Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday that it has targeted 166 ships associated with Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. since last November. In a televised speech, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said his group carried out 10 drone and missile attacks this week. "Our naval operations in support of Palestinians in Gaza have continued unabated," he added. The Houthi leader said the movement of ships linked to the U.S. and Britain has significantly diminished in recent months. "Israel-linked navigation has almost disappeared," he added. The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.
Yemen's Houthis likely fired an Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea in December, an assault that now provides a public, evidence-based link between the ongoing Houthi campaign against shipping and Tehran, the U.S. military says. A report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency released Wednesday linked the attack on the Strinda, which set the vessel ablaze, to Tehran, the Houthi's main backer in Yemen's nearly decadelong war. The findings correspond with those of a Norway-based insurers group that also examined debris found on the Strinda.
Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York has dismissed arming Yemen's Houthi movement in its military operations against Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea. The denial on Thursday follows a report released a day earlier by the U.S. military alleging that a Norwegian ship, the Strinda, had been hit by the Houthis using an Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile in the Red Sea in December. The report quoted a U.S. military source, saying the engine used in the Iranian missile has unique features that "are consistent with engine debris recovered from the…Houthi attack on the M/T Strinda." Iran's U.N. mission rejected the allegation and denied arming the Yemenis.
Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on Thursday denounced Israel's move to expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it was "counterproductive to the cause of peace". Israel announced last month that it was going to legalise five outposts in the West Bank, establish three new settlements, and seize huge swathes of land where Palestinians seek to create an independent state. The G7 - which includes the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy - condemned the move and urged Israel to reverse its decision. "We reaffirm our commitment to lasting and sustainable peace ... on the basis of the two-state solution," the statement said.
