Houthis claim US offered to recognize its government if it stopped maritime attacks
US official says statement — which comes a day after a ballistic missile launched by the group reached central Israel — is ‘total fabrication’
CAIRO, Egypt — A senior member of the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group claimed on Monday that the US had offered to recognize its government in Sanaa in a bid to stop its attacks on maritime shipping, in remarks that a US official said were false.
The Houthi official’s remarks came a day after a ballistic missile fired from Yemen reached central Israel for the first time, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on the rebel group.
“There is always communication after every operation we conduct,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement’s political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV. “These calls are based on either threats or presenting some temptations, but they have given up to achieve any accomplishment in that direction.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the remarks “a total fabrication.”
Separately, a US State Department official said: “Houthi propaganda is rarely true or newsworthy. Coverage like this puts a guise of credibility on their misinformation.”
Al-Bukhaiti claimed the calls after attacks included some from the US and the United Kingdom indirectly through mediators and that the threats included direct US military intervention against countries that intervene militarily “in support of Gaza.”
The Houthis have fired over 220 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel over the past 11 months — mostly toward the southernmost city of Eilat — claiming that they are doing so in solidarity with the people of Gaza amid Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group.
The vast majority of the rebel group’s projectiles have been intercepted or missed their target.
According to an Israeli Air Force probe, the Houthi missile launched on Sunday was hit by an interceptor missile, but not completely destroyed, breaking apart in the air and causing slight damage due to falling shrapnel.
The Houthis claimed the missile was hypersonic, but the Israeli probe found that it was not.
Following the missile launch, Netanyahu warned that “the Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us.”
Recalling the attack Israel launched on a main harbor controlled by the Houthis on July 20, after a drone launched by the group struck Tel Aviv, killing a man and injuring four others, Netanyahu suggested that “those who need a reminder are welcome to visit the port of Hodeida.”
In addition to attacks on Israel, the Iran-backed group has also continued to launch attacks on ships they say are linked or bound to Israel, despite many of the targeted vessels having no clear link to Israel.
The Houthis have damaged more than 80 ships in missile and drone attacks since November, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least three crew members.
Yemen has been embroiled in years of civil war. In 2014, the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognized government. In January, the United States put the Houthis back on its list of terrorist groups.
