DUBAI, June 28. /TASS/. The Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement have attacked four commercial ships in the Red and Mediterranean Seas, the movement’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said.

According to Sarea, the Houthis and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked The Waler oil tanker heading to Israel’s port of Haifa across the Mediterranean Sea. "The vessel was attacked for violating the ban on the passage to the ports in occupied Palestine," he told the Houthi-owned Al Masirah television channel.

Apart from that, in his words, the Houthi attacked Johannes Maersk container ship in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Delonix tanker for liquid chemicals and the Ioannis bulk carrier in the Red Sea. The Johannes Maersk and the Delonix came under missile strikes while the Ioannis was attacked by unmanned surface vehicles, he added.

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, dozens of 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. Since then, the United States and the United Kingdom have been regularly delivering strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.