The Yemeni Houthis have announced they will attack all ships that works with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality or destination.
In a statement on Sunday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree warned that if companies continue to work with Israeli ports, their ships would be targeted “anywhere that can be reached or within the reach of our missiles and drones.”
Saree added that this “escalation,” which is part of the Houthis’ fourth phase of its naval blockade against Israel, is designed to pressure Israel to “halt its aggression and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip.”
“The actions of the Yemeni Armed Forces express our moral and humanitarian commitment to the injustice against the brotherly Palestinian people, and all our military operations will cease immediately upon the cessation of aggression against Gaza and the lifting of the blockade,” Saree’s statement said.
The Houthis’ new phase marks a renewal of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea following the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in 2023.
Those attacks largely stopped following a U.S. bombing campaign against the rebel group in March of this year, after which a ceasefire was announced by President Donald Trump in mid-May.
But that ceasefire was seemingly violated in early July, when the rebel group attacked two ships, one of which resulted in the deaths of three crew members and the kidnapping of others.
The United States’s response to that violation was muted. The State Department condemned the attacks, but no military response was launched.
GRAHAM SUGGESTS ISRAEL TAKE GAZA BY FORCE AND ‘START OVER’ LIKE US DID IN TOKYO AND BERLIN
Pressure is only increasing in the region, however, as Israel now faces accusations of starving the civilian population in Gaza amid its military campaign to eliminate Hamas.
The international pressure on Israel has led to it establishing a “humanitarian pause” in its fighting to allow aid to surge into Gaza, as well as the resumption of airdrops of food.