ISTANBUL

The Yemeni Houthi group said late Friday it targeted a ship in the Arabian Sea for having links to Israel, and reported more US-UK raids on western Yemen.

Yahya Saree, the group's military spokesman, said in a statement that the group targeted the Malta-flagged Megalopolis container ship with drones in the Arabian Sea, and achieved direct hits.

Saree said the group targeted the ship because the company that owns the ship breached the Houthi’s embargo on ships entering Israeli ports.

He vowed to continue attacking Israeli targets as long as the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon continues.

The Houthis also reported two raids on the Al-Hudaydah province in western Yemen.

According to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, the two US-UK raids targeted the Ras Issa area in Al-Hudaydah, but it did not report any property damage or casualties in the raids.

The US and UK are yet to comment on the Houthi statement.

In solidarity with the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which has been facing a genocidal war by Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, the Houthis have targeted Israeli cargo ships or those associated with Tel Aviv in the Red Sea with missiles and drones, expressing a determination to continue operations until the end of the onslaught on the enclave.

With the intervention of Washington and London and an escalation of tensions, the Houthis announced that they now consider all American and British ships as military targets.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar