Houthi rebels threaten to resume attacks on Israel-affiliated ships if Gaza humanitarian aid blockade not lifted

On Friday, Houthi rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi threatened to resume attacks against Israel-affiliated ships passing through the waters off their coast, and attacks against Israel itself, if the humanitarian aid hold imposed by Israel last Sunday is not lifted. 

The leader of the group which bears his name, said that if Israel did not lift the blockade on humanitarian aid within four days, the group would resume its attacks. 

The Iran-supported Houthi rebel group stopped its attacks in late January, after the most recent hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced. The Houthis started attacking vessels passing through the Red Sea in November 2023, claiming the actions were in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. Later the group began to launch ballistic missiles and drones against Israel. 

The threats also come mere days after the United States re-designated the Houthis as a terror group and reimposed sanctions against leaders of the group. 

Iranian state news agency IRNA said that, “Yemen’s Ansarullah [Houthis] movement declares a four-day deadline to international mediators to advocate for the resumption of aid delivery into the Gaza Strip; otherwise, the movement would restart its naval operations against the Israeli regime.” 

The group clarified that the four day deadline is an attempt to give time for the mediators to reach a solution. 

"We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the mediators for their efforts," the rebel group said. 

Hamas welcomed the Houthis' announcement, saying, “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) appreciates the decision of the brothers in Ansar Allah, led by Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, to give the Zionist enemy four days before resuming naval operations aimed at imposing a blockade on the ports of the occupation.” 

“This courageous decision, which reflects the depth of the connection of the brothers in Ansar Allah and the brotherly Yemeni people to Palestine and Jerusalem, is an extension of the blessed positions of support and assistance they have provided over the course of fifteen months of the war,” Hamas continued. 

The Houthis also threatened to renew attacks against Israel at the end of the first phase of the ceasefire, if Israel resumed military operations against Hamas. 

The IDF is reportedly taking the threat seriously, although it has not announced any change of alert status. Over the past year and half, Israel carried out several retaliatory strikes against targets in Houthi controlled territory in Yemen, including strikes on port facilities and oil facilities in Hodeidah, and power plants in the capital city of Sana’a. 

Recently updated maps on the popular Google Maps website show some of the damages from one of the Israeli strikes on Hodeidah.