DOHA, October 21. /TASS/. The Houthis from Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement claim that they can manufacture various types of weapons, from handguns and Kalashnikov submachine guns to missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

"Yemen is a leading country of the Arab world in terms of manufacturing defense products. Our country’s defense industry manufactures everything: from handguns to Kalashnikovs, from artillery systems and rifles to drones and various missiles," rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi told the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah television channel.

The Houthis, in his words, are developing missile production and have "reached a considerable progress as concerns drones."

Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip in 2023, the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (the Houthis) warned Israel that it would shell its 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. The Houthis halted their attacks on Israel after the Gaza ceasefire came into force on October 10.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, more than 100 commercial ships were attacked by the Houthis during the conflict. Four ships sank. Apart from that, the Yemeni rebels staged numerous attacks on Israeli territory using missiles and drones forcing Israel to retaliate targeting Houthi infrastructure facilities, including Sana’s airport and Red Sea ports.