Yemen's Houthi rebels (an Iran-backed armed movement that has controlled much of Yemen since 2014) have declared a total ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea and launched a missile strike on Israel, announcing their formal re-entry into the Iran-Israel war on Tehran's side. The move places two of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints under simultaneous threat: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (a 26-kilometre-wide passage connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, carrying roughly 12% of global maritime trade) and the Strait of Hormuz, which remains blockaded by Iran and handles around one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas. The development revives fears from the 2024–25 Gaza conflict, during which nearly 200 Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping forced cargo operators onto costly detours around southern Africa, slashing oil flows through the region by more than half.