Sanaa, Dec 21 (IANS): Yemen's Houthi group said they launched joint drone attacks with the Iraqi Resistance against "military and vital targets" in Israel.

"We will respond to any Israeli-US escalation against Yemen with a similar escalation and will not hesitate to target the vital facilities of the Israeli enemy as well as the military actions of the US enemy," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement on Friday at a rally of the Houthi supporters in the capital Sanaa.

He said the attacks against Israel would not stop until "aggression on Gaza stops."

Israel has made no comment yet on the Houthi claim, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Thursday that Israeli forces conducted air raids on Yemen's Houthi targets, killing nine.

"The sites included ports and energy infrastructure in Sanaa, which the Houthis have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action," Hagari said.

Earlier Yemen's Houthi group said it launched a drone attack against a military target in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and "successfully achieved its goal."

"We are ready for a long war with the Israeli enemy," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Thursday.

The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of Sanaa.

Since November 2023, the Houthi group has been carrying out rocket and drone attacks against Israeli cities and disrupted "Israeli-linked" shipping in the Red Sea, allegedly to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid their ongoing conflict with Israelis.