(MENAFN) On Sunday, Houthi rebels in Yemen issued a warning to Israel, threatening to deliver "painful and decisive" blows in retaliation for Tel Aviv's recent attacks on the Gaza Strip.

"Our armed forces will resume targeting the Zionist occupation entity with painful and decisive blows" following its return to "its brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip," Yahya Saree, the military representative of the group, conveyed in a declaration during an event in the capital Sanaa.

"Today, we are engaged in a decisive battle with the Zionist and American forces, and we will continue it until the aggression on Gaza stops," Saree continued.

He cautioned that a strike on Yemen by Israel will be "a major folly, and the response will be strong and painful from our armed forces and the Yemeni people."

The declaration came as the UK Marine Trade Operations published a warning on social media of a "possible explosion" in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in the Red Sea from the Yemeni part, advising ships to take caution.

In reply to this, Israeli military representative Jonathan Conricus stated in a post on social media: "The Iranians and their Houthi proxies are a menace to the entire free world."

Since Friday, Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the death of at least 509 Palestinians, with 1,316 reported injuries, as per information from the Gaza Health Ministry.

The escalation in hostilities occurred following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, prompting Israel to launch extensive air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.

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