US strikes Yemen Houthi rebels in Crimson Sea amid Middle East unrest | LiveNOW from FOX

We have several headlines I want to share with you according to us Central Command at approximately 11:50 last night Yemen time us Central Command forces alongside UK armed forces and with support from Australia Bahrain Canada Denmark the Netherlands and New Zealand they conducted strikes against 18 hooti Targets in Iranian backed hooti.

Terrorist controlled areas of Yemen now these strikes from this multilateral Coalition Target areas used by the hooes to attack International Merchant vessels and naval ships in the region illegal houti attacks have disrupted humanitarian Aid Bound for Yemen harmed Middle Eastern economies and caused environmental damage joining us live now.

To further explain a senior lecturer in criminal justice and Homeland Security at the University of New Haven Mr Ken Gray good morning to you we always appreciate you joining us here on live now from Fox good morning and good to see you again Jan nice to see you as always Mr Ken so recently these 18 targeted attacks obviously in.

Retaliation can you explain what brings us to this point please sure so since November of last year the houthis have conducted 45 attacks on global Shipping uh this is not just an attack on the US not just an attack on uh Israel this is Attack on the global economy consequently because of this continued harassment of global Shipping and its.

Impact financially uh this is not just the United States and the UK conducting this attack this is a coalition of forces that have come together to try to put an end to the hui's ability to conduct these attacks uh they they conducted attacks against eight different sites uh striking out uh against 18 targets at those eight sites.

Including underground weapons facilities uh missile storage facilities radar installations uh everything including a helicopter so this was indeed a a another punishing round against the hou's capabilities uh however despite the efforts before the hooes continue to be able to launch attacks so we will see how effective this uh strike was against.

The hooti capability of disrupting commercial shipping these illegal strikes launched by the hooes we know several um effects from it and we know one of those is humanitarian Aid to be sent to Yemen explain the implications of this Mr Ken because obviously several areas in the Middle East are needing humanitarian Aid including basic food.

And water so you know the humanitarian Aid in the Gaza Strip is now at Beyond a critical uh level that because of the ongoing attacks there by the IDF against Hamas food Aid has almost reduced almost down to nothing going uh into the Gaza Strip and uh because of the identified role of the uh unrwa uh with some of their members.

Taking part in the October 7th attack really that entire organization is on the verge of collapse there for its activities uh in Israel but it's not just uh the Gaza Strip that this is impacting on if you are not able to conduct commercial shipping you can't get Goods into this entire region that includes.

Places like Yemen that includes uh countries on the uh on the west side of the Red Sea also so in actuality the hooes have reduce this area making it almost impossible to conduct commercial shipping to include into Yemen itself I'm glad you said that that leads me to my second point of how these illegal houti attacks are harming Middle.

Eastern economies specifically trade break that down for us and could that have further implications with trade with the US absolutely so the the Red Sea is the route and the Suz Canal is the route in which a lot of goods go from the the Far East uh to Europe and elsewhere and so when you reduce that capability or when.

You actually stop that capability as the who these have been doing then all that trade has to go all the way around the the the tip of Africa to to come back around that additional trip takes weeks and and uh an additional month uh it takes an additional month and adds on a long route that increases the cost of that kind of shipping.

Not only does it affect trade going that way it also affects the the shipment of oil going towards China and so uh this this has impact on the world's economy it makes it difficult for China to ship its goods to the uh to Europe and to the US it makes it difficult for uh oil to get shipped to China it makes it difficult for the world economy and uh.

What it actually does is it will impact uh the cost of good so we will see a follow a knock on effect on the cost of goods caused by the hooti attacks this is not just something confined to uh Israel this is something that is going to affect the the global economy I can only imagine how it will in further months and as.

These strikes happen Mr King you know we see it happen uh we see the plumes of smoke in the sky further adding to the already um evident environmental damage that we are experiencing across the globe but could you further break that down the environmental damage of these strikes that are happening it seems week after week after week so of course when.

