UN Security Council demands immediate end to Huthi Red Sea attacks

The United Nations Security Council demanded on Wednesday an "immediate" end to attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

The resolution passed "demands that the Huthis immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security."

It was adopted after Russia, as well as China, Mozambique and Algeria, abstained.

The intensifying attacks have caused shipping companies to bypass the route and instead divert around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, significantly adding to journey times and cost.

The U.N. earlier said it continued "to be very concerned about the situation in the Red Sea, not only because of the situation itself, and the risks that it causes to global trade."

The resolution "condemns in the strongest terms the at least two dozen Huthi attacks on merchant and commercial vessels since November 19, 2023, when the Huthis attacked and seized the Galaxy Leader and its crew," according to the text.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and Israel's war in Gaza in response, the Huthis — who control swathes of Yemen — have stepped up their attacks on international maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

They claim to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

 'Root causes' 

Israel's main ally, the United States, formed an international coalition in December to protect maritime traffic from Huthi attacks, in the strategically important zone through which at least 12 percent of world trade passes.

Russia, which sought to introduce three amendments to the resolution that were all voted down, said afterwards Moscow had concerns about Washington's coalition.

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