Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree announced on Friday that Yemeni forces carried out two joint operations in the Red Sea "against two ships belonging to companies that violated the ban on entry to the ports of occupied Palestine."

The spokesman clarified that the armed forces targeted the Maltese-registered Elbella container ship and Cyprus-registered Aal Genoa cargo ship. Both were targeted in the Red Sea using drones and ballistic missiles.

"Both operations come in solidarity with the people of Palestine in response to crimes perpetrated by the Israeli regime on displaced Gazans in Rafah," Saree said, adding that they also happen to come as part of the expansion of Yemeni military operations in the fourth stage of escalation.

بيان القوات المسلحة اليمنية بشأن تنفيذ القوات البحرية والقوة الصاروخية وسلاح الجو المسيّر عمليتين عسكريتين مشتركتين في #البحر_الأحمر ضد سفينتين تابعتين لشركات انتهكت قرار حظر الدخول إلى موانئ #فلسطين المحتلة. #اليمن #صنعاء #الميادين pic.twitter.com/5PTyYiqR5u

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) June 7, 2024

Last month, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced the "fourth phase of escalation" targeting Israeli and Israeli-linked ships in international waters. The range of operations has now come to include ships transiting the Mediterranean Sea. 

In this stage, the Yemeni Armed Forces "will impose comprehensive sanctions on all ships and companies that are related to supplying and entering the occupied Palestinian ports of any nationality and will prevent all ships of these companies from passing through the armed forces’ operation zone, regardless of their destination."

Read more: Yemeni, Iraqi Resistance conduct historic joint operation for Gaza

YAF push the USS Einshower away from the Yemeni coast

On Thursday, Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced plans for a larger attack on the US Carrier Strike Group 2's flagship, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In his weekly address, Al-Houthi highlighted the Yemeni Armed Forces' operations and praised the resilience of the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza against Israeli occupation.

"Among the prominent and most important operations conducted this week is the targeting of the American aircraft carrier Esseinhower on two occasions in the other Red Sea in a period of 24 hours," Sayyed al-Houthi added. 

Yemeni Armed Forces fired seven cruise missiles and four attack drones at the USS Eisenhower, Al-Houthi said.

Read more: Yemen targets ships in Red, Arabian seas, unveils 'Palestine' missile

Sayyed al-Houthi said that the Eisenhower was located approximately 400 km away from the Yemeni coast, however, it sailed 480 km northwest following the attacks. 

"The operation targeting the aircraft carrier Eisenhower was successful, and overflights stopped for two days following the attack," he stated.

"Amerian warships flee and change their course when the [YAF's] operations are successful," the leader unveiled, saying that the YAF had been capable of monitoring these movements. 

"The [Americans] try to deny the targeting of Eisenhower, and this is due to [their] embarrassment and feeling of defeat and loss of his prestige," Sayyed al-Houthi added. 

"The aircraft carrier Eisenhower will remain among the targets of our armed forces whenever the chance arises," he underscored. 

"The facts will become clear no matter how much the Americans try to deny the targeting operations, and the upcoming strikes will be more effective," he stressed.