By Aziz El Yaakoubi
RIYADH (Reuters) – The chief negotiator for Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday the group’s stance has not changed since U.S.-led air strikes on its positions, and warned that attacks on ships headed to Israel will continue.
U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines last week launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which the Iran-aligned movement cast as a response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
“Attacks to stop Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters.
He said the group was still demanding an end of the war in Gaza, and humanitarian aid deliveries to the north and south of the Gaza Strip.
“We do not want escalation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” Abdulsalam said. It was the United States and Britain that were militarizing the Red Sea with their warships, he added.
“Our communication … continues to clarify our position, and confirm that all commercial ships in the Red and Arabian Seas are safe, with the exception of Israeli ships or those heading to Israel, only and only,” he said.
Israel has regularly denied having links to vessels that have come under attack in the Red Sea, and several international shipping lines have paused deliveries or switched to longer, most costly routes.
“Our position comes from religious, moral and humanitarian principles … as well as in response to the calls of the people of Palestine … to support the oppressed in the Gaza Strip,” Abdulsalam said.
The U.S. military said on Sunday a U.S. fighter jet shot down an anti-ship cruise missile which the Houthis fired towards the USS Laboon in the southern Red Sea. “There were no injuries or damage reported,” the U.S. Central Command added.
The Houthi movement controls much of Yemen after nearly a decade of war against a U.S.-backed and Saudi-led coalition.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday demanded the Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and implicitly endorsed a U.S.-led task force that has been defending vessels while cautioning against escalating tensions.
(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi, Editing by Louise Heavens and Andrew Heavens)
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