Yemen army says will target all ships owned, operated by Israeli companies

The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces has announced that the military units will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag, in a move to support Palestinian people amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.  

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, in a statement on Sunday, called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of any such vessels.

The statement came a day after an unnamed Yemeni military official told Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network that the Yemeni Armed Forces are prepared to target any Israeli vessel, whether in the Red Sea or any spot that Israeli officials could not expect.

On November 9, Yemeni Armed Forces launched a batch of ballistic missiles at various sensitive targets lying across the southern part of the occupied territories.

Yemen’s al-Masirah television network, citing the forces’ spokesman, reported at the time that the projectiles hit military targets in the Umm al-Rashrash area in the city of Eilat.

“Saree also confirmed that the operation had successfully achieved its objectives and led to direct casualties,” the report added.

The official reiterated that the Yemeni forces would continue to carry out their military operations “until the Israeli aggression against our brothers in Gaza stops.”

Days earlier, Yemeni forces had launched a large-scale drone strike against “sensitive” targets in the occupied territories in a show of support for Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Israel unleashed a bombardment campaign against Gaza on October 7, after the Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in response to decades of violence against Palestinians.

According to the figures announced by Palestinian health authorities so far 12,300, including 5,000 children have been killed in the besieged enclave. The United Nations deems the figures credible, though they are now updated only infrequently as war devastation has hampered communications.