The UN Security Council has passed a resolution condemning the Houthis’ ongoing attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea, which have disrupted global trade and raised fears of further spill over from the war in Gaza.
11 members in the Council voted in favor, none against, and four countries, including China and Russia, abstained from voting.
Russian delegation said it was important to recognize the “direct consequences” of Israel’s very violent military operations that have lasted for more than three months in Gaza.
Earlier, three amendments that Russia proposed to the draft text were defeated.
The meeting follows an emergency briefing and consultations last week to address the growing threat posed by militant attacks in one of the world’s key shipping channels.
US Navy warships, together with UK naval forces, had shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen on Tuesday in the southern Red Sea.
There have been more than two dozen separate attacks on international shipping carried out by the rebel movement which controls much of Yemen, since the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas led to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Houthis control the capital Sanaa and large swathes of the country, including the Red Sea coast. They began targeting what they believe to be Israel-bound vessels in mid-November after first launching missile and drone attacks against Israel itself, in support of the extremist group Hamas.
Now they have widened their target to all international shipping companies, until, they say, Israel allows full humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza.
Nearly 15 per cent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 per cent of global grain trade, 12 per cent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade. International shipping companies continue to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods.
The UN resolution strongly condemns the Houthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels, and demands that the Yemeni militant group immediately cease all such attacks.
It also urged the Houthis to release the Japanese-registered car carrier Galaxy Leader and its crew, seized by the Yemeni militia on November 19.
The ship is owned by Ray Car Carriers’ Galaxy Maritime, a company partly owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar.
After having noted that only a few of the ships had been chartered by Israeli companies, the United States said that what is at stake is not a conflict in particular, but the fact that freedom of navigation is being taken hostage.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield alleged that Iran offers its support for the Houthis to attack merchant and commercial ships passing through the Red Sea and the Bab El-Mandab strait in violation of the Security Council resolution.
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