Al-Houthi thanks those rejecting strikes on Yemen, announces ‘beginning of confrontation’

The Supreme Political Council of the Houthis member Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi on Friday thanked the countries that rejected the US-British strikes on Yemen, declaring: “The beginning of the confrontation on the fronts.”

The remarks were made during a mass demonstration organised by the Houthi group in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in which tens of thousands participated under the slogan “The Promised Conquest and the Holy Jihad,” according to Anadolu Agency.

Al-Houthi expressed to the demonstrators: “The American-British strikes on our country will not affect our morale or our forces.”

While Al-Houthi was speaking, the crowds were chanting slogans such as “Death to America…Death to Israel” while raising the Palestinian flag and banners supporting Gaza.

Al-Houthi added while raising his rifle, addressing the US and the UK: “This square is raising its slogans and rifles… We will begin confronting you whether we achieve martyrdom or confront you on the front lines. This is life, and life is facing the Americans and the British… these tyrants and arrogant people of the world.”

He added: “Our message to all the countries that rejected the strikes on Yemen is thank you and take action for the sake of Palestine.”

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Earlier on Friday, the Houthi group announced that five members of its forces were killed and six others wounded in US-British raids.

The group added in a statement: “Five Yemeni governorates, including the capital, Sana’a, were targeted with 73 raids.”

The White House announced at dawn on Friday, in a joint statement with ten countries, that the strikes were: “In response to continued illegal, dangerous and destabilising Houthi attacks against vessels, including commercial shipping, transiting the Red Sea.”

According to the White House, the joint statement was issued on behalf of the governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the UK and the US.

In “solidarity with the Gaza Strip,” which has been suffering an Israeli war with US support since 7 October, the Houthis are using missiles and drones to target cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or that transport goods to and from Israel.

Tensions in the Red Sea have reached escalatory levels since the Houthis directly targeted an American ship on Tuesday evening after they had been targeting cargo ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in the context of the group’s solidarity with the Gaza Strip.

Maritime trade accounts for 70 per cent of Israel’s imports, and 98 per cent of its foreign trade passes through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. According to its Ministry of Finance, trade through the Red Sea makes up 34.6 per cent of Israel’s economy.

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