SANAA, Yemen

Yemen’s Houthi group said Tuesday that it attacked a “vital target” in Haifa in northern Israel with cruise missiles.

“In support of the oppressed Palestinian people, our forces, in cooperation with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, carried out a joint military operation,” Yahya Saree, the group’s military spokesperson, said in a recorded brief.

He said the operation targeted “a vital location in Haifa with several cruise missiles and successfully achieved its objectives,” without providing details.

There has been no comment from Israel on the Houthi statement.

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where more than 37,900 people have been killed in a deadly Israeli offensive since last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

With tensions escalating due to US-UK airstrikes against Houthi sites in Yemen, the group declared that it considered all American and British ships to be legitimate military targets.

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

*Writing by Mohammad Sio