News - Middle East: Dozens of anti-war organizations on Friday urged US President Joe Biden to rule out any military escalation in Yemen as tensions in the Red Sea continue to rise following a series of operations executed by the Yemeni Armed Forces against Zionist ships in the Red Sea.

According to the American site Common Dreams, 31 advocacy groups wrote in a letter to Biden stating that expanding the war into Yemen will not resolve Yemeni attacks against Zionist ships. Instead, it may dramatically worsen the threats to commercial shipping both in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and other regional waterways.

The groups added that "with the horrific civilian toll in Gaza, the entire region is on a knife's edge," and warned a US attack on Yemen "would undoubtedly upend this tentative balance and invite more direct attacks on US forces and interests throughout the region."  

"A full-blown open-ended regional war would be horrific and undoubtedly entail significant casualties to US forces and civilian populations across the region, adding to the horror being inflicted in Palestine," they added. "It would not serve Israel's security, either, as it would entail a dramatic escalation of the cross-border conflict with Lebanon." 

It added that the Biden administration is currently facing calls from Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel groups to redesignate Ansarullah as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), a move that would potentially derail any peace talks. 

"US officials acknowledge that an FTO designation would block key aspects of that agreement, including the desperately-needed payment of civil servants and the long-overdue lifting of the blockade on Yemen's air and sea ports," the anti-war groups noted in their Friday letter to Biden. 

"Reinstating these sanctions and blocking a peace agreement would not only violate your commitments to promote humanitarian relief and seek an end to the war in Yemen, but would also further damage US credibility and leadership in the region and around the world," the letter stressed. 

The Yemeni Armed Forces, in response to the aggression and blockade imposed on Gaza, prevented Zionist ships from passing through Bab el-Mandeb, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea, conducting several precise operations against ships owned entirely or partially by the enemy or those working for it or heading to its ports.

In response to Yemeni Armed Forces operations against enemy ships, Washington is attempting to expand the war in the region by forming an alliance under the guise of protecting international navigation. Meanwhile, Sana’a, through statements and remarks from its top civilian and military officials, and through its precise and disciplined maritime operations in line with international law, affirms that its operations do not target Zionist ships.

 

#Yemen #US #Palestine #Israel #Red Sea About 12 months