The arrival of merchant ships at the Israeli port of "Eilat" has "almost completely stopped" due to attacks from the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea against ships heading to Israel.
Two US officials as saying that the administration of US President Joe Biden recently sent messages to Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, through several channels, warning it to stop "attacks on ships in the Red Sea and against Israel."
It emphasized that since the start of the Israeli conflict on the Gaza Strip, the Yemeni Armed Forces "have launched more than 70 drones and ballistic missiles" toward the Israeli occupation entity.
The two US officials say that US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, who visited the Gulf in recent days, asked his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar to "convey warning messages" to Yemen.
US officials acknowledge that these warnings so far have not led the Yemenis to de-escalate their operations.
The report noted that ships heading to Israel from Asia are now taking a longer route around Africa, making the journey three weeks longer and more costly.
It is noteworthy that a couple of days ago, the Director General of the Israeli Port of "Eilat", Gideon Golber, told Israeli Channel 13 that Yemen's threat of Israeli-bound ships had "disrupted 80% to 85% of the port’s profits."
Two Israeli and US officials as saying that "a special upgraded multinational task force will start operating in the Red Sea" to deter the Yemeni forces from launching more attacks and confront them.
The task force will not accompany the ships in the Red Sea, but having more naval ships in the area will make it easier to respond to threats, a senior Israeli official pointed out.
On Thursday, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to Israel.
In a statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces confirmed that the ship was targeted with a drone, adding that a direct hit was confirmed after the Maersk Gibraltar's crew refused to respond to warning calls from the Yemeni Naval Forces.
