![Yemen's Houthis vow strong response after new US attack](https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/trkd-images/LYNXMPEK0C007_L.jpg)
![Yemen's Houthis vow strong response after new US attack](https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/trkd-images/LYNXMPEK0C007_L.jpg)
©Reuters. US President Joe Biden speaks to the press during a visit to the Allentown Fire Training Academy in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA on January 12, 2024.Reuters/Leah Millis
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Written by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Mohamed Ghobari
WASHINGTON/ADEN (Reuters) – Houthi militia threatens „strong and effective response“ after U.S. carries out additional attacks in Yemen overnight, attacks by U.S.-aligned movement with Iran Tensions escalated further as the Japanese vowed to protect the ship from the attack.
The airstrike further raises concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East since the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel went to war, with Iran's allies from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq also joining the fray.
President Joe Biden said the United States sent a private message to Iran about the Houthi attack. „I have communicated this privately, and I am confident that we are fully prepared,“ he told reporters, without providing further details.
The attack, which the United States said hit a radar site, came a day after dozens of strikes by the United States and Britain against Houthi facilities in Yemen.
„This new attack will be a decisive, strong and effective response,“ Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer told Al Jazeera, adding that there were no injuries or „material damage“. Ta.
Another Houthi spokesman, Mohamed Abdulsalam, told Reuters that the attacks, including an overnight attack on a military base in Sanaa, were part of a similar effort to prevent Israeli-linked shipping from crossing the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. He said there was no significant impact on the organization's capacity.
The Pentagon said Friday that the U.S. and British strikes had a „positive effect.“
Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, on Saturday called on „all concerned“ to exercise maximum restraint and warned that the situation in the region was becoming increasingly unstable.
The Houthis say the purpose of the naval operation is to support Palestinians under Israeli siege and attack in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Iran-backed Hamas. Many of the ships they attacked had unknown ties to Israel.
The group, which controls Sanaa and much of western and northern Yemen, has also fired drones and missiles into the Red Sea toward Israel.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement on the Ta.
„Brutal aggression“
Mohamed Samei, a government official in Sanaa, said the attack was an act of „brutal aggression“ and marked a new phase in the war Yemen has endured for a decade.
Hussein Kavsi, a former civil servant, said supporting the Palestinians was a „religious and moral obligation“.
„Our position is firm. We will continue to stand with our Palestinian and Gaza brothers until victory and the liberation of not only Gaza but all Palestinian land,“ he said.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Sanaa on Friday, chanting slogans denouncing Israel and the United States, according to footage broadcast by the Houthi al-Masirah television.
White House Press Secretary John Kirby (NYSE:) said the first attack damaged the Houthis' ability to store, launch and guide missiles and drones that they have used to threaten shipping. He said the US government is not interested in a war with Yemen.
The Houthis said five fighters were killed in the initial attack.
Biden, whose administration removed the Houthis from the State Department's list of „foreign terrorist organizations“ in 2021, was asked by reporters whether he thought the word „terrorist“ was a good way to describe the current movement. „I think so,“ he said.
The Red Sea crisis has fueled an escalation of conflict across the Middle East since Hamas militants rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.
Israel responded by laying waste to much of the Gaza Strip and attempting to annihilate Hamas. A total of 23,843 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that his country plans a „huge“ addition to its defense budget as part of a buildup to cover its needs in the coming years.
At the UN Security Council on Friday, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Neventzia said the US and UK „singlehandedly triggered the conflict[in Gaza]to spill over throughout the region.“
A senior US official accused the Iranian government of providing military capabilities and intelligence to Yemeni groups. Iran has blamed the US and UK for the attack, but so far there is no indication that it is seeking direct conflict.
Houthi attacks are forcing commercial ships to take longer and more expensive routes around Africa, raising new fears of inflation and supply chain disruptions. This week, container shipping charges on some global routes soared.