Yemen’s Houthis will introduce military “surprises” in their Red Sea operations, the Iran-aligned group’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

“Our military operations will continue and advance and we have surprises that our enemies will not expect at all,” al-Houthi said.

Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping and forced firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The United States and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen last month in retaliation for the attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Source: Reuters reported by Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam edited by Mark Heinrich, William Maclean