WASHINGTON: More than twenty countries have joined the US-led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from strikes by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The Hauthi militia repeatedly targeted ships in the key shipping lane with attacks they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas.
Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists that they had 20 countries now sign on to participate in the coalition, according to AFP.
Ryder said the Houthis are targeting the economic wellbeing and prosperity of countries around the world, effectively becoming bandits along the global highway that is the Red Sea.
He said the coalition troops will patrol in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to and help commercial ships that are transiting this vital global waterway,
According to Gaza health ministry at least 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in unrelenting Israeli bombardments since October 7. The casualties include 8,000 children and 6,200 women, underscoring the devastating toll on the civilian population.
The UN has said that some 1.87 million Palestinians, over 80 percent of Gaza’s population, have left their homes because of the Israeli bombardment of the besieged enclave.
The Israeli raids have almost destroyed entire neighborhoods in northern Gaza. Israeli ground troops have been facing heavy resistance from Hamas fighters in the area.
Attacks in Red Sea a response
Those deaths have provoked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an impetus for strikes by armed groups in the region, including the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The US announced the multinational Red Sea coalition on Monday, while the Houthis warned two days later that they would strike back if attacked.
