The Yemeni Houthi group has vowed to expand its operations against Israel if it escalates the war in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
“We say to the Israeli entity that if there is any escalation in Rafah or Gaza, you should know that our path is escalation,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, said in a statement late Saturday.
He added that “as long as the human tragedy in Gaza worsens, and the injustice and mass killing of people in Gaza continues, operations will expand according to field data.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army on Friday to develop a dual plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah and defeat the remaining Hamas battalions.
The Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. The bombardment has killed over 28,000 people, besides causing mass destruction and shortages of basic necessities.
The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since Oct. 7.__The Nation
