A missile strike on Israel attributed by the Houthis to Iran-backed forces in Yemen on Saturday has revived concern that the Red Sea could face renewed disruption, analysts and reporting said, especially as Iran’s leverage near the Strait of Hormuz keeps another critical shipping passage constricted. The Houthis said they carried out their attack from Yemen after a period of restraint, and Israel said it intercepted a missile launched from the direction of Yemen.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesperson, responded to questions about the Houthis by saying, “We are preparing for a multifront war.” The statement came as the Houthis described their Saturday strike as aimed at “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel, and as Israeli officials characterized the missile as fired from Yemen.
The attack also landed after what the AP reporting described as a pause in Houthi operations since the start of the wider Middle East war a month earlier. The Houthis had held back for about a month following attacks on Iran launched on Feb. 28 by the U.S. and Israel, the report said, and analysts framed the timing as signaling potential escalation beyond direct pressure on Israel.
In a broader context, the Houthis are described as a key Iranian ally and part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which includes militant groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian territories. They control Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the north of the country, and have fought a civil war against the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2014.
The concern now centers on how the group’s capabilities could translate from direct strikes into renewed attacks on vessels moving through the Red Sea. The AP report said the Houthis positioned their messaging as resistance to allowing the U.S. and Israel to use the Red Sea for attacks on Iran, and it cited a statement by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree saying, “Our fingers are on the trigger.”
Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that any Houthi move to attack shipping would destabilize “all of maritime security,” and that the impact would not stay limited to energy markets. The report described that with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Nagi also tied the shipping risk to route economics and supply exposure, noting that the 32-kilometer (20-mile)-wide strait is among the busiest corridors for global oil trade and that disrupting transit through Bab al-Mandeb forces shipping firms to route around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing costs. The report further said that about 12% of the world’s trade typically passes through Suez, including oil, natural gas, grain and goods ranging from toys to electronics.
As a result, renewed attacks would compound stress on global supply chains and energy prices already shaken by the Strait of Hormuz closure, the report said. It added that the Red Sea also serves as a critical corridor for Europe’s natural gas: the European Union, which relies on imported natural gas to power factories and generate electricity and heat homes, receives shipments including tankers carrying liquefied natural gas that routinely pass through the Red Sea.
The Houthis have previously attacked merchant shipping in the region, the report said, describing attacks on over 100 vessels with missiles and drones from November 2023 until January 2025, including sinking two vessels and killing four sailors. It said the group also launched projectiles at Israel and claimed its operations were in support of Hamas during the war in Gaza.
Following those attacks, the report said the U.S. and Israel responded with air campaigns across Houthi-held areas in Yemen that killed many people, including most of the Houthi-allied Cabinet in Sanaa. It added that President Donald Trump halted U.S. strikes on the Houthis after a deal under which the rebels stopped their Red Sea shipping attacks.