Israel's Eilat Port has seen an 85% drop in activity since the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the port's chief executive said on Thursday.
Sunrise in marine port of Eilat, Red Sea © Mena Today
Israel's Eilat Port has seen an 85% drop in activity since the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen stepped up attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the port's chief executive said on Thursday.
The Houthis are playing an escalating role in the conflict in the Middle East, also firing drones and missiles at Israel in a campaign they say aims to support Palestinians in the Gaza war, where Hamas is also backed by Iran.
Eilat, which primarily handles car imports and potash exports coming from the Dead Sea, pales in size compared to Israel's Mediterranean ports in Haifa and Ashdod which handle most of the country's trade.
It was one of the first ports to be affected as shipping firms rerouted vessels to avoid the Red Sea after the Houthis disrupted a key trade route through the Bab al-Mandab strait.
Without Bab al-Mandab "you close the main shipping artery to Eilat Port. And therefore we lost 85% of total activity", CEO Gideon Golber told Reuters.
The United States has since announced a multi-national security initiative to protect the crucial shipping lane.
Saudi Arabia has launched an air accident probe following last week's cockpit stabbing on a flydubai jet, as experts examine any fallout for aviation safety alongside a separate UAE-led criminal investigation, three people close to the matter said.
More than 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes since fighting in Yemen began in recent weeks, according to data released on Wednesday by the United Nations' International Organization for Migration.
A reported CIA warning that Israel faces civil war or state collapse rests on anonymous briefings, an unpublished paper, and a unit whose job is to invent uncomfortable scenarios. That is a thin basis for a claim this large.
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