BEIRUT, January 12. /TASS/. Syria condemns the US-British aggression against Yemen, which poses a threat to security and stability in the Red Sea region, Syria’s Foreign Ministry has said.

"The air strikes on Yemen were carried out by the United States and Britain in order to divert the world's attention from the barbaric war in the Gaza Strip," reads the statement quoted by the SANA agency. "This desperate attempt is aimed at letting Israel escape responsibility for the war crimes it has committed against the Palestinian people."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry believes that "the attack on Yemen confirms that the US is a partner of the Israeli aggressors, and the representatives of the American administration act as lawyers of the authorities of occupation, ignoring international law and the brutal massacres of civilians in Gaza."

In this regard, the statement reads, the Syrian government welcomes the initiative of South Africa, which has filed a lawsuit against Israel over a violation of the genocide convention at the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague.

"This is a very important step, given that Israel must be punished for its crimes against the Palestinian people, which have continued for 75 years," the Syrian Foreign Ministry points out.

On January 12, US and British military carried out strikes using planes, ships and submarines against targets of the Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah.

US President Joe Biden said the strike was in response to what he described as "unprecedented attacks by the Houthis" in the Red Sea and was purely defensive. The targets included missile sites and locations of the Houthis’ UAV facilities and radars.

Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis said they would hit the Israeli territory and will not allow associated ships to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as long as the operation in the Palestinian enclave continued.

The US military's Central Command estimates that the Houthis have attacked more than 20 ships and civilian vessels in the Red Sea since mid-November.