Houthi rebels, Iraqi militant group launch drone strikes on Israeli targets

Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for launching new strikes on Israeli targets in coordination with the Iran-backed militant group "Islamic Resistance of Iraq".

"Over the past 48 hours, the Yemeni armed forces, together with the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, have conducted three combat operations against the Israeli enemy," Spokesman for the Houthis Yahya Sare'e wrote on social media, calling all three operations successful, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media. 

Specifically, Sare'e noted that drone strikes were carried out on two Israeli sites in the northern part of occupied Palestine. A drone attack targeted a highly important objective in the Umm Al-Rashrash area, located in the southern part of occupied Palestine, near the city of Eilat.

The Houthi movement, officially known as the Ansar Allah Movement, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organisation that originated in Yemen during the 1990s. Since November, Houthi rebels have carried out over 40 attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 

Supported by Iran, the Houthis view Israel as an enemy. In reaction to the conflict in Gaza, the Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at Israel, though most of these have been intercepted. On November 19, they seized a commercial ship in the Red Sea. Since then, they have launched numerous missile and drone strikes on commercial vessels, with 34 incidents resulting in reported damage to ships.

By Naila Huseynova