AL-MUKALLA: The Houthis claimed on Tuesday that they had attacked a ship in the Red Sea as well as fired missiles toward Israel, and they rejected a UN Security Council statement ordering them to cease their assaults.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that their forces fired anti-ship missiles at a “US” vessel called “Mado” in the Red Sea and a number of missiles at locations in the Israeli city of Eilat, vowing to continue their missile and drone attacks on ships and Israel until Israel lifts its siege on Gaza.

According to marinetraffic.com, which provides information on ship whereabouts and movements, Mado is a Marshall-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tanker traveling from Saudi Yanbu Port to Singapore.

Since November, the Houthis have captured a commercial ship and launched hundreds of missiles and drones against commercial and navy vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden, claiming to be acting in support of Palestinians.

At the same time, the Houthis rejected a UN Security Council statement on Monday that condemned their assaults, called for compliance with the UN weapons embargo on Yemen, and urged the Yemeni militia to “immediately” cease their ship attacks. “Your statement is below our feet. When you put an end to genocidal crimes, we will cease our attacks,” Houthi leader Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti said on X.

The US Central Command said on Tuesday morning that its forces had preemptively destroyed seven anti-ship missiles, three drones and three storage containers in Houthi-controlled Yemen on Monday.

“It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region,” the US military said in a statement.

Meanwhile, at least 18 people, including children and women, were believed dead or wounded on Tuesday in Yemen’s central province of Al-Bayda after being trapped in the rubble of their homes after a nearby house explosion by Houthi militia.

Yemeni activists, neighbors and government authorities said that the Houthis exploded a home belonging to an opponent in Radaa town in Al-Bayda on Tuesday morning, causing the collapse of adjacent mud-built buildings that held at least 18 people.

Amateur videos show neighbors removing the bodies of victims while others use bare hands and stones to rescue trapped people begging for help from under the wreckage.

Nasser Ali Al-Sanae, a Yemeni activist from Radaa who now lives in Marib city after fleeing Houthi repression, told Arab News that at least nine people have been confirmed dead and that people are desperately trying to rescue the trapped people, adding that outraged residents blocked roads and staged a rare protest in the town against the Houthis to condemn the deaths of civilians.

“This is one among many Houthi crimes committed against Yemenis in general and the Radaa people in particular. They blew up the home, even though there are old buildings in the vicinity that are in danger of collapse,” Al-Sanae said.

A video, corroborated by Al-Sanae, became popular on the Internet. It showed a man calling to a woman trapped under the debris.

“Aisha! Are you OK?” the man said, clearing a way out to free the trapped woman.

The deaths of civilians have generated an outcry in Yemen, with activists and government officials blaming the Houthis for blowing up their opponents’ homes and oppressing people in regions that they control.

“This is the truth of the terrorist Houthi militia associated with Iran, which falsely claims its concern, humanity, and movement to help “Gaza,” while demolishing Yemeni houses in cold blood while families, women and children, are inside,” Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani, said in a post on X.