Australia and Spain have rejected the US coalitions request that they send war ships to the Red Sea to protect trade for Israel.

Instead, Australia will send 11 military personnel to support a U.S.-led mission to protect cargo shipping in the Red Sea, but it won’t send a warship or plane, the defense minister said Thursday. Defense Minister Richard Marles said that Australia’s military needs to keep focused on the Pacific region.

The United States announced this week that several nations are creating a force to protect commercial shipping from attacks by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-australia-international-security-force-5acf692653367a0679538ad3eae0444e

In another development, Spain’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied Washington’s claims that it will participate in a multinational force to patrol the Red Sea.

In a statement released to Spanish media outlets including the ABC and La Vanguardia, the ministry said Spain cannot make the decision unilaterally, and is subject to decisions made by the EU and NATO.

The situation is confusing in Spain and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, criticized Premier Pedro Sanchez for committing Spanish troops to an international military operation without informing the parliament. Neither Sanchez nor Spain’s defense minister have issued an official statement on Operation Prosperity Guardian.

The Yemeni rebel group has ramped up attacks in recent days, targeting ships alleged to have links with Israel.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/spain-denies-us-claims-it-will-help-patrol-red-sea/3087182

https://gcaptain.com/french-navy-quits-operation-prosperity-guardian/