Leader of the Houthi group: We will prevent enemy ships from crossing the Cape of Good Hope

The Houthi group announced on Thursday that it would prevent the crossing of ships linked to the “enemy” from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. This announcement came in a televised speech by the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

The Houthi group announced on Thursday that it would prevent the crossing of ships linked to the “enemy” from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope.

This announcement came in a televised speech by the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, and represents a new escalation in Houthi attacks on shipping vessels, which are currently concentrated in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

Al-Houthi said: "We will prevent ships linked to the enemy (Israeli, British, and American) from crossing the Cape of Good Hope from the Indian Ocean."

He revealed that his group had targeted 73 enemy ships and barges since the start of its operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023.

This threat of escalation comes one day after a statement issued by the embassies of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand to Yemen, in which they called on the Houthi group to stop its attacks in the Red Sea, considering that they “serve only to destabilize the region and harm the Yemeni people.”

Geographically, the Houthis can implement their threat by targeting ships passing from the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope route, which many ships took as an alternative route from the Red Sea, after the Houthis began their attacks.

In the same context, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said, in his speech, that “the Israeli enemy is carrying out the crime of the century in Gaza, in every sense of the word, with American participation and contributions from Western and Arab countries.”

He added, "The United States receives limited aid from the air to the Palestinian Strip, and at the same time provides tons of bombs (to Israel) to kill the people of Gaza."

He considered that "America and Western countries are not embarrassed to provide the deadliest weapons to the Israeli enemy to kill the Palestinian people, including their children and women."

He pointed out that "the American landings (of aid) do not cover a small percentage of the need, and they aim to deceive public opinion and distract Muslim peoples to continue criminality."

The group's leader explained that "despite the severe suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, there is great steadfastness, patience, steadfastness and cohesion that is unparalleled."

In "solidarity with Gaza," which is facing a devastating Israeli aggression with American support, the Houthis are targeting, with missiles and drones, Israeli cargo ships or those linked to them in the Red Sea.

Since the beginning of this year, a US-led coalition has been launching raids that it says target “Houthi sites” in various regions of Yemen, in response to its attacks in the Red Sea, which was met with a response from the group from time to time.

As Washington and London intervened and tensions took an escalating turn in January, the Houthi group announced that it now considered all American and British ships among its military targets.