Yemen’s Houthis threatened on Tuesday to respond to any attempt to protect Israeli ships in the Red Sea, after the European Union announced a naval mission to protect vessels in the Red Sea.
“We say to the Europeans, don’t play with fire, you don’t need to support the US in protecting the occupying entity. Any idiocy you commit will affect your ships and navigation in the Red Sea, we warn you,” said Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council Yemen.
He added that the presence of the EU and the US will increase the militarization of the Red Sea and will affect the food supply chain in Europe.
On Monday, the European Union officially launched a naval mission, called Mission Aspides, to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.
The Houthis target cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying goods to and from Israel in solidarity with Gaza.
With tensions escalating over joint US-UK strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, the group has announced that it considers all US and British ships to be legitimate military targets.
