The Houthis in Yemen have called Israel “powerless” in its efforts to strike against Yemen in occupied territories in Palestine as United States Central Command reported a downed fighter aircraft in the Red Sea during “friendly fire” as they escalate aggression in support of Tel Aviv.

Over the weekend, American forces attacked Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, and struck a missile storage facility and a command and control node, as per CENTCOM to retaliate against Yemen’s targeted operation in Tel Aviv using a hypersonic ballistic missile. Previously, the US struck the Houthis in retaliation after the Yemeni rebels launched 28 ballistic missiles at US warships transiting the Red Sea.

According to Brig. Gen. Yahya Sareem, a spokesman for Yemeni armed forces, a “Palestine 2” hypersonic ballistic missile carried out the strike, and the Israeli military was unable to intercept the projectile.

This is a fresh attack from the Houthis to support the Palestinian people being bombed in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, 2023, the Yemeni Houthis have vowed to stand steadfast by Palestine and launched regular airstrikes on Israel to show their support.

More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Gaza war, according to Palestine’s Health Ministry. The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked a music festival in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 and taking 251 hostages.

Since the war began, Yemen has carried out several airstrikes and has also targeted American military assets that are deployed near Yemen’s coastline.

Yemen’s Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser al-Atifi warned Washington that they were capable of sinking American naval fleets.

“Our operations seek to stop the genocide in Gaza. The Zionist regime is incapable of confronting us alone, and is, therefore, seeking help from those who support it,” said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ Political Bureau, to Al Jazeera.

Bukhaiti said that they are “prepared to pay the price of standing by the side of Gaza” and remain undeterred by “the enemy’s targeted killing operations.”

Dissuading the West’s designation of them as a “terrorist organization,” he said, “The terrorists are actually those who perpetrate crimes in Gaza and those who support them.”

Bukhaiti also claimed that Yemen’s pro-Palestinian attacks against Israeli and American targets have been “effective” and successfully achieved their goals since last October.

He said that their attacks “confused the US’s missile systems, and caused the country’s fighter plane to crash due to friendly fire.”

CENTCOM reported that an F/A-18F Super Hornet was shot down mistakenly. However, both the US Navy aviators are reportedly safe.

“Both pilots were safely recovered. Initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries. This incident was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” CENTCOM said in a statement.