Houthis vow 'military response' to eliminations

The leader of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Thursday vowed a "military response" to the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, AFP reported.

"There has to be a military response to these crimes, which are shameless and dangerous, and constitute a major escalation by the Israeli enemy," Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech.

He described the killing of the Hamas chief as "a flagrant violation of all norms and principles". He also condemned the killing of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday in a strike in Beirut which was claimed by Israel.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have upped their attacks in the region since the start of the war in Gaza, having launched drones towards southern Israel and targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region.

In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition, made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis.

In mid-January, with support from other countries, the US and Britain targeted just under 30 Houthi locations with 150 different weapons. They have since carried out several rounds of strikes against Houthi targets.

The Houthis have been unfazed by the strikes, saying that the campaign against the "Zionist enemy" will continue and that the attacks against the American and British ships will not stop.

The rebels two weeks ago upped the attacks when they fired a UAV towards Tel Aviv, which exploded near a residential building, killing one person and injuring ten.

Two days later, IAF fighter planes struck 12 Houthi military targets near Yemen's Al Hudaydah Port.