Yemen’s Ansarullah movement leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi alleged that Saudi Arabia used “all its power” to protect Israel from drones and missiles launched from Yemen. In a Thursday speech reported on July 31, he said Saudi Arabia had attempted to intercept the attacks and had downed some Yemeni missiles and drones directed at Israel.

Al-Houthi said Yemen had informed Riyadh that the flight paths of its drones and missiles would be set outside Saudi airspace. He claimed Yemeni drones deliberately avoided Saudi airspace so that Saudi Arabia would have no pretext to attack, but alleged that Saudi forces nevertheless tried to intercept them. He also said many Arab governments had moved toward pro-Israel policies.

In the same address, al-Houthi condemned what he described as US and Saudi aggression against Iraq and expressed solidarity with Iraq’s people, security forces, fighters and families of martyrs. He claimed the United States and Israel sought to weaken or eliminate forces in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere in the region that they regard as obstacles to their plans.