# Yemen: UK had ‘no choice’ but to strike Houthis, foreign secretary says | BBC News

**Channel:** BBC News
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-NjbBPpLBw
**Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/S-NjbBPpLBw

## Chapters

- 0:00 — UK and US Strike Houthi Targets
- 2:15 — Impact of Strikes and Regional Response
- 3:10 — Houthi Retaliation and Shipping Threats
- 5:11 — Hundred Days of War in Gaza

## Transcript

**[0:00]:** now the British foreign secretary David Cameron has said the UK had no choice but to take military action against houthi Targets in Yemen following weeks of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea the UK and the US launched dozens of strikes on Thursday night after houy Fighters had caused major disruption along the shipping route Simon Jones reports the RAF typhoon Jets called into action on thir Thursday to strike Targets in Yemen action the foreign secretary argues that the UK had to take writing in the Sunday Telegraph Lord Cameron says we have not rushed into these strikes we have given warning after warning military action should always be a last resort and it certainly was in this case we have sent an unambiguous message what the houthis are doing is wrong and we are determined to put a stop to it and this is what the houthi militia have have been doing targeting ships off the

**[1:01]:** coast of Yemen sometimes boarding them other vessels have been attacked with drones and missiles in what the group calls a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza today marks the 100th day of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas Yemen has a key strategic position in the Middle East especially when it comes to global Shipping the Red Sea shipping route typically looks like this it's one of the busiest in the world transporting 15% of traded Goods largely from east to west but because of the houthi attacks many major shipping firms have diverted around southern Africa it takes 10 days longer adding $1 million to the fuel costs of an average container ship Yemen may be thousands of miles from the UK but the foreign secretary is Keen to stress that what happens there and in the Red Sea has the potential to affect life in Britain he says that if vital Supply chains continue to

**[2:00]:** be threatened then that will push up prices in the shops globally this satellite picture shows an Airfield in Yemen before it was hit by strikes on Thursday this one shows the damage caused both the UK and us have

**[2:15]:** described their action as proportionate the targets will have been under a lot of intelligence scrutiny for a while because the stationary targets and the targets predominantly in the main were radar sites President Biden says America has has delivered a private message to Iran the US insists Iranian intelligence is critical in enabling the houthis to Target ships Iran denies involvement there have been protests in Yemen against the UK and US strikes the houthi spokesman claims they have had no significant impact on the group's ability to affect shipping but both the US and UK maintain they will always act to defend the freedom of navigation Simon Jones BBC News well for more analysis on this story let's go live now to our Middle East correspondent Hugo basa

**[3:10]:** and Hugo in the last few days we've been seeing reaction from the houthis and now interestingly military exercises just tell us a bit more about this exactly Katherine and the hthis following these attacks that have been carried out by the Americans and also by the British they vowed to give a strong and effective response so they've been attacking those ships in the Red Sea for weeks uh I think you know they knew that a response at some point would come that you know countries in particular the United States will not be watching will not be seeing those attacks and do nothing and the Americans in particular have been saying that this is about guaranteeing uh you know freedom of navigation uh in the Red Sea obviously this is a very important uh trade uh route that has been disrupted by these attacks and uh they're trying to say that this is not connected to what

**[4:08]:** is happening in Gaza even though the houthis who are supported by Iran say that these attacks uh have been uh happening uh on Israel's behalf and they say that these attacks are going to continue unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza we haven't seen any kind of reaction yet on Friday they fired a missile that didn't hit anything I think the expectation is that these attacks are going to continue uh it is interesting that the New York Times quoting American officials um say that only 20 to 30% of the uh huis uh capabilities have been either damaged and destroyed uh by these attacks and American officials are saying that uh they are having difficulties in identifying uh positions uh that have been used by the houthis to carry out those attacks so I think you know the assessment is that these attacks are going to continue uh the US Navy has warned uh American flagships

**[5:11]:** to avoid uh areas around Yemen in the next few days uh because of fears of possible uh retaliation from the houthis and Hugo it's now 100 days since hamas's attacks on Israel how are people taking stock of this moment in Israel in Gaza and across the region where you are yeah so it's 100 days since the beginning of this war obviously a war that was uh sparked by the Hamas attacks that killed more than 1200 people in Israel and this Israeli offensive against Hamas has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians uh in Gaza and uh there is no ending sight the Israeli authorities say that that the goal of this uh offensive is to eliminate Hamas and also to guarantee the release of the hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza and uh the head of the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees Philipe lazarini was in Gaza he said uh that the death and destruction of

**[6:18]:** the last 100 days uh were staining our shared humanity and there are growing concerns about the humanitarian situation for the more than 2 million people who remain in cap activity in Gaza there was also a huge protest in Tel Aviv yesterday from the families of the hostages urging the government to do more to guarantee the release of the more than a 100 people who remain in Gaza Hugo thank you the BBC's Hugo basa in Beirut there