Houthi: Yemen preparing for ‘fourth phase’ of Red Sea operations
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has vowed to escalate operations in the Red Sea until Israel ends its war in Gaza and the US stops attacking his country.
“We are preparing for a fourth phase of escalation if the Israeli enemy and the Americans continue their intransigence,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.
Al-Houthi said that Yemeni forces launched 606 ballistic missiles and drones against 107 Israeli, US, and UK ships in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, Gulf of Aden, and recently in the Indian Ocean during the Red Sea ship campaign that began in November.
In the last seven days alone, the Yemeni forces have fired 33 ballistic missiles and drones at six ships off Yemen’s coast, as well as Israel’s port city of Eilat.
Al-Houthi said that 452 attacks by US and UK militaries on Yemen have killed 40 people and injured 35 others since January.
His warning came after Yemen’s media said on Thursday that the US and UK carried out five airstrikes on Hudaydah airport in the Red Sea’s western city of Hudaydah.
On Tuesday, the US carried out another strike on the port of al-Saleef in Hudaydah.
Yemeni forces have seized an Israeli-linked ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in a bid to pressure Israel to cease its war in Gaza.
