As the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues, the Red Sea is once again surging. During Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Yemen's Houthi rebels, who support Hamas, began to launch attacks on Israel in the direction of the Red Sea, and fierce exchanges of fire broke out between them and four Israeli Saar-6 frigates, known as the "naval battle" in the Red Sea.
The naval forces of more than 30 countries, pushed by the United States, are also ready to intervene in this conflict. This puts the already complex situation in the Middle East at risk of further deterioration.
In fact, the Yemeni Houthis began attacking merchant ships linked to Israel in the direction of the Red Sea as early as the beginning of this month. They claim that in the new round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel has imposed a brutal bombing and blockade on the Gaza Strip and that they must act in support of Hamas.
So, they attacked two Israeli ships with drones and missiles, and also hit a Norwegian commercial tanker, the Stlinda.
Although the tanker's operator denied that it was carrying oil, confirmed that it planned to call at an Israeli port in January.
The Houthi actions immediately triggered a powerful Israeli counterattack. For the first time, the IDF has deployed all four Saar-6 frigates to the Red Sea, making them the largest and most advanced combat vessels in service with the Israeli Navy.
Clearly, Israel intends to deter the Houthis from further attacks on the Red Sea route through a show of force. But the problem is that the Houthis used anti-ship missiles to sink and damage several coalition ships** during the Yemeni civil war, and their strength should not be underestimated. It remains to be seen whether just four frigates will be effective in keeping the Houthis in check.
What is even more worrying is that this "naval war" is rapidly escalating and evolving in the direction of internationalization. Given the importance of the Red Sea Route to the world, the United States has begun pushing more than 30 countries to form joint naval forces ready to intervene in this conflict.
Once the naval forces of more than 30 countries join the list, the situation will be difficult to control, and the already complex pattern in the Middle East may also face a reshuffle.
Both the Houthis and Israel are aware of the importance of the Red Sea, and neither will back down easily. However, once the US-led international coalition forces intervene, it is bound to escalate this local conflict into a confrontation involving a wide range of national forces, and the Middle East region will usher in a new round of turbulent games.
We can only hope that all parties concerned will exercise rationality and restraint to prevent this "naval battle" in the Red Sea from turning into an uncontrollable full-scale conflict.