into the arena of confrontation in the Red Sea.

Today, Sana’a decided to sink the British ship, which was the first time since the beginning of the operations, and it did so intentionally, according to the official spokesman’s statement, who indicated that the Yemeni forces avoided harming the crew, who were rescued.

It seems that Sana’a wants to send a message to the Western powers, among others, that militarizing the sea could lead to widespread chaos, which those countries would pay a heavy price for. It is an attempt to remind those countries, particularly Britain and America, who declared an alliance against Yemen to protect Israel, that they failed to provide security for their own ships after these ships sailed the sea for a whole week without interception, and those countries reserve part of their dignity and influence.