Yemeni-Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badreddine Al-Houthi praised in a May 9, 2024 address that was aired on Al-Jazeera Network [Qatar] student protests in the West, America, and Europe. He continued to threaten that following Israel’s military operation in Rafah, the Houthis would target any international ships that belong to companies that trade with Israel, wherever in the world they may be.
Abdul-Malik Badreddine Al-Houthi: "I praise the student movement demanding to end the aggression against Gaza. This is a humane voice expressing natural human values. In addition, this voice has exposed the Zionist in the West – the Zionists of America and the Zionists of Europe, who used to speak about liberal values, and about freedom rights, and all that.
[...]
"This oppressive pro-Zionist regimes in the West have turned to targeting the student protests with violence, cruelty, humiliating arrests, and strong beatings. They have launched offensive media campaigns, and have made offensive statements by officials against the students.
[...]
"We continue our operations targeting American, Israeli, and British ships that are connected to the Israeli enemy. We have so far targeted 112 ships.
[...]
"In the first stage, we launched cruise and ballistic missiles against the Israeli enemy in southern occupied Palestine, as well as its ships sailing in the Red Sea. It was followed by the second stage, in which we targeted an ship making its way towards the enemy’s ports through the Red Sea, even if they belong to other countries.
]
[...]
"It was followed by the targeting of British and American ships, following the American-British aggression against our country, in support of Israeli enemy, and their insistence on continuing the siege, crimes, and, genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. In the third stage, we expanded the scope of our attacks to include the Indian Ocean. The fourth stage was mentioned clearly in the statement by the armed forces. It includes the ships that violate [our] ban on Israeli navigation anywhere we can reach. With the beginning of the Israeli aggression against Rafah, this [stage] includes any ship of any company involved in delivering goods to the Israeli enemy, regardless of where it is sailing.
"It is not limited to ships sailing towards a port in occupied Palestine, carrying goods to the Israeli enemy.
"So long as this company send ships to ports in occupied Palestine for the benefit of the Israeli enemy, we will take measures against them anywhere we can reach, whether it is carrying goods for the Israeli enemy at the moment or not.
[...]
"We are already thinking about the fifth and sixth stages. We have very significant options that will affect the enemies. As far as we are concerned, there are no red lines that might limit us."