Adel Abdel Ghafar from the Middle East Council on Global Affairs spoke to Al Jazeera about the motivation behind Yemen’s Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

“First of all, they want to show solidarity with Palestine. Secondly, they want to use these attacks as leverage with their negotiations with the Saudis ongoing now for the truce”.

“This also shows the role of Iran, which really enables the Houthis in the region to play a role as well. So should this continue, we can see a wider conflagration not just in that area but also in the north with Hezbollah and Lebanon”.