Sanaa, Dec 16 (IANS): Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for missile attacks on two cargo ships in the Red Sea.

"We carried out a military operation against two container ships that were heading to Israel," Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said on Friday in a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah TV, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We targeted the ships, MSC Alanya and MSC Palatium III, with two missiles," Sarea said, noting that "the operation came after the two ships' crews refused to respond to calls from our naval forces."

The spokesman added that his group "will continue to prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports until more food and medicine are allowed into the Gaza Strip."

Earlier in the day, on the social media platform X, Britain's Maritime Trade Operations agency reported eight incidents in the southern part of the Red Sea near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, including alleged Houthi fighters onboard a small craft forcing a commercial ship to alter course to the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah.

The Saudi-based Al Arabiya TV news also reported that one of the cargo ships, which was Liberia-flagged, was hit by a missile from Yemen and caught on fire.

This was the latest in a series of anti-Israel attacks claimed by the Houthis since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7.

On Thursday, the Houthis said they attacked a cargo ship with a bomb-laden drone after it refused to obey the order to stop its voyage in the Red Sea and go back.

On Tuesday, the Houthi group said it launched a missile at an Israel-bound Norwegian oil ship in the Red Sea.

On November 19, the Houthi fighters hijacked a commercial ship, Galaxy Leader, in the Red Sea and brought it to Hodeidah.

The Houthi group has controlled much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic port city of Hodeidah, following a civil war with the Yemeni government that erupted in late 2014.