The big guessing game this morning is what Israel will do to retaliate against Iran. Anyone asking that question has lost sight of the really important questions. When will Hamas release the remaining hostages (held in blatant violation of international law)? When will Iran release the MSC Lines ship captured by the IRGC (taken in blatant violation of international law)? When will the Houthi regime in Yemen (Iranian proxies) stop attacking international maritime trade and free the route to the Suez Canal?
The case of the hostages ought to be the main concern. The world needs to recognize that diplomatic negotiation is not the answer. The underlying problem is the Hamas position that they can do anything they please because they are suffering from an (imaginary) occupation. Claiming to be a victim does not exempt anyone from obeying the law.
The other two items are also simple violations of international law regarding maritime commerce. Blockades are legal when you are in a state of war with some entity (i.e. Israel’s blockade of Gaza). Yemen doesn’t even recognize Israel. That would seem to make a de facto blockade a violation of international law. This is especially true when the ships that are affected have no connection to Israel. The interference is quite properly a form of piracy, and the perpetrator ought to be hanged. A young America effectively put an end to Mediterranean piracy with the Barbary Wars. She did it alone. Other countries followed only after the US acted. This is very different from current American reluctance to do anything without a coalition of allies (except pay de facto appeasement bribery).
Wetherhorn 