Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility in the early hours of the morning for strikes against a US ship moving in the Gulf of Aden, a new attack by the movement, backed by Iran, against merchant marine vessels, in a sign of “solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Strip of Gaza.

“The Navy of the Yemeni armed forces (as the Houthis call their armed arm) conducted a targeted missile operation against a US ship, the Chem Ranger, in the Gulf of Aden”, some of which “hit their target” , they emphasized in their statement.

According to the specialist website Marine Traffic, the Chem Ranger is a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker that has been sailing for the past few days off the coast of Yemen.

“Retaliation to the American and British attacks is inevitable” and “any new attack will be punished”, added the Yemeni rebels, who assure that they will only target ships going to Israel “as long as a ceasefire is not implemented and the siege is not lifted” in Gaza”.

The US hit Houthi positions in Yemen yesterday Thursday — for the fifth time — in retaliation for their attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, an area of ​​key importance for international trade.

It was the second series of bombings in less than 24 hours by the US armed forces to destroy Houthi missiles, which Washington re-listed last Wednesday as a “terrorist” organization.

US President Joe Biden announced yesterday that US raids will continue as long as the Houthis threaten international commercial shipping off the coast of Yemen.

The pro-Iranian movement has attacked dozens of merchant ships it said were “connected to Israel” in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since war broke out between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

His attacks forced many shipping companies to suspend their fleets from the Red Sea until further notice.