Houthis and Iranians have laid a trap – and the UK and US have flown right in
It’s not surprising the British and Americans have had another go at striking the Houthis in Yemen – but it’s just not necessarily all that clever.
Allied naval vessels have been threatened, the argument goes in London and Washington, the commercial shipping of other countries hit or hijacked.
It is essential something is done about it, say the politicians and military planners.
Middle East latest: Houthis warn UK and US to ‘expect response’
But how far have they thought it through? The operations risk a lot, will almost certainly not achieve their goals and are already strengthening the enemy.
The Houthis and their Iranian patrons laid a trap and Britain and America have arguably walked, or flown right into it.
The allied aim is to neutralise the threat posed by the Houthi rebel forces against international shipping in the Red Sea, through which a huge amount of oil and goods pass.
It is one of the vital arteries of international commerce. The longer the threat persists, the more it is going to affect all of us, in prices at the petrol pump and for online goods.
Once a rag-tag rebel army, the Houthis are now a fighting force to be reckoned with, dominating much of Yemen and armed and trained by Iran.
They have been attacking ships since the start of Israel’s Gaza offensive in solidarity with their Arab brothers, they say.
The Houthis are hitting the West where it hurts – but to be successful, the British-American airstrikes must entirely neutralise their threat to the Red Sea.
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Transport minister Huw Merriman says ‘we are not ruling out further strikes against the Houthis’.
While any threat persists, international shipping must avoid the Red Sea because of the punitive cost of insurance which has in some cases risen 20-fold.
That degree of success is unfeasible. Ask the Saudis who failed to deter the Houthis despite eight years of military action supported by Gulf allies, the UK and the US.
But more to the point, the capability the Houthis are using to threaten shipping is mobile and easily hidden in the desert wastes of Yemen.
The airstrikes will certainly degrade the Houthis.
Houthi fighters at a protest on Sunday against US and UK strikes on Yemen. Pic: AP
Tribesmen loyal to the Houthis sit during a parade for new tribal recruits amid escalating tensions with the U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea, in Bani Hushaish, Yemen January 22, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
‘Plucky’ Houthis revelling in popularity
But they only need to continue threatening shipping. For that, the Houthis need to hang on to a handful of portable assets and render the Red Sea unviable as a conduit for international shipping.
And despite everything British and American jets threw at them two weeks ago, they’ve managed to keep up the threat, letting loose missiles at shipping regardless.
Meanwhile the Houthis are benefiting from the military action where it counts for them in the arena of Arab public opinion.
While corrupt, decadent autocratic Arab regimes, as millions of Arabs see them, are doing nothing about Gaza, the plucky Houthis are. And they are revelling in it.
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Meet ‘Timhouthi Chalamet’
As Sky News has shown today, the conflict is making celebrities of the Houthis, like the man they are calling Timhouthi Chalamet, a young photogenic Houthi online influencer.
And the Houthis have successfully drawn Britain and America deeper into the Middle Eastern conflict that’s swirling around Gaza.
Read more:
UK has no quarrel with Yemen, Lord Cameron says
Relatives of Israeli hostages storm parliament
Dispute over whether Labour was briefed on Houthi strikes
Rishi Sunak may claim the airstrikes are “unrelated” to Gaza but that’s frankly nonsense. The Houthis have made this explicitly about Gaza. They began their action over the war there and will end it, most analysts agree, once there is a ceasefire.
The British and Americans are letting loose armaments worth tens of millions on one of the world’s poorest countries to allow Israel to do the same in another equally impoverished area.
That is certainly how this is being seen by hundreds of millions.
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None of that is any good for either countries’ standing in the Arab world and beyond. It is a PR disaster for Britain and America and a huge boost for the Houthis and by association their Iranian patrons.
The airstrikes may be blowing up bunkers and weapons stockpiles or rearranging sand in the desert but in the battle for hearts and minds across the Middle East, they are handing a victory to Iran and its allies.
And they are almost certainly not going to make the Red Sea a viable international trade route again, not until Israel ends its offensive in Gaza.
A bystander hailed a hero after he tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen in the Bondi Beach shooting is a shop owner.
The man, named by a relative as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, was seen in a video running up to the attacker from behind and then grabbing the shotgun from his hands before pointing the weapon back at him.
The footage then showed the terrorist heading towards a bridge where another gunman was located, while the bystander placed the gun beside a tree.
