The advance of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) across Yemen’s western coast and its seizure of the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait has heightened concerns in Israel about the ongoing crisis and the near-total shutdown at Israel’s Port of Eilat, Israeli media said on 17 September.

This shutdown at the port was caused by Yemen’s forces, intensifying in the years that followed 7 October and the launch of a Yemeni blockade and military campaign in support of Gaza, which included missile strikes and drone strikes on Israel and attacks on Israeli shipping.

“Even before the threat to Saudi oil routes prompted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to seek US assistance, the Houthis had already registered a significant strategic achievement against Israel by almost completely disrupting regular commercial shipping to the Port of Eilat,” wrote the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli media has, in the past, extensively reported on the devastating effects Yemen’s Gaza support blockade had on the Port of Eilat and Israel’s economy.

“Nearly three years have passed … and no solution remains. [Israel] has repeatedly struck Houthi targets in Yemen, the state has provided assistance to the port, and an alternative import route has been established through Aqaba. None of this has brought international shipping companies back to regular, direct sailings from the East to Eilat,” the new Israeli report added.

No Israeli cabinet decision has “defined” the restoration of shipping at the shuttered port as a “security and diplomatic objective,” according to Jerusalem Post.

The outlet calls the Yemeni seizure of Bab al-Mandab an “urgent strategic issue” for Saudi Arabia, but for Israel as well.

“Israel and Saudi Arabia now have parallel diplomatic and strategic interests concerning the same maritime route. From Israel’s perspective, Saudi Arabia’s predicament creates an opportunity that did not previously exist to the same extent: to harness a regional effort around Bab al-Mandab to restore shipping to Eilat as well,” it added.

The Jerusalem Post notes that Sanaa’s new positions allow the YAF to monitor movements and enhance their targeting of vessels.

A new Reuters report claimed Ansarallah told US officials that they would not hit US or Israeli ships, only Saudi ones.

Sanaa did not comment. The US State Department told Reuters it had no comment on the report.

The situation at Eilat Port has steadily worsened since Tel Aviv began the Gaza genocide.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported at the very start of this year that Eilat Port is “almost completely paralyzed.”

“Every morning, workers arrive at empty docks, ready and waiting, and the ships do not arrive,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

“The port’s revenues, which previously reached about $74 million a year, have dropped to almost zero,” the newspaper added in its January 2026 report.

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Via https://thecradle.co/articles/yemens-control-of-bab-al-mandab-strait-deepens-crisis-at-israels-eilat-port