Israel sets out case to UN security council for full assault on Yemen’s Houthis
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Council tells Israeli ambassador they condemn air raids that have killed Yemeni civilians as well as Houthi attacks. Israel has set out its case to the UN security council for a full assault on Houthi forces in Yemen, claiming the Iranian-backed group now represents a well-armed terrorist army that threatens not just the regional economy but the entire global order.
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The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also called for the Houthis to be designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, a step that may make it more difficult for Iran to provide material support without facing further economic sanctions. Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN – who had called for the UN security council meeting to discuss the recent escalation in Houthi attacks on Israel – said the Houthis “were nothing more than part of Iran’s war against peace”. The group, he said, now has an annual budget of $1.2bn (£0.95bn) and came dangerously close to strangling the Suez canal by its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.
In addition Danon said “millions of Israelis are waking up every night to the sound of sirens across the country,” accusing the Houthis of launching 300 attacks on Israel this year. He said: “Let me make one thing absolutely clear; we have had enough. Israel will not stand by and wait for the world to react. We will defend our citizens.” The Houthis were no longer a regional threat, but a threat to the world order, he said.
While almost all security council members at Monday’s meeting condemned the Houthi attacks on Israel that were mounted a week ago, many also condemned the Israeli threat to Yemeni civilians represented by the air raids on key power stations, the air traffic control tower at the airport in the capital of Sana’a and ports which are critical to the delivery of aid. Nine Yemini civilians were killed in the attacks that Israel said were retaliation for what Danon described as “a relentless Houthi bombardment of Israeli population centres”.
