Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi: We carried out 64 operations in the Red and Arab Bahrain (Reuters)

The leader of the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said today, Thursday, that what he called “support operations” carried out by his group amounted to eight operations this week, during which 7 ships were targeted with 19 missiles and drones, in the wake of the group’s media announcing that American raids Britain targeted the area north of Hodeidah.

Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi added - in a video speech - that “there is no hope for the Israelis for a decisive victory, as they are arrogant and carrying out massacres and genocides,” and that the world is unanimous in the criminality and brutality of what Gaza is witnessing and demands that it stop, “except for America and Britain.”

He pointed out that "there is a common Israeli-American disappointment that the will of the Palestinian people and the will of its mujahideen were not broken."

The Houthi leader confirmed that the total operations carried out in the Red and Arab Bahrain amounted to 64, and that targeting the American and Israeli ships was one of their most prominent operations, pointing out that they used new weapons in the recent operations, which “surprised the Americans and the British,” according to him.

Mr. Leader Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi: Our people moved to support the Palestinian cause more than they moved for their cause and themselves pic.twitter.com/sswUPxdfVF

- Nasr El-Din Amer (@Nasr_Amer1) March 7, 2024

New raids

Today, media outlets affiliated with the Ansar Allah group said that American and British forces targeted the Ras Issa area in the Al-Salif District, north of the coastal city of Hodeidah, western Yemen.

Over the past weeks, Hodeidah and areas under Houthi control have been subjected to a number of American and British raids, in an attempt to limit the Houthis’ capabilities to protect shipping lanes, according to American statements.

These strikes came after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced, on December 18, the formation of the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition with the aim of confronting Houthi maritime attacks. The Houthi group responded at the time that this coalition would not stop its operations and “will not provide security for Israeli ships.”

Since the escalation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Houthis have been targeting ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, or heading to the occupied Palestinian territories as they pass through the Red Sea and near Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden, in support of the Palestinian resistance and in support of the people of Gaza, according to statements by the group’s leaders.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies