Houthi response to Yemen airstrikes may be ‘limited,’ ex-U.S. envoy says – National | 24CA News
The danger of additional escalation after the United States and Britain launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Iran-backed insurgent group’s assaults on ships within the Red Sea could also be restricted, a former U.S. diplomat says.
Frank Lowenstein, who served because the U.S. particular envoy for Middle East peace throughout the second Obama administration, says Washington is probably going extra centered on addressing the potential menace of Hezbollah to Israel and rising violence within the West Bank moderately than on how the Houthis could reply to Thursday’s strikes.
That’s as a result of the strikes had been focused towards crippling the Houthis’ potential to launch such assaults sooner or later.
“I think the risk of escalation in Yemen is relatively limited — there’s only so much more that the Houthis can really do beyond what they’ve been doing right now,” he informed Eric Sorensen in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.
“We tried as hard as we could to avoid (an offensive military response), and now I think the process is just one of containing it as much as we can.”
Thursday’s strikes got here days after the U.S., U.Okay. and different international locations — together with Canada — issued a stern warning to the Houthis to cease launching ballistic missiles and fight drones at vessels working within the Red Sea, which is a key international commerce route, or face “consequences.”
The Houthis had solely escalated their assaults since then, culminating in an enormous barrage of projectiles on Tuesday that had been shot down by the British and American militaries. It was the twenty seventh such assault since early November.
The Houthis are an Iran-backed insurgent group that has been attacking western business and army vessels within the Red Sea in opposition to Israel’s army offensive in Gaza, which itself was launched in response to Hamas’ assault on Israel in October.
Ottawa stated Friday that Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed with U.S. Central Command supported Thursday’s airstrikes in Yemen, which the U.S. and British governments stated focused weapons storage areas, air defence programs and missile and drone launch services utilized by the Houthis.
A senior Pentagon official stated Friday the U.S. is “very confident” the strikes had been efficient in degrading the Houthis’ potential to launch future assaults.
The Houthis have vowed the strikes in Yemen “will not go unanswered and unpunished.”
Lowenstein says American diplomatic efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have up to now labored to stop the battle in Gaza from spreading right into a broader regional dispute within the Middle East, together with avoiding struggle with Hezbollah and protecting “the West Bank from disintegrating entirely.”
But these efforts have additionally carried out little to advance the final word purpose of a long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinian individuals, or the extra speedy want to deal with the rising humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel started bombarding Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults, based on the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
But the United Nations and different help teams are additionally pointing to the opportunity of additional deaths as a consequence of famine and illness among the many roughly two million Palestinians caught in Gaza with out entry to meals, water and medical provides due to an Israeli blockade.
“You could be looking at casualties on a scale that would dwarf what we’ve seen so far in the military conflict, unless Israel changes its position significantly with respect to allowing humanitarian assistance in,” Lowenstein stated.
He added the humanitarian disaster threatens to reveal and deepen the rift between Israel and the U.S., which stays Israel’s staunchest ally however has grown extra vocal in its requires Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities to think about the human toll of the battle.
U.S. President Joe Biden has additionally confronted rising strain at residence as he heads into what is anticipated to be a troublesome marketing campaign for re-election in November.
“I really can’t stress enough … what an impossible position a lot of perfectly innocent people in Gaza have been put in,” Lowenstein stated. “Given that we are so invested in this war, we are by extension to blame for that disaster.
“I think we’re really going to be pushing the Israelis on that as much as we can and hoping that they’re really going to change course in a fundamental way on that front. Otherwise, you could be looking at a big breach between the U.S. and Israel publicly.”
Israel to hold on in Gaza for months
Despite that strain, Lowenstein predicts Israel will proceed its army marketing campaign in Gaza for months. The Israeli army and authorities have stated publicly they gained’t cease till each Hamas chief and fighter concerned within the Oct. 7 assaults are killed.
“The military campaign is nowhere near having achieved its (stated) objectives, and so the Israelis have no intention of backing down,” he stated.
The longer Israel stays in Gaza, the longer a broader peace within the area is threatened, he provides. The U.S. remains to be intent on securing normalization ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and billions of {dollars} shall be wanted from Arab nations towards the reconstruction of Gaza after the army battle ends.
Most importantly, whereas Lowenstein says a two-state resolution stays the final word purpose of the U.S., Canada and far of the western world, Netanyahu and his hardline conservative authorities have proven little curiosity in contemplating the thought — particularly in the midst of the present battle.
Some of Netanyahu’s high cupboard officers, together with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have expressed need for Palestinians to be relocated from Gaza to different international locations, which the U.S. and Canada have condemned.
“Their mentality (in Israel) is nowhere near conducive to a two-state solution, and I don’t think that’s going to change as long as Prime Minister Netanyahu is in power,” Lowenstein stated.
However, he notes that his diplomatic profession within the Middle East taught him to “never count out” Netanyahu — although the Israeli chief identified colloquially as Bibi could also be operating out of help.
“I think this is all going to come to a head in the next few months,” he stated. “Whether Bibi makes it out or not is really anyone’s guess.”
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