Yemenis participate in a rally in Sanaa, Yemen, on Jan 12, 2024. Thousands of supporters of the Yemeni Houthi rebel group held a rally in Sanaa on Friday to protest the US-Britain joint retaliatory airstrikes on the group's camps. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

SANAA / ADEN, Yemen - Yemen's Houthi rebels said Saturday that the recent airstrikes on their positions by the United States and Britain will not deter them from continuing their attacks on Israel, vowing to launch more strikes soon.

In a statement, the rebels, who control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, denounced the airstrikes as a violation of Yemen's sovereignty and a "blatant aggression" in support of Israel.

The Houthi group vowed to continue its military operation against the "Israeli enemy" in the statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency.

A US Navy destroyer fired a Tomahawk cruise missile before Saturday dawn at a radar site in northern Sanaa, according to the US Central Command. The strike followed a series of similar attacks by the US and British naval and air forces a day earlier

A US Navy destroyer fired a Tomahawk cruise missile before Saturday dawn at a radar site in northern Sanaa, according to the US Central Command. The strike followed a series of similar attacks by the US and British naval and air forces a day earlier.

The US and Britain said their strikes were aimed at deterring the Houthi group from launching further attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, a vital waterway for global trade.

The rebel group has recently intensified attacks on what it called "Israeli-linked ships" passing through the Red Sea to show support for the Palestinians and to pressure Israel to end its attacks and blockade on the Gaza Strip.

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Meanwhile, a Houthi official said Saturday that US and British forces flew spy drones "for hours" over the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, where conflicting reports of a new airstrike emerged.

Ali Ahmed Kashar, the Houthi deputy governor of Hodeidah, told Xinhua by phone that his group saw more spy drones over the city from early morning to evening. He also denied reports from local and international media over new airstrikes on Houthi sites in Hodeidah.

Earlier, local media said a navy base near the port was hit by US-led coalition planes. Residents told Xinhua they heard loud explosions and ambulance sirens. They also said the Houthis deployed heavily in Hodeidah neighborhoods after the blast.

The Houthi official made no comments on the explosions.

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)

The Houthis have reportedly used the Ras Kutheb base to attack commercial and military ships in the vital maritime region.

Hodeidah, on the Red Sea coast, is a strategic city with one of Yemen's largest ports. The Houthis have controlled Hodeidah since 2014, and the port is a lifeline for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies entering Yemen.

Earlier Saturday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg urged all parties to show restraint amid a dangerous escalation in regional tensions.

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

On Friday, the US and Britain launched strikes on Houthi targets in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and other areas. The strikes were in response to the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea on what they called "Israeli-linked ships" to pressure Israel to stop its assaults in the Gaza Strip.

The civil war in Yemen has raged since 2015, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with millions facing famine.