Australia To Send Military Personal To Red Sea, But No Warship
The Red Sea is becoming a forte of Houthis, as some of the largest shipping companies in the world was forced to reroute their ships at considerable costs after the Yemeni group started to target ships that are headed towards Israeli ports, showing their solidarity with Palestine. The Houthis asked Israel to stop the brutal genocidal bombing on Gaza and to allow the humanitarian aid to the war battered Gaz Strip.
Responding to the Houthi threat, US announced the formation of 10-nation coalition against the Iran aligned Yemeni group. Joining the ‘Red Sea force’ of US, Australian Defence Minister, Richard Marles said Australia will send “six additional ADF personnel as part of the US-led Operation PROSPIRITY GUARDIAN”.
Australia will increase our contribution to the Combined Maritime Force, including up to six additional ADF personnel as part of the US-led Operation PROSPERITY GUARDIAN.
— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) December 21, 2023
However, Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed that the government would not directly deploy a warship. “We won”t be sending a ship or a plane,” Sky News quoted the minister as saying.
Meanwhile, around 20,000 Houthis held an armed parade waving Palestinian and Yemeni flags following the US announcement of ‘Red Sea force’. Houthis said they will end the attack only if Isreal stops the aggression on Palestine.
The Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi called for a “sincere support” for the Palestinian people and said that the responsibility of all Palestine lies with all Muslims. He said the US is only trying to ensure that Israel continues to “commit massacres in Gaza”. Al-Houthi also stated that they are “not afraid of war”, and threatens to attack US if Yemen was targeted.
Muhammed Al-Bukaiti, a Houthi official said on his X (formerly twitter) that Houthis “prefer direct war with America Instead of its tools, and we have long breath”. While inviting European countries to side with Yemen in attacking the American “interests and ships, whether military or commercial”, the senior Houthi official warns any European country that decide to participate in “attack alongside America will be targeted”.
Mr. Al-Houthi made clear in his speech that our position on what is happening in Gaza is not tactical, but rather faith-based, moral, and humanitarian, and he specified the rules of engagement for the expected war in the event that America commits any foolishness against Yemen,…
— محمد البخيتي(Mohammed Al-Bukaiti) (@M_N_Albukhaiti) December 20, 2023
