A container ship sails in the Red Sea in the Straits of Tiran in 2023. Photo: IC

A Houthi missile attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden killed at least three seafarers, the first fatalities reported since the Yemeni military group began attacking Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea, media reported on Wednesday. Chinese experts said the root cause for the conflict overspill fundamentally lies with the US and its suppression of Palestine's legitimate rights and interests. 

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, which set ablaze the Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence, killing at least three and injuring four, of which three are in critical condition, according to media reports. 

Among the victims, two of the deceased and two of the severely injured have been confirmed as Filipino crewmen, the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers announced on Thursday.

The deadly strike is seen by Chinese observers as an escalation in regional conflict, but does not necessarily signify a significant turning point. 

Following this incident, the US and UK may use it as a pretext to launch further military actions against Houthi forces, including increased military operations and media suppression, Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

The US and UK have launched a series of airstrikes against Houthis in the past few days in an attempt to deter the militia from exacerbating the situation in one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

However, analysts said the strikes will only bring more conflicts to the region, as well as new challenges to the fragile global economic recovery, especially for those economies that have suffered from serious inflation and heavily rely on energy supplies from the Middle East via the Red Sea.

The current turmoil in the Middle East is primarily attributed to the unjust interference of major powers, Zhu said. The US, as a significant player in the region, has long been supporting Israel, which has been a fundamental cause of the prolonged unresolved issues in the Middle East. 

In addition, Palestinians were denied of their legitimate demands and rights, particularly their right to establish a state, Zhu said, and this deliberate neglect and suppression have led to the tragic escalation of conflict.

The expert said that the deadly attack by the Houthi rebels is to some extent part of the ongoing efforts to coordinate with Hamas to exert pressure on the US and accelerate the cease-fire deal it brokered and make the deal more favorable for Palestine. 

However, the current deal is facing significant disagreements and has stalled once again, making it even more unlikely to be reached before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan - the informal deadline for the deal.

Three days of negotiations with Hamas over the cease-fire in Gaza have failed to achieve a breakthrough, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday. However, the US insisted on Wednesday that a truce accord before Ramadan is still possible.

The likelihood of its passage depends largely on how much the US hopes to gain political points, particularly in the upcoming presidential elections, through the achievement of such an agreement. This will determine the extent of effort the US is willing to put in and the pressure it will exert on both parties, Zhu noted. 

The US blocked forcibly, for the fourth time, a cease-fire resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday. Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said the results of the vote clearly showed that the vast majority of Council members are unanimous on the issue of a cease-fire in Gaza, while the US exclusively abused its veto power to stifle the Council's consensus, which has caused widespread discontent in the international community.