Yemen's Houthi rebels have reported this Monday the launch of several missiles against "sensitive targets" in Israel and have proclaimed a "total blockade" of the transit of Israeli ships through the Red Sea, which they present as a direct response to Israel's operations in the Middle East.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sari, stated in a statement that "the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched a battery of missiles against sensitive targets of the Israeli enemy in the Jaffa region," adding that "the missiles hit their targets with precision."
According to Sari, these actions "are in line with actions to confront American and Zionist aggression against the axis of jihad and resistance in Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, and in rejection of the Zionist project to establish the so-called 'Greater Israel'."
The spokesman further explained on social media that the attacks are framed "from the principle of the unified front and the fight against enemies," as well as being "in response to Zionist aggression against Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza."
In this context, he proclaimed: "We declare a total and absolute prohibition of Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets for our Armed Forces from the moment this declaration is issued."
Likewise, he warned that "we affirm that we will respond to escalation with escalation, and our military operations will intensify according to the evolution of the situation on the ground, the development of the battle, and in accordance with the axis of jihad and resistance," also reaffirming "the right of the peoples of the free nation to confront Israeli-American aggression."
Sari insisted that "we will not remain impassive in the face of the unjust siege imposed on our people and the peoples of the axis of jihad and resistance in Palestine, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq," before remarking that "all enemy attempts will fail" and that Houthi operations will continue "as long as the aggression and siege" by the United States and Israel persist.
The Houthi announcement was disseminated shortly after the Israeli Army claimed to have intercepted missiles from Yemen, at a time of heightened tension following Sunday's Israeli bombings of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, which led Iran to launch projectiles into northern Israel. The Israeli government has already responded with airstrikes on Iranian territory.
Iran had been warning for weeks against Israeli operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, alleging that the ceasefire agreed in April with the United States extended to the entire region. Despite this, the Israeli Army has intensified its bombings and accelerated its ground offensive in Lebanon in recent weeks.
In parallel, Israeli and Lebanese executives reached an understanding last week on a mechanism to implement a ceasefire, conditioned on the Shiite militia Hezbollah ceasing its attacks and withdrawing north of the Litani River. The group has rejected the agreement, considering that it does not include the withdrawal of Israeli forces or effective guarantees.
In the United States, President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he would call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ask him not to respond militarily to the Iranian attack resulting from the bombings of Beirut, with the aim of facilitating a negotiated solution to the conflict. However, Israel has disregarded this request and responded with new bombings early Monday morning.
Washington and Tehran have maintained a negotiation channel since April, with Pakistan's mediation, to try to seal a peace agreement to end the current crisis in the Middle East, triggered by the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against the Asian country.