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Middle East conflict

Houthis say they attacked targets in Israel with drones

The movement struck military targets in Ashkelon and near Jaffa

DOHA, December 23. /TASS/. The Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement have delivered strikes on military targets near Tel Aviv and Ashkelon with the use of drones, the movement’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said.

According to Sarea, the Houthi air force conducted two military operations against Israel. "During one operation, they struck a military target of the Israeli enemy in Ashkelon with the use of a drone," he told the Houthi-controlled Al Masirah television channel. "The other operation was conducted against a military target of the Israeli enemy near occupied Jaffa also with the use of a drone."

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.

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