Houthi rebels in Yemen are threatening to resume attacks on commercial ships moving through the Red Sea region, unless Israel reopens Gaza to international aid.

Israel began a blockade of all aid and supplies into Gaza on March 2, and then moved to cut off the region's electricity the following week, demanding that Hamas return the 24 living Israeli hostages the terrorist group had continued to hold since the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in January. On March 7, Houthis based out of Yemen then issued an ultimatum to Israel: Lift the blockade against Gaza by March 11, or the rebel group will restart its attacks against vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Al Jazeera reports.

“We give the entire world notice: We are granting a four-day deadline,” the group's leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi said. 

Houthi rebels have launched more than 100 attacks on ships in the region since October 2023, sinking two and killing four people. Impacts were felt across the global shipping industry, as traffic through the Suez Canal was choked off for more than a year, and ocean carriers were forced to reroute vessels thousands of miles around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. In late January, the group agreed to cease its strikes against any ships without direct ties to Israel, but warned at the time that "any aggression" from other nations would lead to further attacks.