Israel kept pounding the shattered Gaza Strip on Tuesday while Yemen's pro-Palestinian Houthi movement vowed to defy a U.S.-led naval mission and keep hitting Israeli targets in the Red Sea.
Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas militants behind an Oct. 7 massacre has left the coastal enclave in ruins, brought widespread hunger and homelessness, and killed nearly 20,000 Gazans, according to a Palestinian tally.
The conflict has spread beyond Gaza into the Red Sea where Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has been attacking vessels with missiles and drones. That has prompted the creation of a multinational naval operation to protect commerce in the area, but the Houthis said they would carry on anyway.
"Our position will not change in the direction of the Palestinian issue, whether a naval alliance is established or not," Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters, saying only Israeli ships or those going to Israel would be targeted.
"Our position in support of Palestine and the Gaza Strip will remain until the end of the siege, the entry of food and medicine, and our support for the oppressed Palestinian people will remain continuous."
Senior Houthi member Mohammad Abdulsalam said in a statement on X that the attacks aim to support Palestinians as they face Israel's "aggression and siege" in Gaza.
*The Yemeni Armed Forces announce that they will target all of the following types of ships:
— Yahya Sare'e (@Yahya_Saree) November 19, 2023
1. Ships carrying the flag of the Zionist entity
2. Ships operated by Israeli companies
3. Ships owned by Israeli companies.
He added that the Yemeni operations were not a challenge to another party, but stressed that any side seeking to expand the conflict "must bear the consequences of its actions."
"The US-formed coalition is to protect Israel and a militarization of the (Red) Sea without any justification, and it won't stop Yemen from continuing its legitimate operations in support of Gaza," the senior Houthi member said.
"As the US allowed itself to back Israel ... the peoples of the region have full legitimacy to back the Palestinian people," Abdulsalam said. "Yemen has taken it upon itself to stand by the Palestinian right."
On Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a multinational mission under the name, Operation Prosperity Guardian to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
Austin described the move as "an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea."
The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.
Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen have significantly stepped up their involvement in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip by targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and warning of attacking all Israel-bound ships.
Yemen’s Houthi say they have launched a drone attack targeting two cargo vessels in the Red Sea, the latest in a series of assaults that have disrupted maritime trade as freight companies seek to avoid the area.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea on Monday identified the vessels as the MSC Clara and Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic and said the attacks were carried out after their crews failed to respond to calls from the group.
The Swan Atlantic’s owner said the ship was struck by an unidentified object but none of the crew was hurt.
The MSC Clara is a Panama-flagged vessel, according to London Stock Exchange Group data. Details of the attack on the vessel were not immediately clear.
The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked numerous vessels over recent weeks, saying they are targeting ships in the Red Sea with links to Israel in protest against its military offensive in Gaza. The group has warned against sailing towards the area.
Water tank damaged
All of the Swan Atlantic’s systems were operating normally although its water tank was damaged in the attack, said Oystein Elgan, chief executive of owner Inventor Chemical Tankers.
Inventor Chemical Tankers has no Israeli ties, Elgan said.
The vessel’s operator, Uni-Tankers, said the attack caused a small fire, which the crew brought under control, and the ship, carrying vegetable oils, continued to Reunion Island.
A British maritime authority said it had received a report of a vessel that “experienced an explosion” on its port side in an attack 24 nautical miles (44km) northwest of Yemen’s al-Makha (Mocha) port.
The vessel and crew were reported safe, it said in an advisory. The incident described by a United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) advisory was similar to the attack on the Swan Atlantic.
The UKMTO said in a separate advisory it had received a report of a vessel 24 nautical miles southeast of al-Makha that was approached by a craft with several armed people on board.
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