Houthis say they attacked ships at Israel's Haifa port, IDF denies claims

Yemen's Houthi group said on Thursday it launched two joint military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance against ships at Israel's Haifa port.

The IDF has so far denied the claims that such an attack occurred. "It's not true," military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said.

However, according to the Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, the group "first targeted two ships carrying military equipment in the port of Haifa, while the second targeted a ship that violated the decision to ban entry to the port."

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists, drawing US and British retaliatory strikes since February.

Houthis claim the attack was an important operation 

Following the attack, a statement was released on the Houthi official Telegram that their "armed forces launched at dawn today [Thursday]  joint operations with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and carried out an important operation towards the port of Haifa." 

Regarding the decision to collaborate with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, the statement mentioned that "the joint operations will have a significant impact on the enemies within the framework of the fourth stage of escalation."

Following an additional attack by the Houthi group overnight Wednesday in the Red Sea and the Arabain Sea, the group said that "the operations were a response to the crimes against those who have been displaced in Rafah" and that they were done within the framework to enter the aforementioned fourth stage of escalation.