OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:57 PM – Friday, January 12, 2024
At least five individuals were killed on Thursday and six were severely injured in airstrikes conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom against Houthi targets in Yemen, according to the Zaydi Shiite rebels who spoke to Yemeni media outlets.
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Hussein al-Ezzi, a representative of the Houthi foreign ministry, referred to the strikes as “a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines, and warplanes.”
“America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” al-Ezzi asserted.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the head negotiator and a spokesperson for the Houthis, maintained that the United States and Britain have “committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression.”
“They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he said. Houthi “targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine,” he continued.
According to President Joe Biden, the U.S. and the U.K. launched strikes on the Houthis in Yemen with assistance from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands in “direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks” in the Red Sea.
However, Democrat officials condemned their own party’s leader for not receiving congressional approval before giving the “OK” and allowing the airstrikes to commence.
“This is an unacceptable violation of the Constitution,” said Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
“The people do not want more of our taxpayer dollars going to endless war and the killing of civilians,” Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) wrote. “Stop the bombing and do better by us.”
President Biden released a statement pertaining to the retaliatory strikes.
“Today’s defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and Houthi rebels’ escalating attacks against commercial vessels,” Biden said. “These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes.”
“I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” the president added.
However, Yemeni analysts claim that the strikes will only increase Houthi support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which began a war with Israel on October 7th by attacking the Jewish state, killing 1,200 people—most of them civilians.
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