American military official: We were able to reduce the capabilities of the Houthis

The moment Houthi special forces seized an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea (Getty)

Bloomberg quoted Major General George Wyckoff, Commander of the US Fleet for the Red Sea Operation, as saying that the US-led coalition was able to reduce the capabilities of the Houthi group, but “there is still a lot of work ahead of it before the mission is accomplished,” as he put it.

Wyckoff explained that it is not possible to predict when the mission will be completed due to the intelligence and military support that the Houthis receive from Iran.

He said that the Houthi attacks have slowed down and have shifted from using cruise missiles to less dangerous drones.

The US military official's statements come one day after the Houthis announced that they had targeted the city of Eilat in southern Israel, and carried out six military operations, which they described as qualitative, most of which were against American and British ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden during the past three days.

The group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a video statement yesterday, Tuesday, that the group's fighters carried out a military operation targeting a number of Israeli targets in the Umm al-Rashrash area (Eilat), southern occupied Palestine.

Saree confirmed that the Houthis carried out 6 military operations during the past 72 hours using a large number of ballistic missiles and drones, and in 4 joint operations they targeted 4 ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, including two American ships, a British ship, and another flying the flag of Malta, and all of them “were heading to The ports of occupied Palestine,” he said.

Over the past weeks, the city of 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,” after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on December 18 the formation of an alliance against the group called "Guardian of Prosperity."

Since the escalation of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, 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