BEIRUT, Dec 25 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike outside the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday killed a senior adviser in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, three security sources and Iranian state media said.The sources told Reuters that the adviser, known as Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran."I won't comment on foreign reports, these or others in the Middle East," IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in response to a reporter's question at a nightly press conference. "The Israeli military obviously has a job to protect the security interests of Israel."
Iran's state television interrupted its regular news broadcast to announce that Mousavi had been killed, describing him as one of the Guards' oldest advisers in Syria.It said he had been "among those accompanying Qassem Soleimani", the head of the Guards' elite Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Iraq in 2020.Iran's ambassador in Damascus Hossein Akbari told Iranian state TV that Mousavi was posted at the embassy as a diplomat and was killed by Israeli missiles after returning home from work.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the assassination of Mousavi showed weakness on the part of Israel."This act is a sign of the Zionist regime's frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the price," Iranian media cited Raisi as saying.The Revolutionary Guards said Israel would suffer for killing Mousavi, who held the Guards' rank of brigadier-general.
"The usurper and savage Zionist regime will pay for this crime," the Guards said in a statement read on state TV.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told state media that: "Iran reserves the right to take necessary measures to respond to this action at the appropriate time and place."For its part, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group condemned the killing of Mousavi as a "cowardly act", saying he had played a vital role in supporting the resistance in the region as well as the Palestinian people and their cause.
There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.
Israel has for years carried out attacks against what it describes as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it backed President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that erupted in Syria in 2011.Earlier this month, Iran said Israeli strikes had killed two Revolutionary Guards members in Syria who had served as military advisers there.Iran has sent hundreds of Guards as "advisers" to help train and organise thousands of Shi'ite militia fighters from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to back the government in the Syrian conflict. Fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah have also worked closely with Iranian military commanders in Syria.
Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Gareth JonesOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Raeisi: Israel will definitely pay price for assassinating senior IRGC advisor
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the Israeli regime will definitely pay the price for its criminal act of killing a senior military advisor of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria.
In a message on Monday, Raeisi said the vicious act of assassinating the IRGC military advisor in a missile attack in Syria was yet another sign of the usurping Zionist regime's desperation.
Seyyed Razi Mousavi, who was serving as a military advisor in Syria, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Sayyeda Zeinab neighborhood of the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier on Monday.
The president extended his condolences to Mousavi's bereaved family, his fellow comrades in the IRGC and the Iranian nation over his assassination.
He added that the brave military advisor who was one of the companions of Iran's top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was killed while "safeguarding lofty Islamic values."
General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), were martyred along with their companions in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020.
Iran maintains an advisory mission in Syria at the request of Damascus with the aim of helping the war-torn Arab country get rid of the foreign-backed militants who have been fighting the democratically-elected Syrian government since 2011.
Earlier in December, Israel killed two IRGC military advisors -- Mohammad Ali Ataee Shoorcheh and Panah Taqizadeh -- in an attack in Syria.
Iran maintains an advisory mission in Syria at the request of Damascus.
The IRGC announced in a statement that the two officers were martyred against the backdrop of the relentless savagery of the “fake and child-killing” Israeli regime in Gaza.
Assassination exposes Israel's terrorist nature:
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani strongly condemned the Israeli regime's terrorist measure to assassinate the IRGC advisor in Damascus.
He said the vicious and cowardly act was another indication of the terrorist nature of the Israeli regime.
"Since its sinister existence, the Zionist regime has committed various kinds of crimes by repeatedly and continuously violating international regulations and norms, and today it has also committed a cowardly and aggressive terrorist act," the spokesperson added.
Kan'ani emphasized that Iran reserves the right to adopt necessary strategies and give a response to the move in due time and place.
QWhat is your reading on follow-up development on connectivity projects agreed upon with India?
The line Ministries are doing follow-up work. Adani group is working on port development. The Power and Energy Ministry is working on renewable energy projects. We are also in the process of discussing grid connectivity. I think there is progress on that. We are finalizing the programme for the Trincomalee district development.
Foreign minister Ali Sabry responds to questions about the current direction of the country’s foreign policy and plans for the future.
Excerpts of the interview:
QWhat is the next direction of our foreign policy?
