DUBAI, January 12. /TASS/. Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthi) rebel movement will continue to attack Israeli civilian ships in the Red Sea despite the US and UK strikes on facilities in the Houthi-controlled area, Mohammed Abdul Salam, the movement's spokesman, said.

"We confirm that there is no justification for the [US and UK] aggression against Yemen, as international navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas was not threatened. We have attacked and will continue to attack Israeli ships heading to ports in occupied Palestine," the spokesman wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) page.

The armed forces of the United States and the United Kingdom delivered strikes on positions held by the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen in the early hours of Friday. US President Joe Biden said the strike on Yemen was ordered in response to "unprecedented Houthi attacks" in the Red Sea and that the strikes targeting Houthi munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems were delivered "in self-defense."

After the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory and would not allow ships associated with it to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave stopped. According to estimates by US Central Command, the Houthis have attacked more than 20 vessels and civilian ships in the Red Sea since mid-November.