The Houthis will stop Israel, attacks on the Red Sea if the ceasefire in Gaza comes into force | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
A spokesman for al-Bukhaiti says the Houthis will end operations in support of Gaza when the ceasefire takes effect on Sunday.
The Houthi rebels supported Gaza ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, and a spokesman for the Yemeni group said it would halt its military operations against Israel as well as commercial shipping in the Red Sea if the truce comes into effect on Sunday.
“If Israel stops the aggression on Gaza and if the US, the UK and Israel stop the aggression on Yemen, the Houthis will stop their operations, including attacks on the navy and commercial ships,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
The United Kingdom and the United States have implemented it numerous strikes on targets inside Yemen to deter the Houthis. Washington too hit the sanctions about a group linked to Iran.
Israel, however, continues to kill women and children [in Gaza]so the Houthis were forced to launch a missile attack, he said, apparently referring to a missile attack launched earlier on Saturday.
The Israeli army announced that it had intercepted two missiles fired at Israel from Yemen in the morning and in the afternoon. The one that targeted central Israel this morning, while the other was launched towards the south of the country, according to military statements.
The Houthis also announced that they fired a missile towards central Israel in the morning. They have repeatedly claimed that they will stop their attacks if Israel halts its military offensive in Gaza. Fifteen months of continuous Israeli bombing have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and reduced Gaza to rubble.
Israel has bombed Houthi-controlled ports, including the port of Hodeidah, seen as a lifeline for the war-torn nation, and power plants.
The Houthis attack in support of the Palestinians
The group was launching rockets towards Israel from October 2024, in what they say is a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Houthi rebels have also targeted navies and commercial ships linked to Israel and its allies passing through Bab al-Mandeb in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Israel justified its devastating military offensive by saying that it aimed to defeat the armed group Hamas, which carried out an attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,100 people were killed. Palestinian fighters also captured around 250 people.
But Israel has been accused of war crimes and waging a genocidal war against the Palestinians by human rights groups. The International Court of Justice said in February 2024 that the Israeli offensive “probably” amounted to genocide. Israel has denied the accusations.
Israel and Hamas announced Wednesday’s ceasefire agreement that will stop 15-month war which has devastated the Palestinian enclave, with nearly 90 percent of its 2.3 inhabitants displaced and a significant number suffering from starvation.
A short truce in November 2023 110 Israeli prisoners and about 240 Palestinian prisoners were released.
In the first phase of this ceasefire, 33 Israeli prisoners will be released in exchange for nearly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But the Israeli military has intensified strikes on Gaza since the deal was announced, killing at least 123 people. Israel’s military said it carried out strikes on 50 “terrorist targets” across Gaza on Friday.
A spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, says the group is making final preparations to free the prisoners, but increased Israeli bombardment risks their deaths.