A: The next direction is to create a platform for all the countries in the world to come and invest in Sri Lanka. That is to make Sri Lanka a hub for tourism, aviation, investment and shipping. That is how we can create partnerships, and get the know-how. To finalize debt restructuring, we are yet to finalize work with private bond holders. Our focus, as a country, is to complete it within the first quarter of next year.
QWhat is the role of the Foreign Ministry in this case?
We work with the Finance Ministry and President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Once we agree on the direction, our Ministry, along with the embassies, will engage with them to get the support required. Based on what is prepared by the Finance Ministry, we sometimes brief the ambassadors based in Colombo. We sometimes brief the relevant countries through our embassies. It is a big role. We are proud that we manage to play that role in debt restructuring.As far as private bond holders are concerned, the Finance Ministry is handling it through our legal; and financial advisors. The Foreign Ministry has nothing to do with it.The Paris Club, India and China came on board in debt restructuring. It is a historical achievement for the country. In relatively a small period of time, we managed to get assurances from them.
Can Sri Lanka join BRICS?
Q The next year is going to be an election year. How challenging is the implementation of economic adjustments?
It is definitely going to be challenging. Whoever comes from whatever party, Sri Lanka’s economic interests should be kept in mind instead of making electoral promises that cannot be fulfilled. We must learn from the past. If you look at the last election, both the parties gave promises economically unsustainable. former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to execute them. Ultimately, it contributed to the collapse of the economy. The prospective candidates must act with responsibility and only share what could be realized within the economic plan.
QIn your budget speech, you mention about Sri Lanka’s plan to join BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). How far have you progressed in
this case?
We have got a note from the Sectoral Oversight Committee of Parliament on Foreign Relations. Internally, there is a team engaged in research into this matter. It will be presented to the Cabinet early next year.
What will happen to Sri Lanka’s missions closed due to economic crisis?
QWhat prompted you to take such an initiative?
Several parties brought it to our attention. Some MPs also brought this to our attention. The realization of these initiatives will take time. It cannot happen overnight. We will seek the direction of the Cabinet.
QHow advantageous is it for us to team up with BRICS?
It is a good thing. It is definitely going to be a multi-polar world. I think a few countries have had a monopoly over world affairs for a period too long. That is why the members of the global south got together and took the initiative to form BRICS. It is a good initiative in the long run. The countries like Sri Lanka will take a long time to get in. The gap between the global south and the global north need to be bridged. It is unfair for a few countries to call the shots in the world’s economic affairs. It is good to have a diverse pool of countries in this regard. In that sense, BRICS is a good edition. We hope it will succeed.
Does Iraq matter to Sri Lanka?
Will UAE, as a Muslim country, allow a Buddhist Cultural Centre?
QHow far have you progressed in terms of the evolution of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for foreign vessels and aircrafts engaging in any operation in Sri Lankan territory?
We have prepared it and shared it with the countries that sent their vessels to Sri Lanka during the last ten years. They are aware of our SOP now. As far as research vessels are concerned, we are going to have a moratorium for the next 12 months. That is for us to build our own capacity to participate in such research activities as equal partners. Standard military vessels have been coming to Colombo since time immemorial. We will continue to welcome them. There is no issue with it. For research, we need to build our own capacity to deal with it as an equal partner. The SOP applies to all vessels and aircrafts.
QWhy is it not put in the public domain?
We have basically given it to people who matter. It is not a matter meant for everybody. The Cabinet has decided to share it with those countries that sent vessels during the last ten years. We have not discriminated against any country in sharing it. We have looked at the last ten years.
How will the mission in New Zealand be advantageous?
QWhat is your reading on follow-up development on connectivity projects agreed upon with India?
The line Ministries are doing follow-up work. Adani group is working on port development. The Power and Energy Ministry is working on renewable energy projects. We are also in the process of discussing grid connectivity. I think there is progress on that. We are finalizing the programme for the Trincomalee district development.
QThere are reports that the Foreign Ministry is hamstrung in the discharge of duties due to lack of human resources. How are you going to address it?
