“Yemen will
continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages
will be added to Britain’s bill,” Hussein al-Ezzias, deputy foreign minister in
the Houthi group, said in a post on X on Sunday 3 March.
He called the U.K. “a rogue state” that works with the
U.S. “in sponsoring the ongoing crime against civilians in Gaza.”
U.S. officials confirmed early Sunday that
the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, U.K.-registered vessel, had sunk two weeks after
it was attacked on February 18. It’s the first vessel attacked by the Houthis
to sink after the rebels started targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea
last November.
“You can’t mess around in my country and then go spend
your evening at Fabric,” al-Ezzias said. “Whoever harms Yemen, we will harm him.”
Houthi militants have repeatedly attacked ships in the
Red Sea region since November, saying they are targeting vessels linked to
Israel in support of the Palestinians. Their missile and drone launches have
upended global shipping, straining European supply chains and posing a
threat to the Red Sea’s unique coral reefs.
U.S. and U.K.
forces have started striking Houthi sites in Yemen in retaliation.