Yemeni Houthis from the rebel movement "Ansar Allah" will continue to block the passage of Israeli ships through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, despite American strikes on Yemeni territory. This was told to TASS by a member of the Politburo of the Yemeni movement, Khuzam al-Assad.
„The aggression against Yemen is due to American support for the Israeli entity, whose ships Yemen has banned from passing through the Red Sea until humanitarian aid is restored to Gaza. Our support for the Palestinian people will continue and grow – "No American or British aggression will affect our principled position," he said.
According to an Ansar Allah spokesman, US President Donald Trump's decision to launch a military operation in Yemen was made because the previous US administration failed to stop Houthi attacks on merchant ships. "This barbaric aggression is also an attempt by Trump to restore the face of the US military, which has been under attack by our armed forces in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for 15 months," he added.
On March 15, US forces, on the orders of President Donald Trump, began carrying out massive strikes on territory in Yemen that is under the control of the Houthi movement. The operation is aimed at protecting US interests and ensuring freedom of navigation, US Central Command said. Ansar Allah has vowed to respond to the escalation, while claiming that civilian targets are being targeted.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, Ansar Allah has warned that it will shell Israeli territory and prevent ships affiliated with it from passing through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as fighting continues in the Palestinian enclave. The Houthis' attacks on commercial shipping ended in mid-January this year, when Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
After the first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to halt humanitarian aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave. On March 7, Ansar Allah leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi said that Yemen's Houthis would resume "maritime operations" against Israel if aid supplies to the Gaza Strip were not unblocked within four days. When the ultimatum expired, the movement announced a resumption of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.