AL-MUKALLA: The Houthi militia in Yemen vowed on Wednesday to participate in an anticipated Iranian attack on Israel, after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the militia’s Supreme Political Council, reaffirmed support for Iran, Hamas and other regional groups as he ordered a three-day period of mourning and the lowering of flags after Haniyeh was assassinated by a suspected Israeli air strike.
The official Houthi news agency reported that Al-Mashat reiterated Yemen’s firm support for Hamas and the resistance axis, stressing that the Israeli and American enemies must bear responsibility for the escalating conflict and targeted assassinations of resistance leaders.
Since November, the Houthis have been targeting ships in international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and other waters near the coast of Yemen with missiles, armed drones. They say that are doing so in support of the people of Palestine, in an attempt to force Israel to stop its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli authorities had also attacked the Hodeidah port and oil storage facilities in the city, killing six people and injuring at least 80.
In a message on social media platform X, Houthi leader Mohammed Al-Houthi termed the killing of the Hamas political leader as a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of international laws and ideal values.
Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for the assassination. But Yemeni experts think that by targeting Haniyeh in Iranian territory, Israeli authorities intended to send a message to Tehran that it can and will kill their leaders.
“Iran and proxies plunged the region in turmoil with total impunity because the international community has been reluctant to take strong action to hold them accountable,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., told Arab News.
The US Central Command on Wednesday said that it destroyed three remotely operated boats in the Red Sea with which the Houthis intended to attack an international shipping line.
