Houthis ready to act against Israel – media

The militant group is reportedly planning “substantial operations” following the assassination of the Hamas political leader

Yemen’s Houthi militant group has vowed to take action against Israel, joining threats from Iran and its allies over the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Newsweek reported on Monday.

Tensions in the region have escalated since the assassination of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital last week, amid concerns over Tehran’s likely retaliation.

While Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing, it came a day after the Jewish State “eliminated” senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Prior to that, Israel attacked Yemen’s Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 90, local officials said.

It is expected that the Houthis, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, could take part in a “multipronged” strike against Israel, Newsweek said, citing the Houthis’ deputy information secretary. Nasreddin Amer did not elaborate on the group’s involvement in the potential attack, but hinted at major action ahead.

“We tend during this period to speak little and act a lot,” Amer told the outlet on Monday. “This is what I want the world to understand.”

The Houthis, a Shia Islamist group which controls a large part of Yemen, have been attacking Israel-linked commercial shipping in the Red Sea since October last year in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

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“The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to carry out its military operations in various stages of escalation,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement, adding that “these operations will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted.”

The US has beefed up its military presence in the region, including in waters off Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, since Haniyeh’s assassination and the subsequent threats from Iran and its allies.

The US military killed Houthi commander and drone expert Hussein Abdullah Mastoor al-Shabal in an airstrike in Iraq last week, according to US and Iraqi defense officials. Al-Shabal was attending a meeting with Iraqi militants near Baghdad, when the US, alleging that local fighters were planning to attack American bases in Iraq, bombed the building. The Pentagon claimed it was unaware of who he was until after the strike.

In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, US President Joe Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,” according to a White House readout.