Leaders of resistance groups meet to coordinate anti-Israel operation: Report

AFP quoted unnamed Palestinian sources as saying on Friday that the “important” meeting was held last week to discuss “mechanisms for coordinating resistance actions” against Israel.

“An important meeting was held last week in which senior leaders from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine participated with the Yemeni Ansarullah movement to discuss coordination mechanisms between these factions regarding resistance actions in the next stage,” the news agency said.

The Yemeni movement, the report added, vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks on the Israeli-owned and -bound vessels in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

“The Ansarullah movement confirmed during the meeting that it will continue its operations in the Red Sea against ships heading to the enemy (Israel) to support the Palestinian resistance,” one of the unknown sources was quoted as saying.

“The meeting also discussed the complementary role of Ansarullah with the Palestinian factions, given the possibility of Israel invading Rafah.”

The news agency did not specify the location of the meeting in addition to the names of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance groups and the Houthi Ansarullah participating in it.

Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday that the Yemeni armed forces would continue their retaliatory operations against Israeli-affiliated commercial vessels, preventing the passage of the ships even through the Indian Ocean and through the Cape of Good Hope.

Houthi added 73 ships have been targeted in Yemeni operations in support of Gaza since mid-November.

Stressing that the Yemeni forces have carried out 12 operations this week as well as a total of 58 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden, Houthi stated the operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza persist.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

Other resistance groups in the region, including in Iraq and Lebanon, have also conducted pro-Gaza operations against the occupied territories over the past five months.

Around 600 Israeli troops have been killed during resistance operations staged to defend Gaza in the face of the war that has since October 7 claimed thousands of Palestinian lives.

At least 31,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, and 73,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.