Shipping on alert as Houthi deadline passes with no Gaza aid resumption

Shipping is watching movements in the Red Sea closely today to see if Yemen’s Houthis renew attacks on commercial vessels passing through the Middle East. 

The Houthis have said they stand by today’s deadline they gave Israel, pledging to resume naval attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden if the Gaza blockade is not lifted.

Israel halted all aid supplies into Gaza on March 2 and, on Sunday, cut off electricity to the region, prompting a sharp response from Yemen’s Houthi movement.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has warned that the situation in Gaza is “deteriorating very, very quickly”, more than a week after Israel again halted all supplies from entering the Gaza Strip.

“Whatever the intent is, it’s clearly a weaponisation of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Lazzarini told reporters at UN offices in Geneva on Monday.

After more than 100 ships were attacked from late 2023 and throughout last year, the Houthis have ceased its campaign against merchant shipping this year, in line with the tentative peace deal struck between Israel and Hamas. 

British maritime security specialist Ambrey is advising merchant shipping to check their affiliation with the Houthi target profile, and to reassess the risk to voyages through the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.