That is a huge problem as I told in Parliament. We have an approved cadre of 264 members of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service. This is in addition to the supportive staff. We have only 168 diplomatic officers to man 55 missions abroad as well 24 divisions in the Ministry. This is not easy. We have sought permission to recruit the next batch. We are in the final stage. We hope to recruit 25 diplomatic officers. We also invest on digitalizing our consular work. We are doing it step by step. We have integrated with the Department of Examination on Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Examinations. As far as these two examinations are concerned, one does not need to come even. We need to introduce this all over the world at our missions. For that, you need manpower and investments. We find trouble now in the Information Technology (IT) sector in particular. The salaries offered by the government are not attractive at all. We are now going to get some support from outside on voluntary basis. In the meantime, I will seek Cabinet approval to restart some of the missions we closed, like Cyprus and Frankfort in Germany. Also, we want to restart our embassy in Iraq where there is a huge market for our tea. Besides, we are going to open a new mission in New Zealand.
What are the new plans to for the extradition of criminals absconding abroad?
QWhat is the rationale behind the move to open a mission in New Zealand?
There are Sri Lankans living there. Also, we import a lot of dairy products from New Zealand. We also see it as a market. There are tourists coming from there. Also, it is far for our diplomats in Canberra to look into New Zealand.
QSri Lanka’s presence in Africa is not sufficient enough. What are your plans?
We are also looking at it. We have to start missions in Morocco and Rwanda. Later we have to expand it to Central Asia. There is not a single presence there. We are looking at Kazakhstan to start off.
QWhat about the countries sharing Theravada Buddhist traditions with Sri Lanka?
We will look at it. We have missions in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. They oversee the countries in the region. In the long run, Cambodia is an important country.
How will the lack of resources that you speak of at the Foreign Ministry be addressed?
QYou have taken initiatives to put up a Buddhist Cultural Centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)?
There were a lot of requests from Buddhists who lived there. There are 340,000 Sri Lankans living there. That is the largest Sri Lankan community outside the country and a majority of them are Buddhists. In the meantime, there are Buddhists from other countries living there. Dubai has become cosmopolitan. They allow multi-faith religious activities. Sri Lankans have made this request. It is a fair request. I took it up with the UAE Foreign Minister who was receptive to the idea.
QWhat are the new plans to expedite the capture and extradition of Sri Lankan criminals hiding abroad?
We cannot personally go and nab them. We have to work with their police. We have to work through Interpol. There has been progress. There are a few still operating from places like Dubai. The police have made requests to expedite work related to their arrests and extraditions. The Foreign Ministry will coordinate it on behalf of the Sri Lanka Police.
Can the challenge of implementing economic adjustments be met with during the forthcoming year which is an election year?
Bethlehem’s bombed-out nativity sculpture sends a powerful message
The scene of a devastated nativity cave symbolises the plight of Christ’s family — and Palestinians now.
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank — This year, Bethlehem is sombre and quiet. There is no Christmas tree and there are no holiday lights or tourists to see them.
Instead, the city of Jesus’s birth – which is in the middle of a war zone – is marking Christmas with a powerful and poignant message: solidarity with Palestine.
The Holy Family Cave is a sculpture that depicts a harrowing tableau: a bombed-out version of the traditional nativity cave, which many Christians traditionally believe is where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is the site now of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The new mural draws a comparison with the journey of Christ and his family, when they had to flee Bethlehem under an oppressive ruler to Egypt, before returning to Nazareth two millennia ago.
Surrounded by rubble and barbed wire, the Virgin Mary embraces the baby Jesus, while Joseph embraces her, offering solace. On one side of the family, the Magi holds out a white shroud. On the other side, the fourth shepherd carries a bag, a symbol of Palestinian displacement.
Angels, suspended around the rubble, represent the souls of children who have been victims of massacres on Palestinian land throughout history: the murder of children in Bethlehem by Herod at the birth of Jesus; various colonial attacks against the Palestinian people and their ancestors; and current massacres by Israel in Gaza.
Around the scene, multilingual panels call for a ceasefire and an end to the massacre against the Palestinian people.
Hana Hanania, the mayor of Bethlehem, said the sculpture aims to showcase Palestinian suffering everywhere. Churches, clergy and civilians in Gaza are being bombarded, and a blockade is enforced in the West Bank, particularly in Bethlehem.
The sculpture, with its political, religious, and national symbolism, draws a comparison between what happened more than 2,000 years ago and what is happening today, she said. Just as Christ was tortured and children were killed by King Herod then, today, children and women are being slaughtered in a clear act of genocide.
