SANAA, Yemen: Yemen’s Houthis will continue targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea, an official said on Wednesday, as cited by AFP, despite a ceasefire that ended weeks of intense US strikes on Yemen.
A day after the Houthis agreed to stop firing on ships plying the key trade route off their shores, a senior official told AFP that Israel was excluded from the deal.
“The waterways are safe for all international ships except Israeli ones,” Abdulmalik Alejri, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told AFP.
“Israel is not part of the agreement, it only includes American and other ships,” he said.
The Houthis began firing at Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of Israel launched a relentless bombardment campaign on Gaza against Palestinian group Hamas.
They broadened their campaign to target ships tied to the United States and Britain after military strikes by the two countries began in January 2024.
Alejri said the Houthis would now “only” attack Israeli ships. In the past, vessels visiting Israel, or those with tenuous Israeli links, were in the group’s sights.
On Wednesday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said their forces had launched two attacks, targeting Ramon Airport in southern Israel with two drones and “a vital target of the Zionist enemy” in the Tel Aviv area “using a Yafa drone”.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman earlier Esmaeil Baqaei “welcomed the cessation of US aggression against the country”, praising Yemenis for their “legendary resistance”.
Israeli strikes on Sanaa airport
The US-Houthi agreement was announced after deadly Israeli strikes on Tuesday put Sanaa airport out of action in revenge for a Houthi missile strike on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Sanaa airport director Khaled alShaief told Yemen’s Al-Masirah television the Israeli attack had destroyed terminal buildings and caused $500 million in damage.
Oman said it had facilitated an agreement between Washington and the Yemeni group that “neither side will target the other… ensuring freedom of navigation”.
US President Donald Trump, who will visit Gulf countries next week, trumpeted the deal, saying the Houthis had “capitulated”.
“They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s… the purpose of what we were doing,” he said during a White House press appearance.
The ceasefire followed weeks of stepped-up US strikes aimed at deterring Houthi attacks on shipping. The US attacks left 300 people dead, according Houthi figures.
The Pentagon said last week US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March in an operation that has been dubbed “Rough Rider”.
The Houthis say their campaign — and a steady stream of attacks on Israeli territory — is in solidarity with the Palestinians. – Agencies
