Yemen’s Supreme Political Council has warned that it would resume its naval operations aimed at enforcing a "blockade" against the Israeli regime if Tel Aviv failed to heed the country’s ultimatum on stopping its deadly attacks against the Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Sunday, the council declared that Yemen’s Armed Forces were fully prepared to carry out the directives of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement, once the four-day ultimatum expired.
Houthi issued the ultimatum recently amid the regime’s incessant violations of a ceasefire deal between Tel Aviv and the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which is hoped to end Tel Aviv’s 15-month-plus war of genocide against the coastal sliver.
“We affirm the full readiness of the Armed Forces and all relevant agencies to implement the directives of the Leader of the Revolution if the deadline expires,” the statement added.
“The Zionist enemy and its allies are fully responsible for the resumption of Yemeni naval operations.”
The council was referring to the robust military, political, and intelligence support that Tel Aviv’s Western allies, mainly the United States, were providing for the war that has so far claimed the lives of at least 48,453 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The Yemeni Armed Forces began taking Israeli ships and the vessels carrying supplies to the occupied Palestinian territories via the waters off the Arab Peninsula country, under missile and drone strikes after October 7, 2023, when the regime launched the brutal military onslaught.
The operations took serious toll on the Israeli economy, contributing to meaningful price increases across commodities consumed by the regime’s illegal settlers.
The statement, meanwhile, said Yemen’s actions also served as a response to, what it denounced as, the failure of Arab states to take meaningful steps in defense of Palestinians -- in spite of their verbal condemnation of the Israeli atrocities.
“Our operations respond to weak Arab stances failing the central cause of the [Yemeni] nation,” the council noted.
It, meanwhile, praised the widespread public support among the members of the nation for the pro-Palestinian stance, calling it a “responsible position” that aligned with Yemen’s commitment to the Palestinian cause of liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression.