Hamas hails resumption of Yemeni anti-Israel operations

Hamas made the announcement on Wednesday, a day after the Yemeni Armed Forces said they would resume ban on Israeli ships blocking their crossing waters off the Arab country’s coastline following the expiration of a deadline for the occupying regime to reopen aid crossings into the war-wrecked Gaza Strip.

The measure "reflects the authentic stance of the Yemeni people and their leadership. It also demonstrates their genuine commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance, while exerting real pressure to break the unjust siege on Gaza," the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.

It also called on regional nations and the world's freedom-seeking people to "pressure the Zionist occupation and its supporters, until the aggression ends, the siege on Gaza is lifted, and humanitarian aid reaches our besieged people."

The Yemeni Armed Forces began targeting ships heading to or departing ports in the occupied territories, or those linked to Israel, in the southern Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea in November 2023.

The campaign came a month after Israel waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a historic Hamas operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Yemen halted its attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians in January, when Israel accepted Hamas’s longstanding negotiation terms under a three-phase Gaza ceasefire.

Later, Israel refused to move forward to the second stage of the truce and blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza in violation of international law.

On March 7, Yemen gave Israel four days to open Gaza's crossings and let humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory. The deadline passed on March 11, and Yemeni forces announced the resumption of their naval campaign against Israeli ships.