News - Yemen: Member of the Supreme Political Council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, refuted allegations by the US Secretary of Defense, who claimed that the Yemeni Armed Forces attacked commercial ships belonging to fifty countries unrelated to Israel.

"If indeed 50 countries were affected as you claim, they would have been able to seek allies to expand the battle in the Red Sea and convince them to participate in what you call the Alliance for Prosperity, which is, in reality, an alliance of destruction. But your failure to do so proves the invalidity of your words," he said.

Al-Houthi affirmed that the real objective of the US Secretary of Defense is to contain any reaction against criminal acts in Gaza and strikes on Yemen, only to protect the entity and support its continuation in committing crimes and genocide in Gaza.

"The militarization of the Red and Arabian Sea, practically carried out by the US, has transformed from supporting and enabling the genocide committed by the Israeli entity against the people of Gaza into a full-scale war," he added.

"We say to the US Secretary of Defense, since when have you been carrying out legal procedures in your terrorist wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, or in supporting the entity, participating in the war against the people of Gaza, or your brutal attacks on Yemen during the aggression since 2015, and now with your strikes, militarization of the sea, terrorizing international navigation? This is the US's international problem in its love for control, imposition of dominance without any justification for its actions," Al-Houthi said.

Furthermore, he noted that the operations at sea have not yet reached the number that was announced, which confirms the US's lack of credibility. "During these operations, 4,874 ships have passed without any harm, undoubtedly ships from fifty countries and more. They were not targeted, and you admitted that a third of the targeted ships were Israeli."

He also pointed out that all the targets attacked are either related to Israel or associated with the US, and UK, in response to the brutal terrorist operations carried out by the American and British forces on Yemen and Yemeni naval soldiers.

Al-Houthi emphasized that the operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces are aimed at stopping the Israeli-US-UK aggression and lifting the blockade on Gaza. 

He called on the US to stop sending weapons to the Zionist entity, as it has been proven that these weapons are used to kill and participate in the genocide of the people of Gaza.

Since the commencement of the Israeli regime's relentless military campaign against Gaza in early October, the Yemenis have openly declared their support for Palestine's struggle against the Israeli occupation. The Armed Forces have conducted recent attacks on ships with ties to Israel near Yemeni ports, including the interception and seizure of a vessel associated with the Tel Aviv regime on November 19.

The ongoing Israeli siege has inflicted heavy casualties on Palestinians in Gaza, who have been enduring the war since October 7.

Gaza's Health Ministry said nearly 27,000 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in the war that the regime started following an operation staged by the Palestinian territory's resistance movements.