Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday that they carried out a joint military operation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq militant group and targeted four ships at Israel's northern Haifa port.
In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the two groups launched a drone attack on two cement tankers and two cargo ships at the Haifa port on Saturday, as reported by news agency Reuters. The spokesperson said that the ships belonged to companies that "violated the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine."
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the latest claim made by the Houthis, though it had previously denied a similar claim made by the Houthis early in June.
Saree also said the Houthis had attacked the Shorthorn Express in the Mediterranean using drones as part of the group's campaign to disrupt shipping in key waterways, which they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
"The two operations successfully achieved their objectives, and the strikes were precise and direct," Saree said, as quoted by Reuters. In dozens of attacks, the Iran-backed Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least three seafarers.
Earlier this month, the Houthi group said that they had carried out joint aerial attacks with an Iraqi group. The Iranian-backed group targeted ships in Haifa port.
In a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that "the precise operations" were carried out with drones in retaliation for the "massacres committed by the Israeli enemy in the (Palestinian) area of Rafah" in Gaza, news agency IANS reported.
The Israeli military, however, denied the claim. Meanwhile, Israeli military sources told Xinhua news agency that they were "unfamiliar with such an incident." According to witnesses from companies operating in Haifa, the port operated normally.
According to Houthi group spokesman Sarea, one operation targeted two ships carrying military equipment, and another targeted a ship that "violated the Houthi's entry ban on the port of Haifa in occupied Palestine (Israel)," as reported by IANS. The spokesman further stated that the Israeli enemy should expect more operations.