Just last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu recalled his Israeli negotiating team from Doha - which is certainly not a first instance - as talks broke down, also after the US representative mentioned dissatisfaction with Hamas' position.

On Sunday night, the Houthis of Yemen declared it will target merchant ships belonging to any company that does business with Israeli ports. This part is nothing new, but what is a renewed escalation is that the Houthis statement made clear this will be regardless of nationality as part of the next phase of its operations.

This Red Sea war has been going for a long time, and has featured direct ballistic missile attacks on Tel Aviv - which have been waning in the last weeks, but the resulting shipping disruptions have wreaked havoc on a vital global transit point through which an estimated $1 trillion in goods usually passes each year.

The Houthi statement said they had “decided to escalate their military support operations and begin implementing the fourth phase of the naval blockade” against Israel. This also as international reports have acknowledged rising famine and deaths from hunger in the Gaza Strip.

The fresh statement warns the Iran-backed militants would target "all ships belonging to any company that deals with the ports of the Israeli enemy, regardless of the nationality of that company, and in any location within the reach of our armed forces." This is regardless of any final destination, it warned.

International companies and governments must pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza and lift its blockade on the Palestinian territory "if they want to avoid this escalation" - the statement warns further.

Escalation has indeed been on the rise, despite months ago Trump ordering the US Navy to wind down and withdraw from its war with the Houthis, while pressuring the Europeans to take a more active posture in the theatre.

Already in July the Houthis have attacked and sank two Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carriers – identified as the Magic Seas and the Eternity C. The Houthis have boasted of these assaults by issuing high-production quality films detailing the operations, which even involved boarding the vessels.

These were deadly attacks and have resulted in four crew members dead and 11 more taken captive - though thankfully 22 crew members of the Magic Seas were able to be rescued.

As for the latest round of failed negotiations hosted in Qatar, reports indicated that Hamas offered to trade 10 Israeli hostages for 200 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences.

Israel reportedly pushed for a 2-kilometer demilitarized buffer inside the Strip, while Hamas is said to have countered with one kilometer. All of this may be moot from the start, given much more land mass has already been utterly destroyed, and Israel is believed to be paving the way for eventual new settlements.

The fiery and loudly-issued new threat against Red Sea shipping:

The Israeli government has meanwhile opted for a military solution, and the complete eradication of Gaza. From the start Hamas has insisted on the removal of all Israeli military troops, which has been a non-starter for Netanyahu.

By and large, Washington has stuck by its closest Mideast ally, amid growing international criticisms linked to tens of thousands of civilian deaths, and a nightmarish humanitarian crisis. President Trump on Monday in comments from Scotland issued a rare admission that Gazans are indeed starving, and that we need to "feed the kids".