Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea as demonstrators march through the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza on Jan 4, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

SANAA - The United States and Britain carried out new round of strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen as the Houthi group claimed fresh missile attack on a US ship in Gulf of Aden shortly after US redesignated it as a terrorist organization.

Yemen's Houthi group on Wednesday said that re-classifying the group as "terrorists" by the US came for political purposes.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, Houthi spokesman and head of negotiator, was quoted by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV as saying "What we did in the Red Sea was a kind of pressure to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip."

"The recent American decision will only increase our adherence to our position in support of the Palestinians," he added.

Meanwhile, the Houthi group considers the talk about forming a maritime alliance of European Union countries in the Red Sea an interference in the internal affairs of Yemen, according to a statement reported by the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.

The inclusion of the Houthis on the "terrorist" list will come into effect on February 16, according to the US resolution

It stressed that the Houthis "will not be deterred by any threat or desire to stop blocking ships owned by Israel or heading to Israeli ports," said the statement.

ALSO READ: Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Greek-owned vessel in Red Sea

Also on Wednesday, the Yemeni government welcomed the US decision, saying it is "consistent with the Yemeni government's classification of this group as a terrorist organization in accordance with Yemeni laws," according to a statement released by the state-run Saba news agency.

The Houthis have been fighting a deadly civil war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government since late 2014, and have seized control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital city of Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The Houthi group was designed by former US president Donald Trump on the global "terrorist" list before the administration of President Joe Biden revoked Trump's decision in February 2021.

Washington re-designated the group as a "terrorist" organization on Wednesday, once again labeling it a so-called "Specially Designated Global Terrorist".

Houthi fighters and tribesmen stage a rally against the US and the UK strikes on Houthi-run military sites near Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan 14, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that the designation was in response to the Houthis' continued threats to and attacks on "United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden."

Sullivan said if the Houthis cease their attacks, "the United States will immediately reevaluate this designation."

The designation will become effective in 30 days. The intervening time between now and when the designation becomes effective will allow the US to "ensure robust humanitarian carve-outs are in place, so our action targets the Houthis and not the people of Yemen," he added.

The inclusion of the Houthis on the "terrorist" list will come into effect on February 16, according to the US resolution. 

Houthi fighters and tribesmen stage a rally against the US and the UK strikes on Houthi-run military sites near Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan 14, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

On Thursday, the US and Britain bombed Houthi sites in northern Yemen before dawn, al-Masirah TV said.

The strikes hit Houthi targets in five provinces, including Hodeidah, the main port on the Red Sea coast controlled by the Houthis, the channel reported, without providing more details.

The attack followed the Houthis claim of a missile strike on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday night.

ALSO READ: Yemen's Houthis fire missiles at US navy vessel in Red Sea

"In support of Palestinian people and response to the US and British aggression against our country, our naval forces carried out an attack targeting the US ship 'Ginko Picardie' in the Gulf of Aden with a number of missiles, and the strike was accurate and direct," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on al-Masirah TV.

"Our forces will not hesitate to target all sources of threat in the Arab Sea and the Red Sea within our legitimate right to defend Yemen and to continue supporting the oppressed Palestinian people," the spokesman stressed, adding that any new assault from the United States and Britain "will not go without response and punishment."

"We target only Israeli vessels or those heading to the Israeli ports... Our military operations will continue until Israel ends attacks and siege on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip," Sarea said.

The US Central Command confirmed the Houthi attack in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the ship was slightly damaged but remained seaworthy and has continued its voyage.