SANAA, Yemen

Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday that they targeted two ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for allegedly violating a ban on accessing Israeli ports via international shipping lanes.

“In response to American and British aggression against our country, the (Houthi) armed forces conducted two military operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden using several war boats, ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” the group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a recorded video message.

He added that the group's forces “targeted the (Greek-flagged) oil tanker SOUNION in the Red Sea, causing it to sink, and the (Panama-flagged commercial) vessel SW North Wind I in the Gulf of Aden, hitting it accurately.”

Saree said “the targeting of the two ships was due to their violation of the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine,” without specifying the ownership of the vessels.

The MV SOUNION was attacked Wednesday with several shells while sailing off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea, which resulted in engine failure, according to a statement by the European Union’s Red Sea naval mission Aspides.

The British ambassador to Yemen said Thursday that the ship, carrying 150,000 tons of oil, was stranded in the Red Sea after sustaining significant damage.

The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments.

The Houthis have been targeting Israeli-linked cargo ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7 last year.

Earlier this year, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a multinational mission, Operation Prosperity Guardian, to counter Houthi attacks.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio