Yemeni Houthis Threaten Israeli Red Sea Shipping Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. June 8, 2026 © Adobe Stock/Peter Hermes Furian Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday that they would ban Israeli  maritime  navigation in the Red Sea, adding to challenges for global shipping through the Middle East during the Iran war. The group said in a statement it had launched an attack on Israel and enacted a total ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, warning of further escalation. Any Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping would worry energy markets more than three months into Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the war reigniting overnight. The Red Sea, leading to the Suez canal, is a crucial shipping lane in its own right, and during the Iran war has become the main alternative outlet for millions of barrels per day of Middle East oil sent by pipeline bypassing the Gulf. The Houthis disrupted shipping in 2023 to 2025 out of what they said was solidarity with the Palestinians, but had so far largely stayed out of the wider Middle East war that began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in February this year. A Houthi source told Reuters that preventing Israeli ships from transiting the Red Sea was a first step, and that further escalation could lead it to stop the passage of any ships bound for Israel as well as other measures. The announcement did not amount to a ban on all commercial shipping in the Red Sea and was instead "directed at vessels assessed by the Houthis as Israeli-affiliated", British  maritime  risk management group Vanguard said on Monday in a note. "Given the broad wording used, vessels operating in the region should maintain heightened vigilance and conduct enhanced affiliation screening." Shipping sources said the action could cause wider impact, because the Houthis have targeted ships in the past with no direct link with Israel. "The announcement... will cause every ship to think carefully about the wisdom of making a transit,