DUBAI, February 23. /TASS/. Houthis from the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah have already attacked a total of 48 ships in the Red and Arabian Seas, the leader of the movement, Abdel Malek al-Houthi, said.

"The number of ships that were attacked reached 48 <...>. During this week, 13 effective operations were carried out," the Ansar Allah leader noted in an address to his supporters, which was broadcast by the Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV channel.

According to al-Houthi, the movement’s fighters also managed to launch about "183 missiles and drones" at various targets in Israel.

Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have said they will be attacking Israeli territory and will not allow associated ships to pass through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the enclave was halted.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.