The leader of Yemen’s Houthi militia declared on Thursday that a direct clash with the United States will only strengthen the group, and vowed to continue attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have always emerged stronger from confrontations with their enemies, the militia’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech, a day after the U.S. military carried out airstrikes on Houthi military sites for the fourth time in a week.
“We praise god for this great blessing and great honor — for us to be in a direct confrontation with Israel and America,” he said.
In the wake of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, the Houthi militia — an Iran-backed group that controls much of northern Yemen — has propelled itself into an unlikely global spotlight by sowing chaos in the Red Sea, attacking commercial ships and hobbling global trade. The group has portrayed its campaign of missile and drone attacks as a righteous battle to force Israel to end its siege of Gaza, although many of its targets have had no clear connection to Israel.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
