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Israel's Enemy in Yemen Proves Hard for U.S. to Deter
(Wall Street Journal) Carrie Keller-Lynn - Despite hundreds of American and allied strikes and the deployment of a U.S. Navy flotilla to the Red Sea, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have kept up a steady drumbeat of attacks on commercial shipping passing through the vital waterway and have continued to lob missiles at Israel. The Houthis continue to disrupt global trade, causing billions of dollars in losses and forcing shippers to reroute cargo or run a gantlet of missiles and drones. A U.S.-led coalition has destroyed 450 Houthi drones, a U.S. defense official said. Still, Red Sea trade routes remain paralyzed. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the Houthis are "sinking ships and killing civilian mariners that are in no way related to Israel or Gaza, and even attacking vessels delivering crucial food and humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen." Osamah Al Rawhani, a director for the Yemen-based Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, said the Houthis "want to win as a militia and take on global powers." Iran and Hizbullah helped turn the group into a technologically sophisticated force able to target oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Mohammed Albasha, a U.S.-based Middle East security analyst, said, "Now, they're chasing U.S. carriers with drones and missiles and striking 2,000 km. away in central Israel."