The United Nations Security Council is set to meet Monday (Dec. 30) to discuss the threat to global security posed by Iran’s proxy in Yemen, the Houthis.
The emergency session is being convened at the request of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
“The Houthis, an Iranian proxy, have launched, for over a year, incessant missile and drone attacks at Israeli citizens and communities and disrupted international shipping routes,” Sa’ar noted in a statement.
“The Houthis have also taken hostages, including United Nations workers,” he pointed out.
Sa’ar called on “all countries who seek global stability” to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization. “It’s time for the international community to take action to counter the Houthis’ aggression!” he said.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously last month (November 13, 2024) to renew a travel ban and assets freeze imposed on designated individuals and entities in Yemen, and to extend for 13 months the mandate of a panel of experts tasked with assisting the UNSC’s Yemen Sanctions Committee.
However, the Security Council did not adopt any further measures to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities.
The United States and Britain have repeatedly attacked Houthi targets in Yemen, as Israel has done three times thus far. Despite the attacks, the Houthis continue to launch hypersonic ballistic missiles and long-range explosive drones at civilians in Israel as well as commercial and military vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Earlier this year, the UNSC approved a resolution (12 in favor, none opposed with abstentions by Algeria, China and Russia) demanding the Houthis “immediately cease all attacks against merchant and commercial vessels.”
The June 27, 2024, resolution condemned the terrorist organization’s continued attacks on the vessels, perpetuating an unstable and volatile situation in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways such as the Gulf of Aden.
