Yemen says to inflict ‘harshest blow’ if Israel continues Gaza war

“We are ready to deliver the harshest, most painful and powerful blow to the enemies if they continue to commit crimes against the Palestinian nation, or if they seek to violate and harm Yemen’s security and sovereignty,” Major General Mohammad al-Atifi, Yemeni Defense Minister in the National Salvation Government, said on Wednesday.

“Yemen has many strategic options and will not hesitate to take them if deemed necessary,” Atifi added, addressing a joint meeting of the country’s military and security leaders.

He asserted that all security forces are on high alert to carry out their duty in cooperation and coordination with the armed forces.

Yemeni forces have been staging missile and drone attacks against vessels heading towards Israeli ports in support of Palestinians in war-torn Gaza and against targets across the occupied territories.

More than 21,000 people, most of them children and women, have been killed in Gaza since the onset of the military campaign that the Israeli regime waged following an October 7 operation launched by Gaza’s resistance movements.

Atifi described Yemen’s stance of strong opposition to the Israeli genocide as a “religious and moral position consistent with all humanitarian and international laws.”

The meeting, meanwhile, warned the United States against proceeding with its plan to form a Washington-led naval coalition against the Yemeni attacks in the Red Sea.

“We warn US against consequences of militarizing the sea and harming the security of international navigation in service of the Israeli entity,” the Yemeni leaders stated.

“We will deter anyone who thinks of diverting the Yemeni Republic from its firm position towards the [Israeli regime’s] oppression of the Palestinian people,” they said.

Major General Abdul Karim al-Houthi, the National Salvation Government’s Interior Minister, also said, “All Yemeni security forces are in a state of high readiness to carry out their duty in cooperation with the Armed Forces to implement the directives of leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi”.

Last week, the Ansarullah leader said Yemen’s Armed Forces would not hesitate to target US military warships in the Red Sea if Washington and its allies carry out military strikes against Yemen.