By Athena Papakosta

The United States and the United Kingdom have been faced with the dilemma of whether or not to launch strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

If they did not – and given that they had warned time and time again of the consequences if their attacks on ships in the Red Sea did not stop – they would look weak. However, in response to attacks by the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels, they risk their decision being interpreted as their direct involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip in favor of Israel.

Finally, the die was cast, and shortly before 2 am today (local time) United States of America and United Kingdom the strikes against positions of the Houthi rebels in Yemen began. According to the first information, Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched against the capital Sana’a, Al-Hudaydah, Sa’ada and Damaar from warplanes and ships.

This is the first mass raid against Houthi positions since launching their attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they say are “connected” to Israel, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In the relevant written statement issued by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, he confirmed that the attacks were launched by American forces, jointly with the United Kingdom and with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands “in immediate response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history.”

As he pointed out, the strikes “are a clear message that the US and its partners will not tolerate attacks on their personnel and will not allow hostile actors to endanger freedom of navigation on one of the world’s most important trade routes.” The American president made it clear that he will not hesitate to lead new measures to protect the American people.

However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also issued a written statement, calling on the Houthis to stop their attacks and pointing out that the United Kingdom took “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense (…) to protect global shipping”.

It was preceded, early on Thursday evening, in the United Kingdom, by the meeting, via video conference, of the cabinet convened by the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in which the green light was given for British military forces to participate under the leadership of the United States in strikes against the positions of the Shiite rebels of Yemen.

At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic and in the United States, the representative of the National Security Council, John Kirby, when asked about possible strikes by the “Prosperity Guardian” naval coalition against the Houthis, answered that “we’ll do what we have to.”

As the reports trickled in, Shiite rebel leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi remained tight-lipped. “Any attack by the United States it will not go unanswered. The response will be greater than the attack launched with the 20 drones and a number of missiles,” he stressed in a televised message on Thursday night, referring to the attack by Yemen’s Shia rebels on Tuesday, and making clear that “we remain determined to we are targeting ships connected to Israel and we will not back down.”

Already on Wednesday, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who was in the Middle East for the 4th time in three months, had emphasized that the United States and the other members of the international coalition Prosperity Guardian they will not stand idly by.

On the same day, the UN Security Council had demanded in its decision on Wednesday that the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea stop immediately.

In the text, which was drawn up by the USA and Japan, the UN Security Council insisted on respecting international law and “recorded” the right of Member States to protect their ships from attacks indirectly approving the action of the “Prosperity Guardian” coalition in which – in addition to the United States and the United Kingdom – participate, among others, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore and New Zealand.

The Middle East is like a boiling cauldron. One miscalculation and one wrong move could extend the war outside the Palestinian enclave and the region could catch fire.

Already the Israel-Hamas conflict has entered its fourth month with Israel exchanging fire – for now from a distance – with the also Iran-backed Hezbollah of Lebanon on its northern border while the Houthis count at least 26 attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

The choice of the USA and the UK to launch strikes against the Houthis further stretches the already… taut rope of developments and everything now hangs by a thread in a world that has not yet recovered from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, nor from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and not the war in the Gaza Strip. The risk of further escalation is visible, since the Houthis are supported by Iran which supplies them with weapons and military equipment and has currently seized an oil tanker of Greek interests off the coast of Oman.