Dubai:

All ships heading to Israeli ports will be targeted by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and not just in the Red Sea region, the group’s leaded Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The group has threatened to extend their attacks on ships heading to Israeli ports to the Mediterranean Sea, in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Al-Houthi urged China, Russia, Asian and European countries to not transport goods to Israeli ports.

Houthis have previously said their main targets are Israel, and its allies the United States and Britain.

“Everyone must stop transporting to the occupied Palestinian ports… It is in the interest of all companies to stop transporting to the Israeli enemy towards the Mediterranean Sea or in any direction,” al-Houthi said.

Houthi attacks have raised the cost of shipping and insurance by disrupting a key trade route between Asia and Europe, forcing shipping firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Dubai:

The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday the group would target ships of any company related to supplying or transporting goods to Israel regardless of their destination.

He said this was a fourth stage of escalation in retaliation to “the Israeli aggression on Rafah” in the southern Gaza Strip.

“From now on, we are also thinking about the fifth stage and the sixth stage, and we have very important, sensitive and influential choices on the enemies,” he added.

Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Yemen:

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Monday they had exposed a “spy” network aiding the United States and Israel and arrested suspected members of it.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency published footage of the detained men, describing them as “spies recruited to collect information and monitor sites operated by the Yemeni (Houthi) armed forces on Yemen’s western coast for the benefit of the American and Israeli enemy”.

According to Saba, the group had been recruited after the Houthis in November began targeting vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, disrupting global trade in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The report did not specify the number of suspects arrested, but unverified images Saba shared on social media showed at least 18 people.

No evidence was provided to substantiate the charges, which Saba said the suspects had confessed to.

The Houthis, who control parts of war-torn Yemen, “will spare no effort in carrying out their responsibility to secure the home front and protect it from infiltration attempts by the American and Israeli enemy”, Saba said.

The United States in December announced a maritime security initiative to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which have forced commercial vessels to divert from the busy shipping lane, which normally carries 12 percent of global trade.

Since January the United States and Britain have launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to their attacks on shipping.

The Houthi-run news agency said the suspects were tasked with monitoring anti-ship missile and drone launch sites and the locations of Houthi vessels, and submitting coordinates to facilitate strikes by the US as well as British forces.

The strikes have done little to deter the Houthis who have vowed to target Israeli, American and British vessels as well as all ships heading to Israeli ports.

On Friday, the Houthis threatened to extend their attacks into the Mediterranean Sea.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

US and allied forces shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the US military said.

Shortly afterwards, the rebels claimed the attack, saying they had fired missiles at an “American” commercial ship and launched drones at US warships in “the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden”.

It was one of the Houthis’ largest attacks since they began in November a campaign of drone and missile strikes against vessels in the Red Sea area, vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Iran-backed Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.

CENTCOM and coalition forces determined that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region”.

It added, in a post on social media platform X, that “US Navy vessels and aircraft along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft shot down 15” of the drones.

“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.”

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, also on X, said the rebels had carried out two separate operations.

The first targeted the commercial vessel Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, he said, calling it an “American” ship.

Vessel tracking websites describe the bulk carrier as Singapore-flagged but did not report its current position.

A second operation fired “37 drones” at “a number of American” warships, Saree said.

The United States in December announced a maritime security initiative to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks, which have forced commercial vessels to divert from the route that normally carries 12 percent of global trade.

The rebel strikes this week caused their first reported fatalities.

The Philippine government said two Filipino crew members were among those killed in a missile strike on the bulk carrier True Confidence.

On March 2, the first known vessel sinking from the strikes occurred when the Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated Rubymar went down in the Red Sea days after a rebel missile strike.

Since January the United States and Britain have also launched repeated strikes on Huthi targets in Yemen in response to the ship attacks, but the rebels have continued to attack merchant vessels and have also targeted American and British ships.

Yemen’s rebels control the capital Sanaa and much of the Red Sea coast, despite an earlier bombing campaign that a Saudi-led coalition began in 2015 and which continued for years.

On January 9, US and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by the rebels toward ships in the Red Sea, the US military said at the time.

Britain said it was the largest attack to that point by the Houthis.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)