Maritime experts and shipping industry insiders are not expecting a return of ocean carriers to the Red Sea anytime soon, despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
“This is all still very early days,” said Alan Murphy, founder and CEO of Sea-Intelligence. “The Houthis in Yemen have justified their attacks on international shipping as a response to the Israel-Hamas war, but there are no guarantees that the recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire will be a lasting one, or that this will lead to an end to the conflict in Gaza,” he added.
It’s been 690 days since the Houthis rebels launched their attacks on vessels navigating the Red Sea and they have not agreed to a ceasefire.
Lars Jensen of Vespucci Maritime noted in a LinkedIn post that “Despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Houthis will for now not start a ceasefire. The Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi stated that targeting Israeli maritime routes will continue until, as he said, ”[...] the aggression against Gaza stops and the unjust siege is completely lifted.”
Murphy said the Houthis may not view the ceasefire as meeting their demands, and they “could very well make the demand for outright Palestinian statehood a condition to stop the attacks, a challenging proposition,” he added.
