Watan-The Ansar Allah group, also known as the Houthis, in Yemen directed their efforts towards carrying out qualitative military operations in support of Gaza as part of the fourth phase of escalation.

This came in a speech by the President of the Supreme Political Council of the group, Mehdi al-Mashat, during a meeting of the High Committee for the National Campaign to Support Al-Aqsa (affiliated with the group).

Al-Mashat stated that the armed forces (Houthi forces) have reached the fourth phase of escalation, which will begin with qualitative operations.

He added: “We have decisive, bold, and difficult options if the aggression against our people in Gaza continues, and we will continue these stages that will be sufficient to subdue the enemy (Israeli) and force it to retreat and be defeated.”

كلمة الرئيس مهدي المشاط خلال ترؤسه اجتماعًا للجنة العليا للحملة الوطنية لنصرة الأقصى pic.twitter.com/6yus2Bojy6

— علي القحوم (@alialqhoom) May 15, 2024

Commencement of the fourth phase of escalation

It is noted that on May 3rd, the Yemeni group announced the start of implementing the fourth phase of escalation in its solidarity attacks with Gaza, against the backdrop of “Israel’s serious preparations for carrying out an aggressive military operation” against the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

The fourth phase of escalation includes “targeting all ships that violate the Israeli navigation ban and head to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any region targeted by Houthi forces,” as announced earlier by the Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree.

The Houthi group began the first phase of military escalation in October last year by targeting sites in southern Israel with rockets and drones in solidarity with Gaza.

Before moving to the second phase in November last year, the group targeted ships belonging to or affiliated with Israel in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

The third phase included adding American and British ships to the targeting lists since the beginning of the current year, before expanding this phase in mid-March to include targeting all American, British, and Israeli ships and those affiliated with Israel in the Indian Ocean.

American and British Strikes

In response to these attacks, Washington and London began air raids and missile attacks on “Houthi sites” in Yemen since January 12th last year.

In response, the group announced that it now considers all American and British ships as military targets and has expanded its attacks to ships passing through the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.