The leader of Ansarullah resistance movement says the US prestige has been badly damaged as a result of Yemeni maritime operations in support of Gaza.
In a televised speech broadcast live from the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi condemned the unconditional support of the US and the UK for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
He said while Israel is extremely getting creative in perpetrating all kinds of crimes against the Gazans, the continuing US and British support for the regime is “reprehensible”.
“The heinous crimes of the Zionist regime across the Gaza Strip have exposed the extent of the enemy’s brutality, aggression, crime, cruelty and hatred,” Houthi said.
He cited the scene of an Israeli military dog attacking an elderly Palestinian woman inside her home in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp a few weeks ago.
The Ansarullah leader described Israel as an implacable enemy in every sense of the word, with which no party can coexist.
Yemen’s naval units, he said, will continue their strikes until the Israeli onslaught against Gaza ends, and its blockade on the coastal territory is lifted.
“The struggle against the Zionist enemy is the right and wise choice, for which there is no other viable option,” he added.
The Ansarullah leader lambasted Arab countries for turning a blind eye to the suffering of the Palestinian nation, and maintaining trade ties with Israel.
The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he said, are “starving to death as the enemy is preventing food from getting into the territory”.
“All Arab and Muslim countries should seriously and sincerely try to support the Palestinians, and provide them with anything they need,” he said.
Houthi also rebuked the Arab media for failing to bring to light the misery of the Palestinians and the hunger they are enduring, and to expose the “true nature of the Zionist enemy and its sponsors”.
“Arab countries were expected to launch media, diplomatic and political campaigns in support of the Palestinians,” he said.
Houthi, instead, heaped praise on Arab resistance groups for their shows of solidarity with the Palestinians through launching military operations against Israeli targets and students in the West for holding protests on university campuses.
He cited ambushes being carried out by Gaza-based resistance fighters, saying the Israeli military is “losing big” after more than eight months of a ferocious invasion of the enclave.
“The Israeli enemy has failed to achieve any of its declared objectives in Gaza despite having massacred so many Palestinians there,” he added.
Houthi also praised Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying its operations have hit Israeli settlers hard in the north and wrecked the regime’s economy.
Israel, he said, is seriously afraid of being drawn into a military confrontation with Hezbollah.
Houthi then lauded Yemeni armed forces for their recent multiple joint operations with Iraqi resistance groups against Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and Israeli targets in the occupied territories.
He reserved a special mention for Yemen’s domestically-developed Toophan-1 (Storm-1) drone, used in a recent operation against the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier MV Tutor in the southern Red Sea on June 12, calling it highly effective in damaging Israeli-affiliated vessels.
Toophan-1 reportedly comes in three variants, can carry various payloads and its varied propulsion systems enables it to cover a wide range of power levels.
The basic variant of the USV can carry a payload of up to 150 kilograms, cruises at the maximum speed of 35 nautical miles per hour.
Toophan-1 drone boat is controlled by and steered by an operator toward its target. It could also be programmed to move towards the designated target and detonate in its close proximity if needed.
The unmanned surface vehicle is capable of destroying fixed and mobile targets as well as naval infrastructure, and its explosive payload can deal substantial damage to a broad range of vessels.
The Ansarullah leader finally called upon all walks of the Yemeni society to pour onto the streets across the country on Friday and reiterate their solidarity with oppressed Palestinians.
