The UN Security Council has called for an immediate end to attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group despite the resolution missing approval from China and Russia. The resolution also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated car carrier linked to an Israeli businessman that was commandeered by the group November 19.

According to The Guardian, U.S. Central Command said that there have been 26 attacks by Houthis on ships in the Red Sea since November 19, 2023.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, said January 10 that more attacks by Houthis could warrant a military response from countries in the Western hemisphere.

A Houthi spokesperson in Yemen dismissed the resolution as a “political game,” claiming that the U.S. was violating an international law.

Meanwhile, Grant Shapps, the British Secretary of Defense, said that the U.K., its Western allies and Saudi Arabia were all in agreement that attacks on warships and merchant vessels in the Red Sea “cannot continue.” He did not rule out attacking land-based Houthi military targets.

According to BBC News, a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman was seized by Iran just hours after the UN resolution was passed.

Numerous companies have diverted their ships away from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal in favor of South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which has hurt global trade, journey times and shipping costs. According to Reuters, global trade fell by 1.3% from November to December 2023, based on data from the German economic institute IfW Kiel released January 11. Only 200,000 containers are currently being transported through the Red Sea daily, down from 500,000 in November.