Ahmed al Ahmed (in a white T-shirt) is seen in a video running up to a gunman from behind
Mr Ahmed then wrestles with the attacker
Live updates on Sydney shooting
Mr Ahmed, who was wearing a white T-shirt, was shot twice in the incident and was due to have surgery, his cousin, Mustafa, has revealed.
In a video on 7News, Mr Ahmed appeared to have a bloodied arm and hand, and was helped by other people near the scene in the Australian city.
At least 11 people were killed and 29 others injured in the attack when two gunmen opened fire from a bridge on crowds at a Jewish event around 6pm local time on Sunday evening.
More than 1,000 people had been at the gathering which was celebrating the festival of Hanukkah.
Mr Ahmed manages to get the gun off the terrorist
The bystander then points the weapon at the attacker who moves away towards a bridge
A gunman was killed and another was in a critical condition following the shooting.
One of the suspects was 24-year-old Naveed Akram.
His driver’s licence says he lives in Bonnyrigg, a suburb of Sydney. The identity of the other suspected attacker is not known.
Naveed Akram, 24, was one of the suspects
Mustafa said father-of-two Mr Ahmed, who owns a fruit shop in the Sydney suburb of Sutherland, did not have any experience with guns but was just walking past when he decided to step in.
He told 7News: “He’s in hospital and we don’t know exactly what’s going on inside.
“We do hope he will be fine. He’s a hero, 100%.”
Read more:
What we know about mass shooting
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One of the suspected gunmen has been named as 24-year-old Naveed Akram.
The footage of the bystander’s actions spread quickly on social media as people praised the man for his bravery, saying his actions had potentially saved many lives.
“Australian hero (random civilian) wrestles gun off attacker and disarms him. Some people are brave and then some people are… whatever this is,” one person said on X, sharing the video.
“This Australian man saved countless lives by stripping the gun off one of the terrorists at Bondi beach. HERO,” another said.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, said it was the “most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen”.
“A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people.”
“That man is a genuine hero, and I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery,” he added.
The country’s prime minister Anthony Albanese praised the actions of Australians who had “run towards danger in order to help others”.
“These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives,” he told a news conference.
Messages were sweeping across Sydney within minutes of the attack at Bondi Beach.
Parents messaged their children and teenagers, who had been enjoying a late afternoon swim at Bondi.
Witnesses said police were on the scene quickly, and the streets of Sydney’s eastern suburbs were full of police cars and ambulances on their way to Bondi.
Follow live: 11 people killed at event celebrating Hanukkah
When we arrived, there were still dozens of people processing what had happened, and everywhere – shock.
Witnesses told us that when the gunfire started some people took cover in the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club. Once the threat was over, lifeguards helped the injured and used surfboards to carry them out.
Witnesses tell Sky’s Nicole Johnston of Bondi ‘warzone’
Some people were clearly traumatised and provided graphic detail of witnessing the shooting and seeing people killed in front of them.
A photographer, Danny, was covering the Jewish holiday event.
Read more: What we know so far
He said he “locked eyes” with one of the gunmen, who then fired towards him. Danny said he was grazed by a bullet. He kept filming during the shooting, while taking cover.
Sam, from France, was working at Bondi. He went to the scene of the attack and saw almost a dozen people lying on the ground covered in blood. Sam described it as like a “war zone”.
Rabbi Lei Wolff, from Central Synagogue in Sydney, went to Bondi as soon as he heard about the mass shooting. A dear friend of his, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was killed in the attack.
Rabbi Wolff has called on people around the world to stand with Australia’s Jewish community against terrorism.
World
Israel says Hamas commander – who was one of the architects of the 7 October 2023 attacks – killed in strike
A senior Hamas commander who was one of the architects of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel has been killed in a strike on Gaza City, according to the country’s military.
Raed Saad was targeted in response to an attack by Hamas in which an explosive device injured two soldiers on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
It is the highest-profile killing of a senior Hamas figure since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect in October.
Gaza health authorities said the attack on a car in Gaza City killed five people and wounded at least 25 others, but there has been no confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.
Raed Saed
Hamas condemned the attack in a statement as a violation of the ceasefire agreement but stopped short of threatening retaliation.
An Israeli military official described Saed as a high-ranked Hamas member who helped establish and advance the group’s weapons production network.
“In recent months, he operated to re-establish Hamas’ capabilities and weapons manufacturing, a blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
The 10 October ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins after a war that began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health officials in Gaza.
Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased, but violence has not completely stopped.
Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed at least 386 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce, while Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed.
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