I’ll take a look at the articles once I’m off work. I appreciate the discussion and your responses. Prior to reading them, though, it looks like it is talking about armed conflict, which is kinda the point I was making. Yemen (/the Houthis) have the right to blockade, but it is an act of war/falls in the realm of armed conflict. Would you say that is accurate?
The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait - which the UN has stated is a strait to which transit passage applies. Yemen is a signatory country to the UN convention on the law of the sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bab-el-Mandeb
Transit Passage https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part3.htm#:~:text=and hydrographical characteristics.-,2.,or an exclusive economic zone.
Specifically, article 38 states:
~~Right of transit passage
In straits referred to in article 37, all ships and aircraft enjoy the right of transit passage, which shall not be impeded; except that, if the strait is formed by an island of a State bordering the strait and its mainland, transit passage shall not apply if there exists seaward of the island a route through the high seas or through an exclusive economic zone of similar convenience with respect to navigational and hydrographical characteristics.
Transit passage means the exercise in accordance with this Part of the freedom of navigation and overflight solely for the purpose of continuous and expeditious transit of the strait between one part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone and another part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone. However, the requirement of continuous and expeditious transit does not preclude passage through the strait for the purpose of entering, leaving or returning from a State bordering the strait, subject to the conditions of entry to that State.
Any activity which is not an exercise of the right of transit passage through a strait remains subject to the other applicable provisions of this Convention.~~*
You can’t just “announce” a blockade and make it your territorial waters. You can absolutely create a blockade if you choose to, but it is a recognized act of war. There’s a separate conversation to whether that is a just action or not, tied in with the war in Israel/Palestine. But that doesn’t change the fact that a blockade in itself is an act of war.
The ships they’re firing upon are passing through in accordance with maritime and international law. Their justification is that the ships are Israeli affiliated, but those ships are still sailing in recognized international waters.
It’s not “their” waters, it’s internationally recognized shipping lanes.
For some additional context, Houthi members have been attacking commercial ships using internationally recognized shipping lanes, and opened fire on US military aircraft. Whether or not the bombing is justified, the narrative that “people are in Yemen territorial waters” is gross misinformation at best.
Probably not. Old piece of Reddit history. Gist of it is there was a discussion on how to identify a redditor in real life, and the favorite response was saying that “the narwhal bacons at midnight”.