Houthi terrorists
Houthi terroristsREUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack on a US aircraft carrier late on Saturday night, while issuing a stark warning about the “consequences” of any retaliation during the anticipated Gaza ceasefire, AFP reported.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn the enemy forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against our country during the ceasefire period in Gaza,” the group declared in a statement.

“They will confront any aggression with specific military operations against those forces without a ceiling or red lines,” added the Iranian-backed rebels.

The statement comes ahead of the truce in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas which is set to commence at 8:30 a.m. Israel time on Sunday.

According to the Houthis, they targeted the USS Harry S. Truman and other “warships” using drones and cruise missiles.

“The American aircraft carrier was forced to leave the theater of operations,” their statement claimed.

The Houthi rebels have upped their attacks in the region since last October, having launched drones towards Israel and targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region.

In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition, made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis.

The coalition has repeatedly targeted Houthi facilities and weapons systems in Yemen, but the Houthis have been unfazed by the strikes and have vowed to continue their attacks.

Late last week, the Houthis vowed to continue to attack Israel if the ceasefire with Hamas breaks down.

On Saturday, a day before the ceasefire is scheduled to go into effect, the Houthis twice fired missiles towards Israel, the first one triggering sirens in central Israel and Jerusalem, and the second one triggering sirens in the resort city of Eilat.