Regional tensions and fears of a wider war took centrestage at Davos forum with Qatar prime minister saying that miitary strikes on Yemen will not contain attacks by Al Houthis on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea, but an end to the war in Gaza will.

According to The Iran Project,Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that US and British military strikes on Yemen will only create “a high risk of further escalation and further expansion of” the conflict.

US and British forces have responded to attacks on ships by carrying out dozens of air and sea strikes on Al Houthi targets in Yemen since Friday.

He described the current regional situation as a “recipe for escalation everywhere” and said Qatar believes that defusing the conflict in Gaza will stop the escalation on other fronts.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that at least five LNG vessels operated by Qatar had stopped en route to the Red Sea.

On Tuesday, British oil giant Shell has paused transit through the Red Sea shipping route indefinitely, according to a media report.

About 12 per cent of global trade normally passes through the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea’s entrance between southwest Yemen and Djibouti. But the militant attacks have caused much shipping to be diverted thousands of miles (kilometers) around Africa.

Another ship attacked

Also on Tuesday, a commodity-carrying ship was hit by a missile in the Red Sea, a fresh sign of intensifying attacks on merchant vessels in a waterway that key industry groups are cautioning remains too dangerous for navigation.
The Greek-owned bulk carrier Zografia was struck about 122km northwest of Al Saleef, in Yemen, according to Ambrey Analytics.

Tuesday’s attack followed one on Monday that saw a US-owned bulk commodity carrier hit by a missile.

It was unclear why the Greek-owned vessel was hit.

Qatar prefers diplomacy

“We need to address the central issue, which is Gaza in order to get everything else defused...if we are just focusing on the symptoms and not treating the real issues, (solutions) will be temporary,” Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman, who also serves as foreign minister, said at Davois meeting.

“We always prefer diplomacy over any military resolutions,” he said.

Without a viable, sustainable two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, the international community will be unwilling to finance the reconstruction of Gaza, Sheikh Mohammed said.

“The bigger picture cannot be ignored,” he said, urging the international community to require Israel to agree to a time-bound, irreversible pathway to a two-state solution.

“We cannot leave this just at the hand of the Israelis,” he said.

Conflict has spread to parts of Middle East since the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on October 7, with groups allied to Iran carrying out attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. -- With inputs from Reuters