Houthis Still Standing, But Israel Soldiers On

The Houthis in Yemen are the last regional allies of Iran that are still standing, now that Hamas and Hezbollah have been battered by the IDF, and Syria, under new Sunni management, has turned from being an ally to a mortal enemy of the Islamic Republic. The Houthi attacks on commercial shipping are a threat not just to Israeli shipping, but to all commercial shipping in and around the Red Sea. The Houthis are punching above their weight, and have forced many ships to change their routes so that instead of reaching Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, they are forced to go around the Cape of Good Hope and up the western side of Africa to the Mediterranean, a trip that takes much more time and much more money to complete than the Red Sea-Suez route. In May, the Trump administration decided to make a deal with the Houthis: in return for a Houthi promise to stop all attacks on American shipping, the Americans would stop bombing Houthi sites in Yemen. And before that, both Saudi Arabia and the Emirates had stopped bombing Houthi targets, which had proved ineffective and, worse still, elicited counterattacks by the Houthis on Saudi and Emirati oil facilities.

The latest attack on a Greek ship also killed four crewmen. Israel, however, continues — as it must — to strike the Houthis in Yemen. In the IAF’s latest raid, twenty planes attacked the international airport at Sanaa that the Houthis hold, the Houthis’ three main ports at Hodeidah, Ras Isa, and Salif, and the Ras Khatib power station. The airstrikes also hit the “Galaxy Leader” vessel, which had been hijacked by the Houthis in November 2023; the ship’s radar was being used-for maritime surveillance and operational planning.

Now the Houthis have attacked the Eternity C, a Greek ship (with a Liberian flag) and killed 18 crew members (four confirmed dead, with fourteen “missing,” who by now must be considered to have died), raising new alarm among commercial shippers. Christine Douglass-Williams wrote about this here, and more on this latest. Houthi attack can be found here: “Houthi-attacked Greek ship in Red Sea sinks: Four dead, seven rescued, 14 missing,” Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2025:

The Houthis’ naval forces attacked the Eternity C, which the terror group claims was en route to Eilat port, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree confirmed in a Wednesday afternoon statement.

“The attack was carried out with an unmanned boat and six cruise and ballistic missiles. The operation resulted in the complete sinking of the ship, and the operation was documented with audio and video,” Saree added.

“The targeting of the aforementioned ship came after the company that owns the ship itself resumed operations with the port of Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat), in clear violation of the ban on operations with the aforementioned port.”

Rescuers pulled seven crew members alive from the Red Sea on Wednesday and were searching for 14 still missing from the second of two freighters sunk within two days by suspected Houthi attackers.

Four of the 25 people aboard the Eternity C cargo ship were killed before the rest of the crew abandoned the vessel, which sank on Wednesday morning after being attacked on Monday and Tuesday, sources at security companies mounting the rescue said. Maritime security group UKMTO confirmed on Wednesday evening that the ship sank.

The seven seafarers who were rescued had spent more than 24 hours in the water, they said.

There was no comment from the Houthis on the fate of the Eternity C, but the group claimed responsibility for a similar attack on Sunday targeting another ship, the Magic Seas. All crew from the Magic Seas were rescued before it sank.

The attacks on the two ships renew a campaign by the Iran-aligned fighters, who had attacked more than 100 ships from November 2023-December 2024 in what they said was solidarity with the Palestinians, but had halted their campaign this year….

Greece has been in talks with Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region, over the latest incident, according to sources.

Greece, as a major owner of commercial shipping, has a great interest in stopping the Houthi attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea. No doubt it is hoping to persuade the Saudis to renew their attacks on the Houthis that they abandoned a few years ago for two reasons. First, the attacks had proved to be largely ineffective; second, the Houthis had retaliated with drone and missile attacks on Saudi oil installations that caused significant damage. Second, the Greeks will make the argument to the Saudis that the Houthis are already being hit hard by the IDF, and no longer can be resupplied with weapons from Iran, given how much of the Islamic Republic’s weaponry has been destroyed in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Furthermore, the damage done by Israel to the Houthi ports now make delivery of such weapons to the Houthis very difficult.

Greece may be able to persuade the Saudis to renew their own attacks on the Shi’a Houthis, who have seized control of more than half of Yemen from the Sunnis. Or the Saudis may figure that they can afford to leave dealing with the Houthi problem up to Israel. The Saudis would not be averse to seeing Israel expending its weapons and its money on suppressing the rifle-toting qat-chewing allahu-akbaring primitives who have played havoc with a key shipping route. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates will benefit if the Houthis are weakened, or perhaps destroyed, by the IDF, for their fellow Sunnis in Yemen will then be able to reassert themselves as masters of the land. Egypt will also be glad to see shipping return to the Red Sea-Suez Canal route following a defeat inflicted on the Houthis by the Jewish state. Will anyone — the Sunni Arabs of he Gulf, the members of the EU who will no longer have to pay exorbitant prices for goods imported from Asia that have had to take the route around Africa to reach the European countries.

Israel will soldier on alone against the Houthis, until they are forced to halt their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea forever. No one will thank the Jewish state for removing the Houthi threat to 20% of the world’s shipping. Not a word of recognition, much less thanks, will come, from the UN. That’s okay. The Israelis are long inured to that absence of gratitude. Other than the United States, what countries have expressed their relief that the IDF inflicted such damage on Iran’s nuclear facilities and its ballistic missile warehouses and factories? After they have defeated the last of Iran’s proxies, the Israelis will keep on keeping on, making themselves, their region, and the world much safer.