GAZA SPILLOVER NOW THREATENS TO FREEZE UP WORLD ECONOMY

THE worst fears of Israel’s Gaza war spilling over to the Middle-East region – voiced in this column too – are unfortunately coming true. Israel’s continued decimation of Gaza and its Palestinian residents, has been sending shock waves through the Muslim and Arab world; and it now seems just a step before a full-blown regional conflict breaks out.

- GURBIR SINGH

 

Despite US warnings to the Iran-backed Houthi regime in Yemen, the rebel forces have been pummelling western shipping passing through the Red Sea. Videos of the Houthis boarding ships and even dancing on the deck have helped freeze the waterways, driving up freight costs, as shipping lines re-route their vessels.

Over the last week, the US’ Biden administration has made good their threat to retaliate and have let loose four waves of bombings of Houthi targets. On their part, the battle-hardened Houthis have made it clear the US attacks will not deter them from continuing their blockade of Israel-linked shipping.

“We will continue targeting ships linked to Israel and the bombing of occupied Palestine until the aggression and blockade on Gaza ends,” leader of the Yemen’s Houthi militia, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said on Thursday. Despite persistent US bombardment, the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday and a Malta-flagged bulk carrier in the Red Sea on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iran too seems to have been drawn into the regional skirmish carrying out multiple missile launches against targets in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan. Some of these targets – like Irbil in Kurdish region of Iraq - it claims are Israeli Mossad command headquarters.

US boots on the ground may not be too far off, either. US Navy Seals boarding a vessel bound for a Yemen port carrying weapons for the Houthis, suffered their first casualties as 2 of them went missing in the choppy seas.