Houthi-led pro-Palestine rallies sweep Yemen in solidarity with Gaza

By Aziz al-Ahmadi

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni Houthi group organized rallies on Friday in solidarity with Gaza across most of the provinces under its control in Yemen.

The largest demonstration in support of Palestine occurred in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which is under the group's administration, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in Al-Sabeen Square in Sanaa in response to the Houthi group's call, where they waved both Yemeni and Palestinian flags, along with banners denouncing the Israeli war on Gaza.

The pro-Houthi Al-Masirah Channel reported that further rallies took place in the cities and districts of 12 provinces across Yemen including Amran, Dhamar, Saada and Marib in northern Yemen, in Hajjah and Al Hudaydah in western Yemen, and in Taiz in southwestern the country.

During the rallies, the demonstrators chanted in support of the Palestinian resistance as well as the Houthis' military operations in the Red Sea targeting Israel-linked ships.

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where more than 32,600 people have been killed in a deadly Israeli offensive since last October following a Hamas attack.

With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that they consider all American and British ships military targets.

A coalition led by the US - under the name Operation Prosperity Guardian - has conducted intermittent airstrikes since Jan. 12 that have targeted Houthi sites in parts of Yemen in response to the attacks in the Red Sea.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar