Houthi fighters attend a protest march against the US-led strikes on Yemen and the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, Feb 21, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen. (PHOTO / AP)

SANAA - Yemen's Houthi group said on Thursday it had launched attacks on an Israeli city, a British cargo ship, and a US warship, in what it called a response to the "American-British aggression" against Yemen and its support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by the group's al-Masirah TV that the first attack targeted the Israeli city of Eilat with ballistic missiles and drones.

The Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile from the Red Sea heading for Eilat on Thursday morning, while Israeli media cited Israeli officials as saying the missile was "apparently" from the Houthis.

The second attack hit a British-owned cargo ship, MV Islander, in the Gulf of Aden with naval missiles, causing a fire on board, Sarea said. He said the third attack targeted a US Navy destroyer in the Red Sea with drones.

The US Central Command confirmed on social media platform X that it had shot down six Houthi drones in the Red Sea, which were likely targeting US and coalition warships and posing "immediate threats."

It also said the Houthis had fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from southern Yemen into the Gulf of Aden, hitting the MV Islander and causing one minor injury and damage.

ALSO READ: Houthi TV: US conducted new airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah

In this image provided on Jan 12, 2024 by the UK Ministry of Defence, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen. (PHOTO / UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE VIA AP)

The US Central Command said US aircraft and coalition warship shot down six Iranian-backed Houthi one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle in the Red Sea

Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi vowed in a televised speech to launch more attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

"More attacks will come," he warned, describing the Houthi attacks as a show of support for Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza.

He claimed his group had launched "48 missile attacks" on cargo ships since mid-November last year in support of Hamas.

He also dismissed the impact of the US-led coalition airstrikes on his group's military capabilities, saying "the coalition strikes have no effect."

He also said his group had submarines and would use them in future attacks.

The Houthi group controls much of northern Yemen since it ousted the internationally recognized government in late 2014, sparking a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

The group tightened its grip on the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah following a UN-sponsored peace deal in 2018, which was backed by the United States and Britain, but has failed to end the fighting.

The al-Masirah television reported that the coalition's warplanes had launched four airstrikes on Hodeidah on Thursday, hitting Houthi sites in the northwestern part of the city. 

In this image provided on Jan 12, 2024 by the UK Ministry of Defence an RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen. The US and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen late on Thursday Jan 11, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, US officials said. (HANDOUT / UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE  VIA AP)

US-led coalition launches strikes on Houthi targets

Also on Thursday, Warplanes of the US-led coalition launched four strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The strikes occurred in the area of al-Jabbanah in the northwestern part of the city, the television said without elaborating further.

No casualties were reported in the strikes and the residents in Hodeidah described the explosions as very powerful.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command said US aircraft and coalition warship shot down six Iranian-backed Houthi one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle in the Red Sea.

"The OWA UAVs were identified by US Central Command as likely targeting US and coalition warships and were an imminent threat," the command said on its X account.

ALSO READ: US, UK warplanes strike Houthi targets in Yemen's Hodeidah

The command said the Houthis later fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Gulf of Aden. "The missiles impacted MV Islander, a Palau-flagged Britain-owned cargo carrier, causing one minor injury and damage. The ship is continuing its voyage," it added.

The Houthi group later also claimed responsibility for the missile attack, which resulted in a fire on the vessel.

This was the latest of a series of attacks by Houthis that had forced many shipping companies to re-route around the southern tip of Africa.

Also on Thursday, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi vowed again to launch more attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"More attacks will come," he said in his speech aired by the Houthi-run satellite TV channel al-Masirah.