An investigation by a Swiss NGO has shown that the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea launched in response to the fighting in Gaza, are coordinated by a humanitarian center also responsible for communicating with shipowners.
According to a report by Swiss NGO InPact, all Houthi naval attacks are managed by the “Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center” (HOCC), established by a decree issued last February by head of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, the highest political official of the Iran-backed Houthi group.
The Center reports to “the office of the Supreme Commander of the Houthi Armed Forces and is under its supervision,” according to the decree published earlier by Houthi-affiliated media outlets.
The decree says the center is tasked with mitigating the humanitarian impacts and repercussions of military operations by complying with international humanitarian law and other relevant international laws and by communicating and coordinating with governmental and non-governmental entities and international organizations.
The center is run by “Ahmed Hamid, who is an influential Houthi figure and who is close to Mahdi al-Mashat and the Houthi armed forces,” AFP quoted the Swiss organization as saying.
A 2021 report from the UN’s Panel of Experts on Yemen describes Hamid as “possibly the most powerful Houthi civilian leader not bearing the name Al-Houthi.”
According to the InPact report, HOCC is responsible for the selection of companies which are allowed to transit their ships through the waterways bordering Yemen, especially the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
“HOCC is likely involved in identifying targets and attacks,” the NGO explained.
Also, it said, the Center is responsible of “institutionalizing the group's maritime guerrilla warfare” and of communicating directly with commercial ships through radios, phone numbers and email addresses.
As an example, InPact published an email sent by the Houthis in March to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) listing the types of ships that are prevented to transit through the Red Sea. Those include ships owned, operated or managed by Israel, the United States or Britain and vessels destined to dock at an Israeli port.
In the email, the Center asked IMO to inform shipowner and insurance companies about these rules.
Since November, the Houthis have carried out nearly 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea, acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
An international shipping company confirmed to AFP it received several Houthi email threats warning that its vessels travelling through the Red Sea were at risk of being attacked.
InPact said that Hamed, who is the director of Al-Mashat's office, is known as the “president's chief,” because his approval is needed for taking all strategic decisions of the Houthi government.
