Houthis claim strikes on southern Israel, US ship

ANKARA

Yemeni Houthi rebels said on Sunday that they carried out strikes targeting southern Israel and a US ship in the Red Sea.

"Our naval operations will not stop unless the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.

Saree claimed that the group launched an attack targeting "vital areas in Eilat, southern Israel with ballistic missiles, achieving direct hit."

He stated that they also hit the US vessel in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or the US regarding the Houthi claims.

This came after Israeli airstrikes targeting fuel tanks and a power station in the western Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah. Three people were killed in the attack, while 87 were injured, according to the Houthi Health Ministry.

Saree vowed that the Houthis' response to the attack "is inevitably coming and will be great."

The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the airstrikes, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described them as a "direct response" to a drone attack by the Houthi group on Tel Aviv on Friday, which killed an Israeli and injured 10 others.

The Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi