"Yemen's armed forces reaffirm their commitment to continue global trade traffic through the Red and Arabian seas for all vessels and all countries except the ships related to Israel or those that will ship cargo to Israel's ports," Yahya Saria said in an announcement aired by Arab broadcasters.
The Houthis would prohibit all vessels going to Israel if the Gaza Strip did not receive food and medical supplies, the spokesman added.
Since October, the Houthis have conducted multiple missile and drone attacks threatening civilian infrastructure in Israel and commercial shipping operating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The attacks have been carried out amid the current hostilities in the Gaza Strip between Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel that have left left 1,200 people killed in Israel and 17,700 in Gaza.