Τhe Communist Party of Greece (KKE), in an announcement on Friday, condemned "the US and UK missile attacks on Yemen that multiply the risk of warfare spreading throughout the region, with the involvement of other forces, such as Iran".
"The aim of the US-NATO forces is not the protection of navigation from Houthi attacks as they claim, but the control of this strategically important area, in the context of imperialistic rivalries and the support of the occupation state of Israel, which massacres the Palestinian people," pointed out KKE.
"KKE demands the immediate cancellation of the Greek government's decision for the participation of a Hellenic Navy vessel in the Red Sea in the context of the imperialistic 'Prosperity Guardian' naval fleet in the interests of the shipowners, as well as any other Greek Armed Forces involvement in missions abroad, an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people and of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, which is the source of the explosive situation in the Middle East," the party announcement said.
The US and UK militaries launched strikes against Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, marking a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
US President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”
“Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” the president said in a statement released by the White House.
Biden added that he will “not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday the strikes were an act of “self-defense,” adding that the aim was to “de-escalate tensions and to restore stability to the region.”
US and coalition forces struck over 60 targets with more than 100 precision-guided munitions at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations, US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said. The Houthi assets included command and control nodes, munitions, depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems, he added.
The strikes, which have been condemned by several leaders across the Middle East, killed five and wounded six others, according to the rebels’ military spokesperson, Yahya Sare’e, who said the airstrikes would not deter further Houthi attacks on shipping.
The Houthis — an Iran-backed Shia political and military organization that has been fighting a civil war in Yemen against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia — have been launching drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea for weeks, many of which have been intercepted and shot down by US Navy ships in the area.
The Houthis have said their bombardments are showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, after Israel launched an unrelenting military campaign on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks.
The Houthis have said they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; its strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its military offensive.
Within Yemen, a yearslong conflict between Houthi forces and the Saudi-backed coalition has plunged the population into a devastating humanitarian crisis marked by famine, economic turmoil and extreme poverty.
Houthi forces stormed the capital Sanaa in 2014, and toppled the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government, triggering a civil war. The conflict spiraled into a wider war in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened in an attempt to beat back the Houthis.
The conflict has killed up to 377,000 people, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported in 2021. More than half of those died from indirect causes associated with the conflict, such as lack of food, water and healthcare.
Pro-Houthi demonstrators gathered in Sanaa on Friday, protesting against the US and UK airstrikes. Some chanted, “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
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