Principle, friendship and oil.

Two days back, "US and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen against Houthi forces in retaliation for months of attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran backed fighters cast as a response to the war on Gaza." "The US military said 60 targets in 28 locations had been hit, using 150 munitions." Reuters. Houthis are used to airstrikes. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing Houthis in Yemen since 2015, Yemeni ports have been blockaded to prevent Iran supplying arms to the Houthis and ground offensives launched to regain lost ground. wikipedia. The economic consequences have been catastrophic. "The UN estimates that 60% of the estimated 377,000 deaths in Yemen between 2015 and the beginning of 2022 were the result of indirect causes like food insecurity and lack of accessible health services. Two-thirds of the population, or 21.6 million Yemenis, remain in need of dire assistance." cfr.org. "On 14 September 2019, drones were used to attack oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia." wikipedia. It took hours to put out the resulting fire and repairs took weeks. On 11 March 2022, Houthis attacked a refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh using three Samadh-3 drones causing a small fire that did not result in any casualties or injuries. Reuters. Following the airstrikes, "President Biden says the US has delivered a 'private message' to Iran about the Houthis in Yemen after the US carried out a second strike on the group." "Iran denies involvement in attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea." BBC. "Iran on Thursday (11 January) said it has seized an 'American' ship off the coast of Oman. According to the  Iranian media, the ship was used by the United States for stealing its oil last year." HT. So, what was in the "private message"? A warning to Iran not to get involved or a declaration of love? Surprisingly, "South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations' top court, saying the country was 'intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza' and calling for the court to order a halt to Israel's military campaign." CNN. South Africa is at the southern tip of the African continent, thousands of miles away from the conflict, and may even be gaining from the shipping diverted round the Cape of Good Hope and is not Islamic. So why the assault on Israel? Is it because of its own history of apartheid, the friendship between Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat or the hope of cheaper oil from Arab countries? FP. After all, "Electricity supply shortages have constrained South Africa's growth for several years. Rolling scheduled power cuts (load-shedding) started in 2007 and have intensified exponentially, reaching 9 hours daily in 2022." World Bank. Meanwhile, "Hamas released a chilling video featuring three Israeli hostages: Noa Argamani, Yossi Sharabi and Ital Svirsky, who were abducted during the Supernova rave attack." TOI. All Hamas has to do is to release all the hostages unharmed and Israel will be forced to stop its bombing. Israel will still come after Hamas fighters but the Palestinian civilians will be safe. But Hamas cowards continue to hide behind hostages. So, Hamas is responsible for the genocide in Gaza. South Africa should seek the truth. Instead of oil.