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On May 4 and 7, 2024, Deif Allah Al-Shami, the Houthi Information Minister, government spokesman, and member of the Ansar Allah movement Political Bureau, gave two interviews, one to the media in Iran and another to the Lebanese media. In the interviews he asserted that even if a ceasefire was declared in the Gaza-Israel war, the Houthis would continue their military operations, although possibly to a more-limited degree. Al-Shami also declared that the liberation of Jerusalem and the places holy to Islam was "a strategic goal that we cannot renounce," and added that jihad against the Jews and the Christians is "a religious and moral obligation" and "one of the pillars of the faith." He further stated that soon the Houthi armed forces would extend their operations to the Mediterranean Sea, and that the number of Houthi fighters ready to participate in such a campaign numbered about one million.
The following are the main points made by Al-Shami in the two interviews referred to above:
On May 7, 2024, the Iranian state-run Al-Alam website published "an exclusive" interview with Al-Shami who asserted that the basic position of the Houthis regarding the Palestinians is "what we have been waiting for for dozens of years: to stand by our brothers the Palestinians." He clarified that, "If the [Israeli] aggression against Gaza were to stop now and the siege was to be lifted from the Gaza Strip, it is possible that there would be some decrease in the [military] operations, however the principle, as a foundational principle, as [part of our] culture, as readiness and as confrontation, this would continue, with Allah's help, and not end."
Al-Shami added that, "Our basic belief holds that the Palestinian issue, the liberation of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and all the places holy to Islam are our strategic goal that we cannot renounce." He stated that, "even if the Palestinians themselves renounce their issue, we, the Yemeni people, will not do so because we have values, principles, morals and faith that we were raised on. Jihad against the Jews, the Christians, and the Zionist entity is a religious obligation. Just as fasting and prayer are a religious obligation in our view, so jihad and confrontation with them are a religious and moral obligation, and so we cannot renounce anything that is one of the foundations of our faith."[1]
On May 4, 2024, the Lebanese Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen television channel broadcast an interview with Al-Shami who declared that the Houthi armed forces would soon extend their operations to the Mediterranean Sea. He added that the Houthis were currently carrying out "precise surveillance [of potential targets] and in the coming days would announce their first operation." He stressed that any element with a connection to "the Israeli occupation," could expect "that its trade would be harmed and that it would be a target of the armed forces of Yemen." He also asserted that Yemen has the capability "to position itself on the frontline to support the Palestinian people," and estimated the number of Houthi soldiers prepared to participate in such a campaign at about one million.
Claiming that the Houthis "have no special demands at all, regarding support for the resistance in occupied Palestine," Al-Shami added that many tempting offers have been made to the Houthis in return for ending their support of the Palestinian issue. Despite this, he asserted that the Yemeni people and its leadership, "Will not renounce their stand on the Palestinian issue, until the achievement of victory."[2]
It is notable that in an April 22, 2024 interview to the Al-Mayadeen television channel, among other things Al-Shami explained that "victory to Islam" requires a confrontation with the enemies of the Muslims – the Jews, the Americans, and the Israelis – stating that this confrontation must include death and killing, because they fear death.[3]
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