By Anadolu staff
SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni Houthi group on Tuesday threatened to respond to any attempt to protect the Israeli ships in the Red Sea, following an EU announcement of a naval mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea.
"We say to the Europeans, don't play with fire, you don't need to back the US in protecting the occupying entity (in reference to protecting Israeli ships)," said Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis Supreme Political Council, in a statement.
"Any idiocy you commit will affect your ships and navigation (in the Red Sea), you are warned," Al-Houthi also said.
"Your presence increases the militarization of the Red Sea, ... and will affect the chain of food supplies to the markets in your countries," he added.
On Monday, the EU formally launched a naval mission, under the name Mission Aspides, to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi rebels.
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 Gaza, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.
With tensions escalating due to the joint strikes of the US and UK against Houthi targets in Yemen, the group declared that it considered all American and British ships legitimate military targets.
* Writing by Ahmed Asmar.