Yemeni Forces Impact Israeli Ports and Auto Imports

Recent Hebrew reports indicate a significant decrease in container movement in occupied Palestine’s ports over the past few months. The reduction, estimated at 25%, is attributed to the embargo imposed by Yemeni armed forces on ships associated with and heading towards the Zionist enemy in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Bab al-Mandab.

The economic Hebrew newspaper “The Marker,” affiliated with the “Haaretz” group, published a report a few days ago stating that the container movement in Israeli ports during last January recorded a sharp decline compared to January 2023. This year, the number reached 203 thousand containers, compared to 269 thousand containers the previous year, a decrease of about a quarter of the movement, or 25%.

The report confirmed that the container movement in the occupied Palestinian ports during last December recorded the same decrease compared to the previous December. It added that the port of Haifa also witnessed a decrease in container movement, and the shipments unloaded there were those supposed to reach the ports of Ashdod and Eilat, which no longer receive ships.

The newspaper attributed the cause of what it called the “port crisis” to Yemeni attacks in the Red Sea, which “prompted many shipping companies in early December to avoid crossing the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and sail around Africa to reach Israel.” By doing so, the companies expanded their routes and significantly increased the cost of maritime transport in the best case. In the worst case, the ships that were supposed to reach the port of Eilat – especially the ships transporting cars from the East – no longer reach the port at all, which is idle.

The newspaper quoted the head of the shipping chamber in the enemy entity, Yoram Ziba, as saying that “ships coming from the Far East arrived a few weeks late, and instead of arriving in December, they arrived in January.” He added that “the situation will continue in this way until the shipping companies finish recruiting more ships to strengthen the lines, all because of the Houthis who caused significant damage to the Suez Canal, and led to the closure of the port of Eilat” according to his expression.

The head of the shipping chamber in the enemy entity confirmed that “this matter will not end soon,” indicating that the situation has reached a new level after a “large British ship was hit by a missile and is sinking,” referring to the targeting operation of the British ship “Rubimar” in the Gulf of Aden. He added that the American-British coalition failed to overcome the Yemeni threat, despite the difference in capabilities and influence.

The newspaper quoted Gideon Golber, the executive director of the port of Eilat, as saying: “I expect the State of Israel to look towards the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab to solve the problem of the port of Eilat, there cannot be a situation where navigation passages are closed, and we depend on the world to find a solution.”

On the other hand, the Hebrew economic website “Calcalist” revealed a sharp decrease in car imports to the Zionist enemy entity due to the Yemeni embargo imposed on ships heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.

The site, in a report published earlier this week, said that Yemeni operations in the Red Sea “caused damage to the sales of all car importers, where the rate of arrival of shipments of cars produced in the East decreased.” It explained that “based on this, the month of January witnessed a decrease of 42% in the delivery of Mazda cars, where these vehicles reached 2676 vehicles, compared to 4615 cars that arrived in January of last year.”

The occupied port of Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) was the main destination for receiving shipments of cars coming from the East, which represent half of the car imports to the enemy entity, but that completely stopped after the start of Yemeni naval operations against ships associated with the Zionist entity and heading to the ports of occupied Palestine last November.

The executive director of the port stated more than once that “the port’s movement has almost completely stopped, and all its revenues were coming from car shipments that are no longer able to reach it due to the Yemeni embargo.”

Navigation tracking sites confirmed these statements, as the port only received two ships in December and January.