Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range, military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Friday.
Yahya Sarea, the Houthi military spokesperson, delivers a statement, during a pro-Palestinian rally, saying they launched an attack on the "Pacific 01" ship in the Red Sea with missiles, in Sanaa, March 15, 2024. Reuters/Khaled Abdullah
Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range, military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Friday.
"We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach," he said.
The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.
The Houthis should exercise more caution if they do not want to see their power destroyed by an international military operation, the outlines of which are becoming clearer.
Reporting by Jana Choukeir
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, called Iran's newly elected President Massoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday to congratulate him on his recent election victory, according to Saudi state media reports.
Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Wednesday that disruption to its container shipping via the Red Sea had extended beyond trade routes between the Far East and Europe to its entire global network.
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