The Suez Canal and the Houthi War
Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, January 27
Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, January 27
The Suez Canal has endured numerous crises throughout its history. It was closed during the Tripartite Aggression in 1956 and faced further setbacks in June 1967. However, since its reopening in 1975, it has proudly flown the Egyptian flag, faithfully serving global trade. In 2014, the canal entered a new era with the excavation of a parallel canal, the deepening of its waters, and the establishment of an economic zone alongside it, complete with ports, factories, and logistics areas. This development transformed the canal into Egypt’s prized possession, bolstering its financial and economic resources. Unfortunately, this status quo was ruptured when the Houthi group, a faction involved in the Yemeni civil war, targeted the canal. This civil war, born out of the Arab Spring movement, pitted the Houthi Ansar Allah group against the legitimate Yemeni government. Ansar Allah is an Iranian-backed entity, similar to groups we’ve seen appear in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, which receive weapons, funds, training, and political propaganda from Iran. Seizing the opportunity presented by the Gaza war, the Houthis attempted to use the Palestinian cause as a shield to advance their own agenda and propaganda. The battleground for the Houthis’ war became the Red Sea, where they targeted vessels headed toward Israel with missiles and drones provided by Iran. Thus, their shallow statements claiming to support the Palestinian cause hold little weight, as they had no means of discerning whether the ships they targeted were actually en route to Israel or merely part of a multinational company transporting goods for various countries after transiting the Suez Canal. Most ships passing through the Red Sea adhere to international maritime law and fly flags representing countries utilized by international corporations engaged in global trade. The Houthis, however, display no regard for the flags flown by these vessels. They have targeted all of them indiscriminately. Despite their supposed interest in international law when it comes to the people of Gaza, they brazenly violate maritime law by jeopardizing international trade, including the functioning of the Egyptian Suez Canal, as well as the security of other Arab nations. —Abdel Moneim Saeed (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
