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The spokesman, al-Buhayti, said the Houthis would halt operations in support of Gaza when the ceasefire takes effect on Sunday.
Houthi rebels backed Gaza ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, with the Yemeni group's spokesman saying they would halt their military operations against Israel as well as merchant ships in the Red Sea if the truce comes into effect on Sunday.
“If Israel stops the aggression in Gaza and if the US, the UK and Israel stop the aggression against Yemen, the Houthis will stop their operations, including attacks on navies and merchant ships,” Mohammed al-Buhayti told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
The United Kingdom and the United States have committed numerous strikes on targets in Yemen to deter the Houthis. Washington too sanctions hit of the Iran-linked group.
However, Israel continues to kill women and children (in Gaza), so the Houthis were forced to launch a missile attack, he said, apparently referring to the missile strike launched earlier on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it intercepted two rockets fired at Israel from Yemen in the morning and afternoon. One in the morning was aimed at central Israel, while the second was fired at the south of the country, military statements said.
The Houthis also announced that they had fired a rocket into central Israel in the morning. They have repeatedly said they will stop their attacks if Israel halts its military offensive in Gaza. The 15 months of continuous Israeli bombing killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and reduced Gaza to rubble.
Israel has bombed ports controlled by the Houthis, including the port of Hodeidah, considered a lifeline for the war-torn nation, and power plants.
The Houthis attack in support of the Palestinians
The group was firing rockets at Israel from October 2024, which they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Houthi rebels have also attacked fleets and merchant ships linked to Israel and its allies passing through the Bab al-Mandeb in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Israel has justified its devastating military offensive by saying it was aimed at defeating the Hamas militant group, which carried out an attack in Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,100 people. Palestinian fighters also captured about 250 people.
But Israel has been accused of war crimes and waging a genocidal war against Palestinians by human rights groups. The International Court of Justice in February 2024. said the Israeli offensive “plausibly” constituted genocide. Israel has denied the accusations.
Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday that will stop 15 month war which devastated the Palestinian enclave, with almost 90 percent of its 2.3 people displaced and a significant number of them starving.
A brief truce in November 2023 saw the release of 110 Israeli prisoners and about 240 Palestinian prisoners.
In the first phase of this ceasefire, 33 Israeli prisoners will be released in exchange for nearly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, according to Egypt's foreign ministry.
But the Israeli military has stepped up strikes against Gaza since the deal was announced, killing at least 123 people. Israel's military said it struck 50 “terrorist targets” in Gaza on Friday.
A spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, says the group is making final arrangements for the release of prisoners, but increased Israeli bombardment risks killing them.
