What's happening in Yemen explained simply

The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out a new series of airstrikes in Yemen.
The target is the Houthis, Shiite rebels financed by Iran.
The rebels are demonstrating closeness to the Palestinian population by blocking and attacking merchant ships and oil tankers heading towards Mediterranean ports.
About 12% of world trade passes along the route that crosses the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal (according to data from the newspaper Domani).
For this reason, many define the attack by the United States and the United Kingdom as a military response to commercial sabotage and in defense of a trade worth 1.2 trillion dollars a year.
It is therefore precisely to protect trade, as well as navigation in the waters, that the two countries intervened.
The US and UK actions appear to be an attempt to protect their interests, even in the face of what are seen in the Middle East as legitimate protest actions against Israel's genocidal and on-trial actions.
The Houthis, after attacks on their infrastructure, such as weapons warehouses, declared retaliation.
“The attacks – says the military spokesman – will not go unanswered”.
read also Israel and the irreversible loss of Western moral primacy Why is the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Yemen so important? Yemen is located south of the Arabian Peninsula and overlooks the Red Sea, in particular the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb.
A fundamental strait because it is crucial for maritime traffic.
In fact, all maritime traffic that needs to arrive in the Mediterranean passes through there.
From India or China, for example, cargo ships pass first through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, then through the Red Sea and finally through the Suez Canal to find themselves in the Mediterranean, one of the richest areas in the world.
The alternative to passing through Yemen is much further down, south of Africa, circumnavigating it, and then from the Strait of Gibraltar.
All of the world's material economy is transported by ship (90%) and 30% of this passes through the strait which Yemen overlooks.
read also The war in Gaza is more serious than expected Who are the Houthis? The Houthi movement emerged between the 1980s and 1990s in the north of the country.
In this strip of land the majority of the population belongs to the Shiite Islam (practiced by approximately 35% of the population).
The current, existing only in Yemen, takes the name of "Zaydism" and it is precisely the Zaydis who have dominated the territory of Yemen for centuries, until 1962 when their government was overthrown and an Arab republic led by Sunnis was established (65 % of the population).
Threatened by the expansion of Wahhabi Sunnism, an extremist form of Islam promoted by Saudi Arabia, counter groups began to form in the 1980s.
The first rebellion was held in 2004, but it was forcibly suppressed and the leader of the movement was killed.
Many young Shiites decided to join the group and the matter worsened in 2011, with the Arab Spring of the authoritarian regimes of North Africa and the Middle East.
In the case of Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to resign and a power vacuum was created, occupied by the Houthis.
Yemen was then devastated by a civil war: on one side the Houthis conquered territories towards the south and the capital Sana'a; on the other, the Yemeni government supported by Saudi Arabia.
The fighting continued from 2015 to 2018, while today the situation is one of stalemate, with the parties having accepted a ceasefire.
The start of the war in the Gaza Strip represents an opportunity for the Houthis, because (as The Post writes) it gave them the opportunity to try to further strengthen their dominion over Yemen and ensure that it is also recognized outside the country .
Furthermore, the attacks on foreign ships in the Red Sea are an action that legitimizes them within the Islamic world, as well as elevating them to defenders of the Palestinian cause.
read also The war of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the risks for Italy Why did the United States and the United Kingdom attack Yemen? The Houthis, to support the Palestinian people, have decided to attack commercial ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb canal.
The intent is to hit Israel, the person responsible for the genocide underway in Palestine, but (not too) indirectly all commercial traffic passing through the area has been hit.
The plan succeeded: the Houthis with their attacks reduced the passage of ships in the strait by 70%.
In fact, many companies, in order not to see their ships damaged, have stopped passing through the Strait in Yemen, instead passing through southern Africa.
The decision resulted in an increase in travel times and an increase in the cost of goods.
The United States warned the Houthis several times of possible retaliation, but the boycott continued (to the detriment of capitalist interests).
Thus, in the night between Thursday and Friday, the United States and the United Kingdom (but also Canada, the Netherlands and others) hit the rebel bases with about 100 missiles to disarm them.
Is there a risk of escalation? The attack represents yet another step in the tension, it's true, but an exclamation is unlikely.
An expansion could take place if the USA or Israel decided to attack Iran (financier of the Houthi rebels and Hezbollah.
However, there is no intention.
Iran, for its part, also has no intention of entering the war and it is clear why there have been opportunities, for example from the attack on the Palestinians and on the Iranian offshoot group Hezbollah.
read also Iran will soon have three atomic bombs: are the USA and Israel ready for preventive war?