European Naval Forces Withdraw from Red Sea Amid Yemeni Attacks
In a significant development, three European frigates – French, Danish, and Belgian – have withdrawn from the Red Sea due to the difficulty of countering Yemeni attacks in support of Gaza. These attacks target ships associated with Israel, the United States, and Britain. On Saturday, Germany announced the withdrawal of its frigate “Hessen” from the region, acknowledging that the confrontation with Yemen is the most dangerous naval confrontation in decades.
According to the German news agency (DPA), the German military announced the end of the mission of the warship “Hessen” and its departure from the Red Sea early Saturday morning, after nearly two months of deployment.
The “Hessen” was deployed in the Red Sea on February 23, as part of Germany’s response to American efforts to militarize international waters and mobilize against Yemen. The aim was to halt the naval attacks targeting ships associated with Israel, the United States, and Britain. However, Washington’s inability to achieve any success in confronting Yemen has led to the involvement of European countries and the creation of an international problem to increase pressure on Sana’a, but without result.
The German frigate “Hessen” committed a blatant operational error days after its deployment, clashing with an American drone flying in the Red Sea, mistakenly believing it to be a Yemeni drone. This revealed confusion and disarray, as well as a lack of coordination between Western forces.
According to the German agency, the mission of the frigate Hessen witnessed “providing aid to a soldier from a partner country,” indicating injuries among soldiers of Western warships as a result of Yemeni naval operations.
The German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, stated, “This is the most dangerous naval operation in decades.”
The withdrawal of the German frigate comes after France and Denmark announced the withdrawal of two frigates due to the danger of confrontation with Yemeni drones and fast and deadly missiles and the difficulty of dealing with them. Belgium also backed down from deploying a frigate after failing a training test to deal with a drone. This confirms that Yemeni attacks have highlighted a significant shortfall in Western naval capabilities.
Britain had previously resorted to replacing the warship “Diamond” with the ship “Richmond” after the former was subjected to several attacks by Yemeni drones. This revealed a significant incapacity of the British navy to keep up with Yemeni operations and to counter them, meaning that British ships are not impregnable and are not capable of continuous naval confrontation, which applies to the European frigates that have been withdrawn.
Many leaders and officers of British and American warships have made statements in the past period confirming their inability to counter Yemeni missiles and drones, and they have confirmed that Yemeni attacks are becoming more lethal, accurate, and intense over time, admitting that what is happening represents the biggest naval challenge since World War II.
The American Secretary of the Navy revealed last week that the United States had exhausted ammunition worth a billion dollars in confronting Yemeni operations, which is considered a significant loss considering the continued success of Yemen in imposing a ban on the passage of ships associated with Israel, the United States, and Britain.
In light of these facts, the leader of the revolution, Sayyid Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, renewed his call last Thursday for European countries to withdraw their warships from the Red Sea. He confirmed that the congestion of warships in international waters is what affects navigation, and that European ships can safely cross the region as long as they do not head towards the Israeli entity.
Germany’s position in support of America in the Red Sea comes in the context of its clear and prominent support for the Israeli entity, which pushes it towards replacing the frigate “Hessen” with another, despite the proven inability to confront Yemeni operations and their danger.