Yemen to expand naval operations beyond Mediterranean, al-Houthi says
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The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement underlines that Sanaa will continue supporting the Palestinian cause and that the scope of its operations would expand further.
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A Yemeni soldier stands alert on board of the Israeli Galaxy ship which was seized by the Yemeni Armed Forces in the port of Saleef, near Hodeidah, Yemen, May 12, 2024 (AP)
The United States is playing the most pivotal role in the aggression on the Gaza Strip as it sends bombs specifically made for leveling cities and killing civilians, Yemeni Ansar Allah leader Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi said Thursday.
The United States, he underlined, planned for the Israeli occupation's attack on the Rafah crossing and the city of Rafah itself while preventing the entry of aid to Gaza with the aim of starving the Palestinian people.
He previously pointed out that the United States had previously provided large shipments of weapons to the occupation, enough to annihilate the people in Rafah, stressing that it was "pretending to pressure the occupation" regarding Rafah.
He added that the occupation of the Rafah crossing "will not accomplish any military achievements for the occupation" because it is a civilian area and not a military front for the resistance, pointing out that the resistance continues to confront the occupation even in the northern Gaza Strip.
The US, the Israeli occupation, and the remainder of their allies are trying to convey a message to the Arabs that the Palestinian cause was Iranian, he said. "In reality, the Arabs have been at the forefront of the cause because it is their cause, and the Islamic role played by Iran is auxiliary."
The Americans, he underlined, have a commitment to ensuring the Israeli occupation's regional superiority, though he made a clear distinction between the American regime and people, lauding once again the student protesters for their courageous stance in the face of the Israeli aggression and the brutality exercised against them by their own police force.
Rafah escalation poses risks for 'Israel'
The Ansar Allah leader spoke about the repeated displacement of thousands of Palestinian families in harsh and dangerous conditions, explaining that the occupation forces are monitoring and targeting Palestinians who are displaced from Rafah.
He noted that the occupation's continued escalation against Rafah doubles its losses and contributes to the escalation of the support fronts in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.
He also said that the genocide committed by the occupation against the people of the Gaza Strip is "the largest ethnic cleansing campaign" in the 20th century and a "shameful stain" on the United Kingdom and the United States.
He added that the scene in Gaza today was "a continuation of what has been committed against the Palestinian people since the Nakba," stressing that the steadfastness of the Resistance fighters in Gaza is "greater than any stage in the history of the Palestinian people."
According to Sayyed al-Houthi, when looking at the resistance operations in Gaza, it is clear that the resistance fighters have high morale and are gaining more experience.
Yemeni naval operations
The operations carried out by the Yemeni armed forces against the Israeli occupation have amounted to 40 while the operations against ships traveling through the Red Sea amounted to 100, al-Houthi announced.
"In the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, operations against American ships amounted to more than 100 attacks with missiles and drones," he declared.
Sayyed al-Houthi said that the fourth phase announced by the Yemeni armed forces "is not limited to the Mediterranean Sea and includes all ships that transport goods to occupied Palestine," pointing out that the armed forces launched this phase earlier this week through two operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Yemeni leader expressed his aspirations that resistance in Iraq would participate in the fourth phase, which is being developed, and that China, Russia, and various countries should understand the measures put in place to prevent the transportation of goods to the Israeli occupation, calling on them to halt their trade with "Israel".
Regarding attempts to intercept Yemeni strikes on occupation ships or heading towards its ports, the Ansar Allah leader emphasized that they would fail and would be overcome, stressing that the Yemeni forces were seeking to further extend their range and strike even beyond the Mediterranean Sea in support of Palestine and the Palestinian cause.
Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Yahya Saree announced in early May a new stage in escalations that involves the targeting of ships heading to Israeli ports from the Mediterranean Sea.
"We announce the implementation of the fourth phase of escalation by targeting ships moving towards occupied Palestinian ports," Saree said.
Saree outlined three measures: targeting violating ships, immediate implementation, and imposing sanctions on ships related to supplying occupied Palestinian ports if "Israel" invades Rafah.
"First, the targeting of all ships that violate the ban decision of Israeli navigation and that heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any reachable area within our ample zone. Second, implementation of this comes into effect immediately and from the moment this statement is announced," Saree said in a statement.
The spokesman noted that the Yemeni resistance will carry out attacks against ships heading towards Israeli ports.
