The Houthi rebels’ supreme leader has vowed that attacks by his forces on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden will continue despite recent retaliation strikes from American and British forces.

The Iran-backed group, which seized much of northern Yemen in 2014, says its attacks are aimed at backing Hamas and Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s war on Hamas.

But the Houthis have also frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel.

“We will continue targeting ships linked to Israel,” Abdel Malek al-Houthi said in an hour-long televised speech, and later added the Houthi operations would “also include American and British ships”.

He also said his forces will continue to develop their military capabilities and that recent air strikes by the United States and United Kingdom on Houthi targets do “not scare us”.

Thursday’s speech is al-Houthi’s first public address since the US and UK strikes last week.