Yemen’s Houthis threaten to again target ‘any Israeli vessel’ amid Gaza aid halt
IAF preparing to fend off potential missile and drone attacks as Iran-backed rebels, who have also targeted non-Israeli shipping, cite ‘moral responsibility’ for Palestinians
Yemen’s Iran-backed rebel Houthis said on Wednesday that they would target “any Israeli vessel” traveling through nearby Mideast waters, following their threat to resume attacks on Israel if it did not renew the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis, who have also attacked ships with no apparent ties to Israel, said that they would target vessels in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea. The attacks had been on hold since a tenuous Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group took hold in January.
The Israeli Air Force has in recent days raised its level of alert due to fears that the Houthis will also resume ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel itself. There have been no changes to guidelines for civilians yet, nor any immediate signs of attacks on ships.
The Houthis issued their latest threat through their so-called Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, which said the potential attacks aim to pressure Israel to renew the flow of aid to Gaza, and “stem from a deep sense of religious, humanitarian and moral responsibility toward the oppressed Palestinian people.”
There was no direct threat against the US Navy, whose Bahrain-based 5th Fleet patrols the Mideast.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and other ships associated with its carrier group are currently operating in the Red Sea. The US military said Wednesday that its forces in the region “remain vigilant.”
“We will do what is necessary to protect and defend US personnel, assets and partners,” it said.
The earlier Houthi campaign saw American and Western warships repeatedly targeted, sparking the most serious combat the Navy had seen since World War II, and drawing several counterstrikes by a coalition comprising the US, United Kingdom and other nations.
The Houthis began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
The Iran-backed rebels fired some 40 ballistic missiles from November 2023 until just days before Israel reached the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas. The Houthis also launched several attack drones at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July. Responding to the attacks, Israel has carried out several strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Houthis attacked Israeli and other ships in nearby waters, disturbing global shipping lanes, in what the rebels said were acts of solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians during the war with Hamas.
The rebels targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war, which has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation. The war against Yemen’s Saudi-backed government left the Houthis in control of the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s western coast.
The Gaza ceasefire deal’s 42-day first phase expired at midnight between March 1 and 2. Israel had largely refused to negotiate the second phase, which would have required the IDF to withdraw from Gaza.
On March 2, Israel halted the flow of aid to Gaza, citing Hamas’s refusal to extend the first phase.
In a televised speech on Friday, the Houthis’ secretive leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi threatened to resume attacks on Israel if it did not let aid into Gaza. That deadline passed Tuesday.
