Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed they carried out a missile attack on Saudi Arabia on July 25, hours after vowing retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on targets in Yemen a day earlier.

Houthi rebel media, Ansarollah, said “a Yemeni aerial attack” caused fires in Jizan, southern Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh issued and then retracted civil defense warnings for the cities of Jizan and Janub, but did not comment on the rebel claim.

The escalation follows Saudi strikes on July 24 targeting Houthi military facilities in Hodeida, including attacks on the Ras al-Kathib naval base, a military camp on Kamaran Island, and a telecommunications building near a port, Yemeni security sources said.

Media linked to the Houthi rebels reported that two civilians were wounded. Riyadh said it struck targets that posed a threat to commercial shipping, after the Yemeni rebels said they had imposed a naval blockade on Saudi vessels and attacked ships in the Red Sea.

On July 20, the Houthi rebels warned they would strike vessels “belonging to the Saudi enemy” if they disregarded the blockade.

Earlier this week, they claimed to have attacked two Saudi ships. On July 24, Saudi Arabia confirmed that a Saudi-owned vessel in the Red Sea, the NCC MASA, sustained minor damage but continued its voyage.

The latest escalation has heightened concerns over oil supplies, as Saudi Arabia increasingly relies on export routes through the Red Sea while the intensified conflict with Iran has hampered shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest exchange of attacks also raises the possibility of renewed cross-border fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels, jeopardizing the de facto ceasefire, which has been largely respected since it expired in October 2022. The United Nations-brokered ceasefire is between the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government of Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has backed Yemen’s government against the Houthi rebels since leading a military intervention in 2015, although cross-border clashes have largely diminished in recent years./REL

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