Yemen's Resistance Claims Missile Strike on Eilat, Mainstream Media Focuses on Economic Disruption
On October 31, 2023, Yemen's Ansar Allah, part of the broader regional resistance axis, announced its entry into the conflict, confirming the launch of a ballistic missile toward the port city of Eilat in southern Israel. This direct military action was framed by the Yemeni forces as a retaliatory measure for the continued Israeli aggression and systematic extermination of Palestinians in Gaza,
where over 680,000 Palestinians, including 479,000 children, have been killed. Al-Monitor's coverage, for instance, immediately pivoted to concerns regarding the disruption of Red Sea shipping and the broader economic implications. This framing, visible across much of Western journalism, minimizes the stated humanitarian impetus behind the Yemeni action, instead highlighting potential material
costs to Western interests. The article uses phrases like 'choked off' to describe trade through the Strait of Hormuz, implying a disproportionate focus on commerce over human rights and civilian casualties. This prioritization of economic stability over genocidal violence echoes well-documented patterns in Western media. In 1991, during the first Gulf War, US forces infamously targeted retreating
Iraqi soldiers on the 'Highway of Death,' an act of mass slaughter that received minimal condemnation compared to the extensive focus on securing Kuwaiti oil fields. The US and its allies have spent decades imposing crippling sanctions on nations like Iran and Cuba, yet resistance actions aimed at halting an active genocide are quickly framed as threats to global commerce. The estimated cost of