The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi, said on Sunday that "more pressure and deterrence must be exerted on the Israeli enemy now", i24NEWS reported.
Al-Houthi’s comments followed the significant Israeli air strike on the Yemeni port of Al Hudaydah on Saturday.
"The Israeli enemy launched a direct attack on oil and electricity company tanks in Hudaydah," he said. "The tanks that were attacked were intended for sale to citizens by traders. The purpose of the attack is to create a picture of victory for the Israeli people and to restore deterrence."
Despite this, he vowed that "the enemy will not restore deterrence against the parties supporting Gaza."
Israel’s strike in Yemen followed the Houthi UAV attack on Tel Aviv, in which one man was killed and 10 others injured.
"The Israeli attack against our country will lead to a greater escalation of our actions against Israel and to the development of our capabilities as well, and the enemy will lose and bring more dangers upon itself," Al-Houthi said Sunday, according to i24NEWS.
"The Israelis who occupy Palestine need to fear and worry more than ever, and to understand that their foolish leaders are exposing them to more and more dangers," he added.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed on Saturday that the Israel Air Force struck dual-use infrastructure used for terrorist activities, including energy infrastructure. He added that, "Israel's necessary and proportionate strikes were carried out in order to stop the Houthis’ terror attacks."
Hagari also noted that, "The Al Hudaydah Port serves as an entryway of Iranian weapons for the Houthi terrorist regime and as a significant economic source for them."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained, "The port that was targeted is not an innocent port. It’s used as their entry point for weapons that are supplied by Iran to its Houthi terrorist proxies. The Houthis have used those weapons to attack Israel, to attack Arab states in the region, to attack many others."