Yemen’s Houthis vow retaliation for Israel's July bombing of Hudaydah Port

Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday that it is continuing preparations to respond to the Israeli bombing of Hudaydah Port in western Yemen in July, noting "the timing will be a surprise for Israel."

"Preparations for a response against the Israeli enemy are ongoing, and the timing will surprise the enemy," the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech broadcast by the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV.

On July 20, Israeli fighter jets launched airstrikes on Hudaydah Port, fuel tanks and a power station, killing nine people and injuring more than 80 others.

The airstrikes came a day after the Houthis launched a drone attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv which resulted in one death and 10 injuries.

While al-Houthi pledged that his forces will continue their operations "effectively," he said that "attacking ships in the Red Sea has become rare due to the decreased number of ships linked to the enemies."

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,600 Palestinians have been killed in a deadly Israeli offensive since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

With tensions escalating due to airstrikes by the US and UK against Houthi sites in Yemen, the group declared that it considered all American and British ships to be legitimate military targets.

The Red Sea is one of the world's most frequently used shipping lanes for oil and fuel shipments