Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on a
UK-owned cargo ship and a drone assault on an American destroyer on Thursday,
and they targeted Israel’s port and resort city of Eilat with ballistic
missiles and drones.
The statement by a Houthi representative on social
media site X came shortly after the group’s leader said it was ramping up
attacks on ships in the Red Sea and other waters – including with new
“submarine weapons” -to mirror Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea,
Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November in support of
Palestinians, as the Israel-Hamas war continues and the Gaza death toll reaches
almost 30,000.
“Operations in the Red and Arabian Seas, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the
Gulf of Aden are continuing, escalating, and effective,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi
added in a televised speech. He gave no details of the submarine weapons.
The group’s strikes are disrupting the vital Suez Canal trade shortcut
that accounts for about 12% of global maritime traffic, and forcing firms to
take a longer, more expensive route around Africa.
Militant leader al-Houthi said retaliatory strikes by the U.S.-British
coalition have failed to stop its campaign.