The cave’s roof is a geographical map of Gaza. Its shape, together with a depiction of an explosion, form a star, inspired by the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to Jesus’s birth. This conveys a message of hope.
The artist, Tarek Salsaa, explained that the scene cannot fully express the immense destruction and systematic genocide against the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation. What Palestine is going through today is reminiscent of the years of colonialism, with all its allies throughout the ages and various historical epochs, he added.
“Christmas approaches this year, and we find ourselves living in the most challenging and difficult circumstances, a result of what our people in the besieged Gaza Strip and in all cities, villages, and camps of the West Bank and Jerusalem are enduring due to the Israeli continuous aggression against our people, said Rula Maayaa, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of tourism and antiquities.
“As we launch this symbolic initiative in Bethlehem … our people are confident that the message of Christmas, sent by the messenger of peace, will triumph over injustice and tyranny,” Maayaa said.
We are in a constant state of mourning, especially during the days of mourning for the martyrs, said Father Ibrahim Feltz, the deputy custodian of the Holy Lands. “We have not witnessed such a scene in the square, and we have not seen the city in this condition. Bethlehem has never been sad like this before.”
‘Jesus in the rubble’: Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem cancelled
By William Booth and Sufian Taha December 23, 2023
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — At Christmastime, the world comes to Bethlehem. The rooftop of the city hall is packed with camera crews from around the globe to capture a towering tree in Manger Square as the bells toll for midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, built upon the grotto where, by tradition, Jesus was born.
This year there will be no tree. No parades, bands or music. No lights. No markets, no feasts, no carols. No Santas handing out candy to the children.
And no pilgrims. No tourists.
In place of traditional holiday decorations, one church here has created a simple Nativity scene for Christmas 2023: Jesus enters the world amid a pile of Gazan rubble.
The atmosphere in Bethlehem on the eve of Christmas this year is somber, dark, sad — and political.
Palestinian Muslims visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Thursday. The basilica, shared by the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches, is uncharacteristically quiet during the Christmas season this year. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
Catholic clerics perform a service in the grotto of the Church of Nativity, by tradition the birthplace of Jesus. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
The mass of Boy Scouts who traditionally accompany the Latin Patriarch’s procession into the city — 28 troops’ worth, blasting bagpipes — has been pared down to a single silent troop. The boys will hold aloft Bible verses on peace and, perhaps, photographs of Gazan children.
The United States on Friday abstained from a vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution in support of an indefinite pause in fighting to allow the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. More than 20,000 people have been killed in the enclave during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
End of carousel
Christian leaders here are careful to condemn the surprise Hamas attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, when the militants killed 1,200 people and took about 240 more hostage, triggering current hostilities. But they appear most focused on the war since. The Israel Defense Forces, fighting to eradicate Hamas, have killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, the enclave’s Health Ministry said Friday. With water, food and shelter all short, international aid groups warn a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.
The West Bank city of Bethlehem is uncharacteristically quiet on the eve of Christmas as the war in Gaza continues. (Video: Joe Snell/The Washington Post)
The Holy Land is home mostly to Jews and Muslims. But 2 percent of the Palestinian population of the West Bank is Christian, with many of them proudly tracing their roots back a millennium or more. There also exists a tiny remnant of Christians — maybe a thousand people, no more — in Gaza.
A view of Route 60, the main highway from Jerusalem south to the West Bank settlements between Bethlehem and Hebron. The road, which lies between high concrete walls, is open only to vehicles with yellow Israeli license plates. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
In his annual Christmas message, Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Hanania spoke this year of mourning — and condemned Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza as “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.”
So did the head of the chamber of commerce. “I am sad and upset at the moral failure of the West” to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza, Samir Hazboun said.
Christian clergy here use similar language, blaming the failure to protect the innocent on world leaders including President Biden.
The Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, stood beside the small Nativity scene in his chapel. The baby Jesus sat amid flickering candles atop a pile of busted cement and dirty stone.
“This is what Christmas looks like in Palestine,” Issac said. “This is the true message.”
The Rev. Munther Isaac by the Nativity scene at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
At first, he said, the idea of placing the birth of Jesus in a war zone “was shocking — it was hard for even our own people. But it left a strong impression because the image is very real, it confronts you with the reality — then and now — in a very powerful way.”
