Houthis Issue Ultimatum to Israel: Yemen Will Resume Naval Blockade if Aid Is Not Allowed into Gaza

In a televised speech, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said Yemen will not stand idly by in the face of Israel’s attempt to starve Gaza into submission.

Yemen's Houthi soldiers guard during a protest staged in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, on January 17, 2025, in Sana'a, Yemen. Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images.

SANA’A, YEMEN—Yemen’s Houthi leader issued an ultimatum on Friday for Israel and international mediators negotiating the Gaza “ceasefire” deal: Allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip in the next four days, or the Houthis will restart their maritime attacks and blockade against Israel. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, had halted these operations following the signing of the agreement between Hamas and Israel on January 19.

In a Friday evening televised address, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of the movement, said Israel must open the land crossing into Gaza by Tuesday or face consequences. “If the Israeli enemy continues, after four days, to prevent the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and continues the complete closure of the crossings, preventing the entry of food and medicine into the region, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy,” said al-Houthi, according to a transcript published by Saba News Agency. “This matter cannot be tolerated under any circumstances…Our words are clear, and we will counter the blockade with a blockade. We cannot stand by and watch the aggressive actions of the Israeli entity in starving the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

The Houthi leader charged that Israel has procrastinated in fulfilling its obligations under the Gaza deal, especially those related to the delivery of humanitarian aid. Under Phase 1 of the deal, Israel agreed to allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza per day, along with a total of 200,000 tents and 60,000 mobile homes in a 42-day period. The number of aid trucks actually allowed into Gaza fell far short of the quota, as did the tents, mobile homes, and construction equipment to remove bodies buried under the rubble. Last week Israel halted all aid deliveries into the Strip.

Al-Houthi charged that using the denial of food as a tactical weapon constituted “a war crime, and a crime against humanity. It bears all descriptions of the greatest crimes and is considered a full-scale aggression.” He described Israel’s actions since the ceasefire deal took effect as “genocide through starvation,” saying, “this step cannot be ignored, overlooked, or dismissed, as it is a very dangerous step and a major escalation by the Israeli enemy. The general direction of the Israeli enemy, under American sponsorship, encouragement, and support, is to escalate the situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

He outlined a few instances where, he said, Israel has taken aggressive steps in the West Bank, including demolishing houses and mosques, forcibly displacing over 40,000 residents, kidnapping Palestinians, and restricting entry into the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Houthi emphasized that Yemen would take a clear stance in the face of escalation and U.S. encouragement of aggressive Israeli actions. Last week, President Donald Trump announced an additional $12 billion in arms sales to Israel. “The responsibility is great for all of our nation, and it cannot be absolved by ignoring, renouncing responsibility, or attempting to evade the true duty,” Al-Houthi declared. “This is evident through the Arab summit, which issued a statement containing [merely] some wishes, calls, demands, and appeals.”

In a statement on Friday, Hamas praised Yemen as the “real” partner in siding with Palestine. “[Hamas] appreciates the decision of the brothers in Ansar Allah, led by Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, to give the Zionist enemy four days before resuming naval operations aimed at imposing a blockade on the ports of the occupation,” Hamas said in its statement. “We also call on our peoples and Arab and Islamic countries to take effective steps to break the blockade on their brothers in the Gaza Strip, and to work by all means to thwart the fascist occupation's plan to starve them and deprive them of their right to life.”

As a result of the Houthi naval blockade and strikes against Israel since October 2023, Yemen has faced a multinational military campaign, led by the U.S., UK, and European allies in an effort to thwart the attacks on Israel and maritime shipping, but these attacks have, to date, proven ineffective. The Trump administration recently designated the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization despite warnings from the international aid community about the devastating consequences for Yemeni civilians and the overall humanitarian situation in Yemen.