You have a continued operations like this in the area you're going to have the impact of uh of uh fires and such from there uh that's going to be putting up a lot of clouds whether or not it has any long-term effect is unclear um but uh nonetheless this is going going to continue to affect the global economy and so this is something.

That it would be best if uh the hooes were to cease their operations but they want to be part of this ongoing conflict there in the Gaza Strip and this is how they are making their impact felt is by uh not only the strikes in the Red Sea but also in the Gulf of Aiden there so uh the hoodies are having a far greater impact their reach is far greater than.

Just the immediate area around Yemen is it realistic to think that peace is on the horizon for this conflict so uh there was uh some progress made in talks in Paris here uh over the last couple of days uh they are the the the details are starting to come out they're talking about a potential six week uh.

Ceasefire um the exchange for Palestinian uh prison roners for the hostages the the Hamas has reduced the numbers that they are insisting on we're talking about uh you know the the ability of Aid getting into the area um another sticking point is that of IDF attacks against the civilian police force that is operated by Hamas but.

Inside the Gaza Strip they want the IDF to stop targeting the their police force because that police force accompanies AIDS into the area but the those same forces have attacked IDF members and so uh that's a sticking point some of these details uh it was uh it was U something that needed to be signed off on by both sides uh we will see whether or not uh.

Some of this aspect is for just domestic political consumption there in Israel and is not really something that they plan to follow through with another big detail is who is going to be running the area after the war the postwar uh government there and uh it sounds to me like one of the provisions is is that for the Gaza Strip to be put under the.

Control of uh civilians who are not connected with Hamas in Gaza but that the IDF will maintain a presence there and where they are actually able to be at uh will be limited um these are early details we have yet to see the final form of this but it certainly sounds like it might be a possibility to get us there a ceasefire would be the first.

Step towards a conclusion of this uh uh operations in this area but uh you know they Israel has not achieved their goal of wiping Hamas out so one or the other will have to give that is either Israel will have to settle for something less or uh there will have to be a change in this plan but uh this is against the.

Backdrop that Hamas is now through their Ministry of Health says that the death toll has reached 29,600 plus uh deaths there in the Gaza Strip so this this is indeed uh bordering on a genocide it really is a huge number of people that are dying not only combatants but non-combatants and uh it is a it would be a good thing for.

This to come to conclusion sooner rather than later right and that's evident with what's going on with the international court of justice with South Africa and other Representatives saying that they feel that this is a genocide that is currently taking place I want to ask you Mr K as you were discussing the ceasefire I want to kind of put things.

Into perspective for the viewers if a ceasefire was to happen in this area would it be a ceasefire specifically for the Israel Hamas war or also a ceasefire for these um illegal houti attacks so many different conflicts going on it can get confusing so the negotiation that is going on right now that is being brokered by the qataris by the Egyptians.

It's taking place uh there uh in Paris this is strictly about the Gaza Strip about the actions between the IDF Israel and Hamas it does not include negotiations about other activities uh by the axis of res existence Iran back groups in Syria in Lebanon and Iraq and now also with the hoodis however if the war were to cease inside the Gaza Strip.

There's a good likelihood that the activities by the hoodis would cease that the activities there in the other areas by uh the syrians um by the Iraqis uh by the Hezbollah may see us also although we have seen a a real increase in the exchange between Israel and Hezbollah here in the last couple of weeks uh but nonetheless a cessation of.

Hostilities there in the Gaza Strip may have impact on all these other areas Mr Ken you know I always appreciate your expertise and dialogue thank you so much for waking up with us here on live now from Fox is there anything else you like to add no I I think that U the next couple of days it'll be very interesting to see whether or not they actually are.

Able to come to an agreement uh as I say this would be a good thing if it does this is going against the backdrop that Ramadan starts on the 10th of March and so I think that with this looming uh Islamic holiday coming up or a religious recognition there that this is something that they want to try to get in place by Ramadan uh so that'll give us a window I.

Hopefully that we will see movement on this we'll definitely be watching to see how everything unfolds thank you again Mr Ken for joining us here on live now from Fox you enjoy the rest of your day you too

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