Yemeni Houthis from rebel movement Ansar Allah along with "Islamic Resistance of Iraq" attacked four merchant ships in Haifa harbor. This was stated by the military spokesman of the Houthis, Yahya Saria.
According to him, two cement tankers and two dry cargo ships were hit, the owners of which “violated the ban on passage to the ports of occupied Palestine”. Another ship, the Haifa-bound livestock carrier Shorthorn Express, was attacked in the Mediterranean using several drones, a traffic spokesman said.
"Both operations successfully achieved their objectives. The blows were precise and direct,”, Saria said on the television channel of the Al Masirah movement.
On June 6, the Houthis first reported an attack on Israeli targets carried out in conjunction with Shiite rebel groups that use the term “Iraqi Islamic Resistance” as a self-title. During this operation, according to Saria's statement, a ship that delivered military equipment to the port of Haifa was struck.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Ansar Allah movement has warned that it will bombard Israeli territory and prevent ships linked to it from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait, while the operation in the Palestinian enclave does not stop. Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In response to the actions of "Ansar Allah" US authorities announced the formation of an international coalition and the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure freedom of navigation and protect ships in the Red Sea. Subsequently, the armed forces of Great Britain and the United States began to regularly strike military targets of the rebels in various provinces of Yemen, TASS adds.