Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they will press on with attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity with the Palestinians as long as Israel continues to commit “crimes” against them.
“Our operations have a big impact on the enemy, which constitute a great success and a real triumph,” Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech.
He said the group would continue to support the Palestinians despite US and British attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for the Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Houthis have been launching attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden against ships they said were linked to Israel. But the provocations have prompted the United States and United Kingdom to intervene, launching a series of air raids on targets in Yemen in the hope of deterring the Houthis.
The Iran-backed rebels have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, months after they seized the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen’s population centres, forcing the internationally recognised government south to Aden.