“If Jesus were born today,” he said, “he would be born in Gaza amid the rubble.”
“Who can sing ‘Joy to the World’ today?”
Photos of the scene have gone viral. A similar installation is to be placed in Manger Square before Christmas Eve.
Today, Isaac said, the Christmas story feels more contemporary than ever. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph, a Jewish man living in Palestine under Roman rule, is forced to report to Bethlehem for a census. He takes his young, pregnant wife, Mary. Unable to find lodgings — there’s no room at the inn — they settle in a stable.
There, in a manger — a feed trough for animals — Mary gives birth to the child who the faithful believe is the son of God.
King Herod of Judea, learning of the birth of a rival, orders that all male children under 2 be killed: the Slaughter of the Innocents. Jesus, Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt.
“So the story is Jesus is born into hardship, lived under occupation, survived a massacre and became a refugee,” Isaac said.
“This is a story we Palestinians can understand.”
An Israeli military guard tower and concrete separation barrier in Bethlehem. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
Bethlehem is just a few miles south of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. There are 12 miles of high wall and fencing. There are Israeli checkpoints to get in and out of the city, where Palestinians on foot pass through scanners and answer questions by Israeli border guards. Many of those check points are closed now, or only open a few hours a day, because of the Gaza war and the rise in violence in the West Bank.
Hanania said he “cannot believe what we are watching in Gaza. These are the worst days that Palestinians have ever seen.”
In the lead-up to the holiday this year, the painstakingly renovated Church of the Nativity, which dates back to the 6th century, has seen almost no visitors.
A few journalists wandered about. A Danish priest and his daughter came. A local family marveled at the graffiti from the Crusades and the restored 12th-century mosaics depicting hovering angels.
“It’s like the covid times, but worse,” custodian Nicola Hadur said.
In a normal year, he said, pilgrims and tourists would wait in multiple lines for hours to see the cave in which Jesus is said to have been born.
There are 78 hotels and 5,700 rooms in Bethlehem today. In normal times, 6,000 tourists come daily — you can’t move for the tour buses.
There were only 624 foreign visitors during the entire month of November, according to the tourist police. Most were from Indonesia.
Gift shop owner Victor Tabah says the days before Christmas have been the quietest in the 61 years his family has been in business. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
Behind the Church of the Nativity, Victor Tabah’s souvenir shop sat empty.
“I do not blame anyone for this situation, not Hamas or anyone,” the 77-year-old grandfather said. “We have to blame ourselves, we need to be strong and have to keep going.”
This year? “Christmas is finished, we do not see Christmas anymore, it is supposed to be for our children, but we do not have a Christmas anymore,” said Tabah, who has three children and seven grandchildren.
Rami Asakrieh, a Franciscan friar, is pastor of St. Catherine’s Church, where midnight Mass is to be celebrated. (Masses by the Orthodox and other Christian faiths will follow.)
“They say that we are canceling Christmas,” Asakrieh said. “But we have only canceled the celebrations of Christmas. We will say Mass.”
The Rev. Rami Asakrieh in the courtyard of the Church of Saint Catherine in Bethlehem. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)
“It’s impossible to celebrate when so many — on both sides — have lost so much,” he said. “We canceled the festivities as a sign of solidarity with the victims of the war.”
Asakrieh joined the other clerics of Bethlehem last month in sending a letter to Biden and to Congress. “God has placed political leaders in a position of power so that they can bring justice, support those who suffer, and be instruments of God’s peace,” they wrote.
“We need the Christmas message more than ever,” Asakrieh said. “We need the peace and love. We need the light.”
The Houthis say they won’t stop attacking ships unless Israel stops its attacks on Gaza. So far, the shipping industry doesn’t appear convinced the task force can halt them.
AJ By Maziar Motamedi 19 Dec 2023
The United States has announced the establishment of a new multinational maritime security force in response to attacks on ships launched by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The initiative is aimed at ensuring ships can pass through busy waterways near Yemen safely as the Houthis have been targeting vessels in protest of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians.
But what will the task force do, how will it work and how effective could it be?
What is the new force?
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a 10-country force on Tuesday in Bahrain.
In addition to the Arab nation, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles and Spain have agreed to join Washington in the new mission.
Some of the countries are expected to conduct joint patrols in the southern parts of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden while others will support the force by providing intelligence.
