Official: Houthis to ‘surprise’ Israel with response to Hudaydah port attack

The Houthi group is still preparing to respond to Israel’s bombing of Yemen’s Hudaydah port last month and the “timing” will surprise Israel, a group official said on Wednesday.

“Preparations to respond to the Israeli enemy are ongoing and the timing will surprise the enemy,” said Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, adding “while we are interested in the issue of response, our concern is greater than that, and we are preparing to raise our operational performance in support of Palestine to more influential levels.”

Regarding the group’s operations in the Red Sea, he said the Houthi naval forces have carried out important qualitative operations this week, including seizing the Greek vessel Sounion, which was attacked on 21 August in the Red Sea.

The tanker was targeted in part because its owner, Delta Tankers, violated its ban on “entry to the ports of occupied Palestine,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.

For his part, Al-Houthi considered that targeting the Greek ship shows the US lied when it claimed that the Yemeni operations supporting Palestine had been “deterred”.

He pledged to continue such operations “effectively”.

Since November, the Houthis have been launching maritime attacks on Israel-linked vessels in response to the occupation state’s ongoing bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has been described as a genocide by UN officials.

Read: Iran appoints new ambassador to Houthi-led Yemen