Yemen's Houthis claim targeting Israeli ship, US destroyer in Red Sea

By Anadolu staff

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni Houthi group claimed on Friday that it targeted an Israeli ship and an American destroyer in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.

"Naval forces targeted the Israeli ship Pacific 01 in the Red Sea, with appropriate naval missiles," the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement.

The group also targeted "a US destroyer in the Red Sea with drones, and the operation successfully achieved its objectives," he added.

The spokesperson emphasized "the expansion of operations against Israeli ships or those affiliated with Israel or heading to the ports of occupied Palestine to include the Indian Ocean via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait."

The has been no comment by the US and Israel on the Houthis statement as yet.

The leader of the group on Thursday said his group will prevent Israel-linked ships from even passing through the Indian Ocean toward the Cape of Good Hope.

In a televised speech, Abdulmalik al-Houthi said his group has so far targeted 73 ships and warships since the start of its operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

He added that 34 members of the group have so far been killed in operations launched in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The Houthis have been targeting Israeli-linked cargo ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Palestinians since last November.

In response, the US and UK militaries have carried out joint attacks against the Houthis.

Israel has imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007. It started its war on Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas, killing at least 31,490 Palestinians and pushing the territory to the brink of famine.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul