Sawt Falasteen - Yemen rebels report fresh Saudi strikes as conflict deepens

More than 40 attacks targeted several regions including the flashpoint areas of Taiz and Hodeida, scene of fierce clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government, the rebels said.

The latest salvos in Yemen's previously dormant conflict come a day after the Iran-backed Houthis set oil sites ablaze and wounded 73 in their heaviest missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia in years.

The Yemen fighting is taking place against the backdrop of the Middle East war, which erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

On Wednesday, Iran said it attacked 20 American vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted a US military base in Jordan in retaliation for US strikes on Iranian oil tankers.

The Middle East war has sucked in Yemen, the energy-rich Gulf and others across the region while roiling the world economy, as oil prices returned to $100 a barrel on Wednesday.

More than 500 people have died since the Houthis launched a major offensive last week to seize territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, gateway to the Red Sea shipping route.

The rebels, who have been attacking Saudi oil tankers, are trying to tighten their squeeze on the shipments, analysts say -- a lifeline for exports after Iran's blockade of Hormuz.

- 'Dangerous escalation' -

Saudi airstrikes targeted "various areas across the governorates of Marib, Al-Jawf, Taiz and Hodeida over the past few hours", the rebels' Almasirah TV said on Wednesday.

There was no official comment from Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi civil defence later issued a warning for the southern governorate of Khamis Mushait, near Yemen, but quickly lifted it.

On Tuesday, Saudi authorities vowed to respond to the Houthi attacks, saying they caused fires and temporary shutdowns at oil sites.

The Houthis triggered the return to hostilities in July, when they let an Iranian plane land in defiance of Saudi control of Yemeni airspace.

The government retaliated by striking the airport, an attack the rebels blamed on its sponsor, Saudi Arabia.

The ongoing exchanges risk returning Yemen to a conflict that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The Houthis, after seizing Yemen's capital and forcing out the internationally recognised government, fought a Saudi-led coalition from 2015 until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 2022.

On Tuesday, the European Union urged the Houthis to end their attacks, calling them a "dangerous escalation".

"We call on the Houthis to immediately end all attacks inside and outside Yemen, including attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea," said Anouar El Anouni, a spokesman for the bloc's diplomatic service.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST