The U.S. secretary of defense on Monday said a virtual meeting with ministers in the region will be convened on Tuesday to address Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
"Regarding the Houthis, these attacks are reckless, dangerous and they violate international law. So we're taking action to build an international coalition to address this threat," Lloyd Austin said at a news conference with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv.
Austin is on a Middle East tour, including Bahrain, Qatar, and Israel. He and Gallant discussed the ongoing war in Gaza, the protection of civilians, and the recent attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Yemeni Houthi rebels.
He said the attacks are not "just a US issue," but an international problem and it deserves an international response.
"And that's why I'm convening a meeting tomorrow. A ministerial meeting with fellow ministers in the region and beyond to address this threat," Austin said, adding it will be a virtual meeting.
"I look forward to that discussion and more importantly I look forward to working together with members of that group to address the threat in a meaningful way in the future.
"We'll have more details on this soon. But we're going to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to ensure freedom of navigation in the area," he added, underlining the straits are "pretty important."
Previously, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that commercial traffic transit in the Red Sea is "more dangerous" now than before and the White House will have "more to say" about the details of a maritime task force in the coming days.
A Houthi spokesman said that the group would target all ships headed to Israel, regardless of nationality, and warned all shipping companies to avoid dealing with Israeli ports.
The group's operations against vessels coincide with Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas.