The mission will be coordinated by Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153), an existing force under a US-led joint effort established in April 2022 with the aim of improving maritime security in the area.
The existing framework has 39 member nations, and there are reports that other countries could join or have already agreed to join the newly formed 10-member maritime effort but don’t want it publicised.
The Houthis have promised to stand up to any US-led efforts and only stop their attacks once Israel stops its war in Gaza. They have signalled they are open to talks, but diplomacy has so far failed to stop their attacks.
For its part, Iran has warned Washington that its joint maritime effort will face “extraordinary problems”.
How disruptive are the Houthi attacks?
The Houthi group, also known as Ansarallah, started its operations against Israel by launching missiles and drones on the southern parts of Israel, including the port and tourist city of Eilat, in October soon after the war started.
Most of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli and US defences or fell short due to the roughly 2,000km (1,240-mile) distance between the two countries.
So the Houthis changed tactics, instead focusing on ships near their shores. They have been firing missiles and launching attack drones at commercial ships that they claim are linked to Israel and seized a vessel last month that they are still holding in a Yemeni port.
Their attacks have stopped many ships from making their way to Israel.
“The Houthis are feeling emboldened. They perceive that they have won the civil war in Yemen and that their position is unchallenged domestically,” said Thomas Juneau, an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa whose research focuses on the Middle East, especially Iran and Yemen. “They also probably assess that the US and its regional partners are keen to avoid an escalation of the war in Gaza into a full-blown regional war.”
At least 12 shipping companies have suspended transit through the Red Sea due to the Houthi attacks. They include some of the largest in the world: Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, the Italian-Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company and France’s CMA CGM.
Is a new oil crisis brewing?
Markets, including the oil and gas market, have increasingly reacted to the attacks, especially considering the volume of cargo being redirected. For instance, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd together operate almost a quarter of the world’s shipping fleet.
Bab al-Mandeb, the narrow waterway that separates Eritrea and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa from Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, is where 10 percent of the world’s seaborne crude oil travels. More than 17,000 ships pass through it each year. It is less than 20km (12 miles) wide, far narrower than the more than 200km (124 miles) of the northern parts of the Red Sea.
The direct impact on oil prices has been relatively limited so far, but experts have warned that things could significantly escalate if the attacks continue and security remains an issue. Insurance premiums and prices of oil and gas products are expected to rise if the conflict is not resolved.
“The Houthis will not be deterred to stop these strikes easily,” Juneau told Al Jazeera.
How will the task force provide protection to ships?
Some of the member nations of the task force have warships in the Red Sea. Two US navy destroyers, the USS Carney and USS Mason, are sailing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The idea is for the warships to serve as a deterrent to Houthi attacks and to stop them when possible.
The naval ships won’t necessarily escort commercial vessels through the Red Sea but will be on standby to respond to attacks.
Will the task force be able to stop Houthi attacks?
It’s complicated. Houthi fighters landed a helicopter on a ship last month to capture it. The presence of task force military vessels nearby could make a repeat of such a move harder.
The task force’s warships could also strike down incoming missiles from Yemen, just as they have intercepted rockets headed towards Israel. But even Israel’s much-touted Iron Dome missile defence system doesn’t have a 100 percent track record of stopping incoming rockets. So far, the US has not fired back at Yemen.
“It will be difficult for the recently announced, US-led coalition to fully deter the Houthis and put an end to their disruption of maritime shipping,” Juneau said.
At this point, the markets appear unconvinced that the task force will be able to protect shipments through the Red Sea. On Tuesday, Maersk said it was rerouting its ships around Africa to avoid sending them through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
* US Defense Secretary Austin on Houthi attacks: "This is an international challenge that demands collective action."
* US-led force includes UK, France, Canada and others.
CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM, Dec18, 2023 (Reuters) By Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Bassam Masoud and James Mackenzie
Several countries have agreed to jointly carry out patrols in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to try to safeguard commercial shipping against attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
The Iran-aligned group says the aim of its missile and drone attacks is to support the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war in the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Al Jazeera that his group will be able to confront any coalition formed by the United States that could deploy to the Red Sea.
Austin, who is on a trip to Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's headquarters in the Middle East, said participating countries led by the United States include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
"This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative," Austin said in a statement early on Tuesday.
