Published: 09:40, July 10, 2024 | Updated: 09:51, July 10, 2024
Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on 3 US, Israeli ships
By Xinhua
In this photo released by the Etat-Major des Armées, the MV Tutor sinks in the Red Sea after it was struck by a Houthi drone vessel, June 12, 2024. (PHOTO / ETAT-MAJOR DES ARMÉES, FRANCE VIA AP)

SANAA - Yemen's Houthi group on Tuesday said they have attacked three ships owned by the United States and Israel in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The targeted ships were "Maersk Sentosa, Marthopolis, and MSC Patnaree," said Yahya Sarea, the Houthi spokesman, in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

In response, the US-British naval coalition stationed in the waters has since January conducted air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets to deter the group, but this only led to an expansion of Houthi attacks to include US and British commercial vessels and naval ships

The first operation "targeted the US ship, Maersk Sentosa, in the Arabian Sea with several ballistic and winged missiles," Sarea said.

READ MORE: Report: US-British coalition launches airstrike on Yemen's Kamaran Island

The second operation "targeted the ship, Marthopolis, in the Arabian Sea with drones" due to the company owning it had entered a port of Israel, he said.

The third operation targeted "the Israeli ship, MSC Patnaree, in the Gulf of Aden with several drones," he said, adding that "the three operations achieved their goals successfully and the hits were direct and accurate."

READ MORE: Yemen's Houthis, Iraqi Shi'ite militia launch joint attack on Israel's Haifa

"Our operations will not stop until the Israeli aggression and siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip stop," he said.

This is the latest in a series of Houthi attacks against ships transiting off Yemen since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out last year.

READ MORE: Yemen's Houthis claim fresh attacks against 4 cargo ships

The Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, began in November last year to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones targeting what they said were Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea, to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In response, the US-British naval coalition stationed in the waters has since January conducted air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets to deter the group, but this only led to an expansion of Houthi attacks to include US and British commercial vessels and naval ships.