ADEN (Reuters) – The leader of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday his group would monitor the implementation of a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza and resume attacks on vessels or Israel if the deal is violated.
The Houthi militia, which has been targeting ships almost weekly using ballistic missiles and drones in waters off Yemen’s coast to show its solidarity with the Palestinians, has long said it would end those operations if the conflict ends.
The ceasefire is expected to take effect on Sunday.
“We will continue to monitor developments in Palestine during the three days before the Gaza accord comes into force. If Israeli massacres continue, we will continue our operations,” the Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech.
“At any stage where aggression is withdrawn from the agreement, we will be ready to provide military support to our Palestinian brothers,” he said.
The Houthi attacks, which began in November 2023, have disrupted international trade, forcing some ships to take the long route around southern Africa instead of the Suez Canal, driving up insurance rates, shipping costs and times that have fueled fears of a new surge in global inflation.
The Houthis, who have controlled most parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since taking power in late 2014, have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four sailors.
The armed group also launched missiles and drones at Israel, hundreds of kilometers to the north. Israel has responded by attacking Houthi areas on several occasions, including last week when Israeli warplanes bombed two ports and a power plant.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis.
The United States, together with Britain, launched a multinational operation to protect trade in the Red Sea in December 2023 and has repeatedly carried out airstrikes on Houthi strongholds targeting weapons depots.
Later in February, the EU launched its own mission in the Red Sea, known as Aspides, to deter increased Houthi attacks and help protect a key maritime trade route.
The Houthis appear to be the last permanent component of Iran’s anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias, known as the Axis of Resistance, which includes Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Shiite armed groups in Iraq.
Israel has dealt serious blows to Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, killing their top leaders and reducing their arsenals. After that, the decades-long regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was overthrown.
