DUBAI, February 6. /TASS/. Abdel Malek al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, has warned about "more escalation" if Israel continues combat operations in the Gaza Strip.
"I am warning [Israel and the United States] and telling them that they must stop the aggression against Gaza and lift the blockade. Otherwise we will seek more escalation," the Al Masirah television channel quoted him as saying in an address to supporters.
Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory while barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operation against Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave. Since mid-November, more than 30 civilian ships have been attacked by the Houthi in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In response to Ansar Allah's actions, the US authorities announced the creation of an international coalition and preparations for an operation codenamed Prosperity Guardian, expected to ensure freedom of navigation and protection of ships in the Red Sea. On January 12, US and British aircraft, ships and submarines carried out their initial attack on targets belonging to the Ansar Allah movement in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sana’a and Hodeidah. The strikes targeted the launch sites of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as radar stations belonging to the Houthi rebels.