By Aziz Ahmadi
SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Houthi group in Yemen announced Thursday that for the first time, it attacked ships linked to Israel and the US this week in the Mediterranean Sea.
“We will strive to strengthen the fourth phase of escalation in terms of momentum and the power of strikes,” group leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised address that was broadcast by the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel.
There has been no response from Israel or the United States as of 1515GMT.
Al-Houthi said forces carried out "seven attacks this week with 13 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones against ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean.”
He noted that the “number of attacks against American ships has exceeded 100 with missiles and drones,” since the start of 2024.
Al-Houthi added that “40 attacks were carried out against the Zionist enemy with 211 missiles,” referring to attacks on Israeli ships and targeting the Eilat area in southern Israel.
The Houthis announced on May 3 the beginning of the fourth phase of escalation in its attacks in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, citing “serious preparations by Israel to carry out an aggressive military operation” against Rafah in the southern enclave.
The fourth phase includes “targeting of all ships that breach the Israeli navigation ban and head to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any area within the reach of Houthi forces,” according to a statement by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree.
The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.
With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that the group considers all American and British ships military targets.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul