Report: Yemeni Attacks Trigger Fresh Inflation Fears as Shipping Plunges

A British newspaper has confirmed that the escalation of Yemeni operations in support of Gaza in the 4th phase increases concerns about inflation in the United Kingdom and threatens further increases in shipping and consumer goods prices.

The Telegraph stated that the Yemeni strikes have become more lethal and precise with the introduction of additional advanced weapons with longer ranges and larger warheads. The British newspaper published a report on Friday confirming that the escalation of Yemeni attacks has intensified with the transition to the fourth phase of attacks using new long-range missiles and larger warheads.

The escalation of operations “is exerting intensified pressure, raising concerns about new supply chain issues, as logistics operations lead to increased shipping costs and higher consumer goods prices.”

Philip Shaw, the chief economist at Investec, warned that the intensifying attacks could complicate the battle to bring down inflation.

Shaw said: “It is an inflationary factor in a disinflationary environment. There is a risk that the trend towards the target of sustained 2pc inflation in Western economies will be delayed because of a continued increase in transit prices.”

“Houthi attacks on ships passing through the Bab el Mandeb strait quadrupled from four in May to 16 in June, the highest number recorded in any month since last autumn,” according to JMIC. In the week ending June 29 alone, there were five incidents.

Martin Kelly, of EOS Risk Group, said: “Over the past month, Houthi attacks have increased in volume, in accuracy and in lethality.””

The Yemeni Armed Forces have made a “phase shift” in their target profile, which they have broadened out to include far more ships, Kelly said.

Initially the Yemeni Armed Forces were targeting ships that were linked to Israel, then after the coalition airstrikes they began to also target ships with US and UK flags. They then targeted ships that had called at Israeli ports.

But in recent weeks they have been emailing shipping companies to say they are targeting vessels that are part of fleets where another vessel has called at or is scheduled to call at an Israeli port, Kelly said.

Yemen’s operations are carried out in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who are enduring a genocidal Israeli war.

The Armed Forces have vowed to sustain their operations as long as the Israeli regime keeps up the brutal military onslaught that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 38,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

They have also pledged to continue their strikes so long as the regime retains a 2006-present siege that it has been enforcing against Gaza, and has markedly tightened during the war.