Recent incidents have cut internet access throughout Asia and the Middle East. These outages happened for at least two weeks, thanks to the severing of undersea cables in the Red Sea. Those disruptions come as U.S. The interruptions come amid rising tensions with the Houthis, who in the past have denied carrying out such attacks. These disasters do more than disrupt digital pipelines. They deepen existing inequities. They expose the current state of conflict dynamics across the region and bring forth the risk of an even greater escalation.
Indeed, news accounts document how Houthis—the Iranian-backed insurgents who are one of the parties to Yemen’s brutal civil war—have consistently lied about cutting undersea cables. Unfortunately, they have made these denials time and time again. This denial is particularly striking given the gravity of the allegations. Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile recently accused the Houthis of intending to strike undersea cables for estimated in early 2024. Even the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel has publicly claimed to have suffered cable cuts. This surprising announcement creates critical questions about their plan to carry out these activities.
This issue has been brought to a head as the Houthis have been implicated in a string of hostile acts against commercial maritime vessels. In recent weeks, they’ve settled four mariners and been the cause of several mariner deaths—one recently killed at least eight mariners. In July during just one week, two tankers were attacked, forcing the death of four members on-board. Since mid-November 2023, the Houthis have attacked more than 100 vessels with missiles and suicide drones. This is the first and starkest escalation of their maritime campaign.
Given these events, worries about the reliability of internet access have spiked dramatically. NetBlocks has reported that “a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries.” Microsoft has issued a warning stating that users “may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.”
Until now, Houthi attacks have increased at a rapid pace. This new spike follows a short ceasefire throughout the Israel-Hamas war that largely halted their offending operations. Now, as talks for a new ceasefire are still very much up in the air, the Houthis have gone back to their attacking ways. Short of that, they are doing everything they can to mount pressure on Israel. This new strategy is aimed at stopping Israel’s military offensive against Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
In response to Houthi aggression, Israel has conducted retaliatory airstrikes throughout the region, striking key leaders in the radicalized rebel movement. U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered an unprecedented campaign of airstrikes on Houthi positions. These counteractions are only one aspect of a larger strategy. The situation remains fluid as regional powers grapple with the implications of these conflicts on global connectivity and maritime security.
As this all plays out, the world looks on with actual keen interest. The Houthis’ targeting of undersea cables raises significant alarms about the possible ramifications for internet infrastructure in both Asia and the Middle East. These attacks can paralyze entire countries’ electronic communications and economic functions. This serves as an important reminder of the need to remain ever-vigilant in safeguarding these invaluable assets.