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Is ‘Prosperity Guardian’ on the Brink of Offensive Operations in the Red Sea?

Satellite image of the Bab-el-Mandab Strait (NASA)
Satellite image of the Bab-el-Mandab Strait (NASA)
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Is ‘Prosperity Guardian’ on the Brink of Offensive Operations in the Red Sea?

Satellite image of the Bab-el-Mandab Strait (NASA)
Satellite image of the Bab-el-Mandab Strait (NASA)

Discussions are heating up about potential actions by the US-led maritime coalition, Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG), to secure navigation in the Red Sea.

Reports reveal that the US military is actively planning responses to Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the region.

Concerns are growing about the risk of a broader regional conflict, particularly at the Red Sea entrance, a crucial route for global trade.

Officials in President Joe Biden’s administration, according to US-based Politico, are working on response plans, expressing concern about the Gaza conflict escalating into a more extensive and prolonged regional crisis.

Internal discussions are ongoing about scenarios that could involve the US in another Middle East war.

As per a report from Politico, the US military is currently formulating plans to respond to Houthi attacks, including targeting the Yemeni group.

Over the last three months, the US has sent numerous naval ships and fighter jets to the Middle East, hoping to discourage Iran-backed groups from launching attacks that could escalate into a regional war.

However, Axios, a US news website, suggests that achieving this goal is becoming increasingly difficult.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron stated that if the attacks continue, action will be taken, including the use of British ships.

At the same time, Vice-admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US Naval forces in the Middle East, announced that 22 countries are currently involved in countering Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, with more expected to join.

He clarified that OPG is defensive in nature.

Cooper mentioned that Houthis in Yemen continue their reckless attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. However, he also noted an improvement in maritime corridors and trade.

Jordanian expert Mohsen Al-Shobaki expressed concern that the situation in the Red Sea could lead to military confrontations.

He highlighted uncertainty about the defensive nature of the coalition, suggesting it might lean towards offensive tasks. Al-Shobaki added that Israel is pushing for escalation.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz conveyed to US envoy Amos Hochstein that Israel is willing to work on a diplomatic solution. Still, if none is found, the Israeli army will take action to eliminate the threat, according to Israeli media reports.

Researcher Mohammed Talaat from the National Center for Middle East Studies in Egypt highlighted that current signs point to the US being hesitant and unwilling to get involved in a new conflict in the region, especially with the upcoming US elections, favoring diplomacy as the preferred solution.

However, he also noted that the indicators of danger and the likelihood of escalation have increased significantly.

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Displaced Gaza Newborn Freezes to Death and Twin Fights for His Life as Rain Floods Tents

Yahya Al-Batran, the father of Palestinian infant Jumaa Al-Batran, who died of hypothermia after living in a tent with his displaced family, reacts as he embraces his body at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Yahya Al-Batran, the father of Palestinian infant Jumaa Al-Batran, who died of hypothermia after living in a tent with his displaced family, reacts as he embraces his body at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Displaced Gaza Newborn Freezes to Death and Twin Fights for His Life as Rain Floods Tents

Yahya Al-Batran, the father of Palestinian infant Jumaa Al-Batran, who died of hypothermia after living in a tent with his displaced family, reacts as he embraces his body at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Yahya Al-Batran, the father of Palestinian infant Jumaa Al-Batran, who died of hypothermia after living in a tent with his displaced family, reacts as he embraces his body at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Yahya Al-Batran woke up in the early hours of Sunday morning to find his wife, Noura trying to wake their newborn twin sons Jumaa and Ali as they lay together in the makeshift tent the family occupied in an encampment in the central Gaza Strip.

Intense winter cold and heavy rain across the coastal enclave in previous days had made their lives a misery but what he heard was more serious.

"She said she had been trying to wake Jumaa up, but he was not waking up, and I asked about Ali and she said, he was not walking up either," he told Reuters on Sunday. "I held up Jumaa, he was white and freezing like snow, like ice, frozen."

Jumaa, a month old, died of hypothermia, one of six Palestinians who have died of exposure and cold over recent days in Gaza, according to doctors. Ali was in critical condition on Monday in intensive care.

In the second winter of the war in Gaza, the weather has added an extra element of suffering to hundreds of thousands of people already displaced, often multiple times, while efforts to agree a ceasefire go nowhere.

The death of Jumaa al-Batran shows how severe the situation facing vulnerable families remains.

Israeli authorities say they have allowed thousands of aid trucks carrying food, water, medical equipment and shelter supplies into Gaza. International aid agencies say Israeli forces have been hampering aid deliveries, making the humanitarian crisis even worse.

Yahya al-Batran's family, from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, fled their home early in the war for al-Maghazi, an open air patch of dunes and scrubland in central Gaza which Israeli authorities decreed as a humanitarian zone.

Later on, as al-Maghazi became increasingly unsafe, they moved to another encampment in nearby Deir al-Balah city.

"Since I am an adult I may take this and endure it, but what did the young one do to deserve this?" Jumaa's mother, Noura al-Batran said. "He could not endure it, he could not endure the cold or the hunger and this hopelessness."

TATTERED TENTS

Around the area, dozens of tents, many already tattered from months of use, have been blown away or flooded by the strong winds and rain, leaving families struggling to repair the damage, patching torn sheets of plastic and piling up sand to hold back the water.

It is another aspect of the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza's 2.3 million population, caught by the relentless Israeli campaign against the remnants of Hamas and dependent on an erratic aid system increasingly vulnerable to looting as order has broken down.

Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and turned the enclave into a wasteland of rubble and destroyed buildings.

The United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Sunday that the aid is nowhere near enough and a ceasefire was desperately needed to deliver as famine loomed.

Earlier this month, Israeli and Hamas leaders expressed hopes that talks brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States could lead to an agreement to halt the fighting and return Israeli hostages held by Hamas, potentially opening the way to a full ceasefire agreement.

But optimistic talk of a deal before the end of the year has faded and it remains unclear how near the two sides are to an agreement.

Even as the displaced suffer, Israeli troops have been battling Hamas fighters in the ruined area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, now out of reach of emergency services cut off by the fighting.