Houthis ban Israeli shipping in Red Sea after missile attack

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said June 8 they were banning Israeli maritime traffic in the Red Sea after launching a missile attack toward Israel, reopening a threat that previously forced major cargo lines to detour around southern Africa. The group said all Israeli shipping movements in the waterway would be treated as military targets and warned further escalation could follow. Israel’s military said it detected a missile launch from Yemen and activated air defenses. The move adds pressure on global trade routes at a time when Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already choked much Gulf energy exports, though some Saudi crude has still moved by pipeline to Yanbu and some UAE exports have left from Fujairah.