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.
Israel is not seeking an endless war with Iran and will coordinate with the United States on when to end the fighting, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday, declining to publicly state a timeline for when the conflict could end.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun launched a scathing attack on Hezbollah Monday, accusing the Iran-backed group of deliberately seeking to trigger Lebanon's « collapse », and calling for direct negotiations with Israel to end the war.
Hezbollah said on Monday its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in eastern Lebanon during an Israeli airborne raid overnight, in what would be the second such operation in the area in recent days, as the war between Israel and the Iran-backed group entered a second week.
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