Yemeni Armed Forces boarding the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on November 19, 2023. Photo: Ansar Allah Center/AP.
Israeli reports reveal that a shipment of fresh foodstuff was sent from the UAE to the Israeli occupation via land freight to avert Yemen’s blockade in the Red Sea.
The first batch of fresh foodstuffs arrived in “Israel” from the United Arab Emirates in the first trial of a new land bridge that is to be used instead of the Red Sea due to the Yemeni blockade on the latter, the Israeli Walla! news website reported on Saturday.
The shipment of foodstuff was transported from the UAE “through the new land bridge [used] as an alternative to the Red Sea,” media reports said. The freight was transported from the UAE through Saudi Arabia then Jordan and then “Israel”.
تغطية صحفية | موقع "والا" العبري: وصول الدفعة الأولى من الشحنات التجارية المحملة بالمواد الغذائية الطازجة من دبي إلى "إسـرائــيــل"، من خلال الجسر البري الجديد البديل للبحر الأحمر، عبر موانئ دبي مروراً بالسعودية والأردن، حيث يبلغ طول الجسر البديل (ألفي كيلو متر) وتستغرق الرحلة… pic.twitter.com/y2NHwWg7Nj
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 16, 2023
Israeli reports said the initial trial was a success, with 10 trucks making it from the UAE to occupied Palestine for the benefit of the Israeli occupation.
The trucks had to cross a distance of some 2,000 km (1,242 miles) over two days and a few hours.
Israeli media in December said an agreement was signed between the authorities of the ports of Dubai, the UAE, and Haifa, occupied Palestine, regarding the establishment of a land bridge between the two ports in a bid to avert the “Yemeni threat to shut down maritime passages.”
The world’s second-largest shipping company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, announced Friday the suspension of all container traffic through the Red Sea until further notice. This decision comes in response to an attack by the Yemeni Armed Forces on its container ship in the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Thursday.
Simultaneously, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that their Naval forces carried out a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar cargo ship, which was en route to the Israeli occupation entity.
In a statement, the Yemeni Armed Forces confirmed that the ship was targeted with a drone, adding that a direct hit was confirmed after the Maersk Gibraltar’s crew refused to respond to warning calls from the Yemeni Naval Forces. The company claimed that the ship was not impacted by the attack.
“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” a company’s spokesperson was quoted as saying by Sky News.
It is worth noting that Maersk announced last week that it will start imposing a new risk surcharge on container shipments heading to “Israel” starting next year, citing the need to cover rising insurance premiums due to the unstable security situation.
Two ‘Israel’-bound ships attacked
The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree publicly announced Friday that the Yemeni Naval Forces targeted the MSC Alanya and the MSC PALATIUM III with anti-ship missiles, dealing direct hits to the two vessels, having refused to heed Yemeni warnings in support of the oppressed Palestinian people, who are currently being subjected to massacres, destruction, and a siege in the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the directives of Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, and in response to the calls of the Yemeni people.
The Brigadier General emphasized that all vessels, heading to the Israeli occupation’s ports, will continue to be targeted, until “Israel” lifts its blockade on Gaza and allows for the passage of necessities into the Strip, including food and medical supplies.
This is happening as the matter got worse for the Israeli occupation after the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) announced a new equation following a US veto on a ceasefire in Gaza at the UNSC meeting, which added ships heading to “Israel”, regardless of their nationality, to the ban, and expanding its scope to the Arabian Sea, as well the Red Sea.
This comes alongside other attacks claimed by Yemen against Israeli targets, including the launch of long-range cruise missiles and drones on several occasions, as well as ballistic missiles at “Eilat” located in the southernmost region of occupied Palestine.
