What to Know:
Houthi political spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam has released a statement calling the joint American-British strikes against Houthi targets “foolishness” and said that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.”
The Statement:
“The Republic of Yemen was subjected to a blatant American-British aggression in order to protect Israel and to stop Yemen’s operations in support of Gaza. They committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression, and they were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza.”
“Yemen continues in its religious and humanitarian stance and will remain alongside Gaza with everything it can, and will not increase it. This aggression is nothing but hardness and strength.”
“We affirm that there is absolutely no justification for this aggression against Yemen, as there was no threat to international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas, and the targeting was and will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.”
The Strikes:
In response to continued “illegal and reckless attacks on U.S. and international vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” United States and United Kingdom forces, supported by several partner nations, carried out over 100 strikes against 60 Houthi targets at 16 separate locations in western Yemen.
US AFCENT stated that over 100 precision-guided munitions, including Tomahawk missiles, were used to target Houthi “command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems.”